Phyllis Schlafly

Born Phyllis McAlpin Stewart, Schlafly was raised in St. Louis. Schlafly's great-grandfather Stewart, a Presbyterian, emigrated from Scotland to New York in 1851 and moved westward through Canada before settling in Michigan.Men of West Virginia. Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago: 1903, pp. 157–158. Her grandfather, Andrew F. Stewart, was a master mechanic with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. Schlafly's father, John Bruce Stewart, was a machinist and salesman of industrial equipment, principally for Westinghouse. He was granted a patent in 1944 for a rotary engine.Carol Felsenthal, The Sweetheart of the Silent Majority: The Biography of Phyllis Schlafly. (Doubleday, 1981).

During the Great Depression, Schlafly's father faced long-term unemployment, beginning in 1932.Donald Critchlow. Founding Mother-Phyllis Schlafly and Grassroots Conservatism: A Woman's Crusade, p. 422. Before her marriage, her mother, Odile Stewart (née Dodge),{{cite web|title=Phyllis Schlafly profile|url=https://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/phyllis-schlafly|publisher=National Women's History Museum|access-date=September 6, 2016|archive-date=October 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006231434/https://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/phyllis-schlafly/|url-status=live}} worked as a teacher at a private girls' school in St. Louis.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} During the Depression, she went back to work as a librarian and teacher to support her family.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/06/phyllis-schlafly-obituary|title=Phyllis Schlafly obituary|last=Reed|first=Christopher|date=September 6, 2016 |work=The Guardian|access-date=December 12, 2019 |archive-date=October 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022204641/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/06/phyllis-schlafly-obituary|url-status=live}} Mrs. Stewart was able to keep the family afloat and maintain Phyllis in a Catholic girls' school.Ehrenreich, pp. 152–153. Phyllis's sole sibling was her younger sister, Odile.

Schlafly attended Maryville College, but after one year, transferred to Washington University in St. Louis.Critchlow 2005, pp. 22-23. In 1944, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In 1945, she received a Master of Arts degree in government from Harvard.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch/131949172/ Conservative just co-authored a new book]". St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 6, 2016, p. A13. Accessed September 17, 2023

In Strike From Space (1965), Schlafly wrote that during World War II, she worked as "a ballistics gunner and technician at the largest ammunition plant in the world". She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Washington University School of Law in 1978.

File:Claude Bakewell.jpg.]]

In 1946, Schlafly became a researcher for the American Enterprise Institute and worked in the successful United States House of Representatives campaign of Republican Claude I. Bakewell.Critchlow 2005, pp. 25–29.

In 1952, Schlafly ran for Congress as a Republican in the majority Democratic 24th congressional district of Illinois. She won the Republican primary election over John T. R. Godlewski by 18,793 (61.14%) to 11,943 (38.86%).Official Vote

of the State of Illinois -- Cast at the General Election, November 4, 1952, Judicial Election, 1951

Primary Election General Primary, April 8, 1952, Compiled By Charles F. Carpentier Secretary of State (1952) However, she lost the general election to incumbent Democrat Charles Melvin Price, winning 63,778 votes (35.20%) to Price's 117,408 votes (64.80%).Critchlow 2005, pp. 47–59. Schlafly's campaign was low-budget and promoted heavily through the local print media, and the major munitions manufacturers John M. Olin and Spencer Truman Olin, and the Texas oil billionaire H. L. Hunt.Critchlow 2005, p. 55. She was the keynote speaker at the June 1952 Illinois state convention of the Republican Party. In her speech, she accused the Truman administration of "demoralizing our children by bad examples, drafting our men, and confiscating our family income."{{cite web |title=Stevenson Is Lambasted at GOP Meeting |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/542846791 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |publisher=Streator Daily Times-Press |access-date=July 25, 2024 |language=en |date=June 24, 1952}} In early July 1952, she attended her first Republican National Convention. She would attend each subsequent Republican National Convention until her death. As part of the Illinois delegation of the 1952 convention, Schlafly endorsed U.S. Senator Robert A. Taft to be the party's nominee in the presidential election.Critchlow 2005, p. 46.

She played a major role with her husband in 1957 in writing the "American Bar Association's Report on Communist Tactics, Strategy, and Objectives." Donald T. Critchlow says it "became not only one of the most widely read documents ever produced by the ABA, it was probably the single most widely read publication of the grassroots anticommunist movement."Critchlow 2005, [https://books.google.com/books?id=JwBaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA79 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220410032743/https://books.google.com/books?id=JwBaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA79 |date=April 10, 2022 }}

Schlafly was elected to serve as an alternate delegate to the 1960 Republican National Convention from Illinois' 24th congressional district. At the convention, Schlafly helped lead a revolt of "moral conservatives" who opposed Richard Nixon's stance "against segregation and discrimination."Warner, Judith. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/books/review/29warner.html?pagewanted=all She Changed America] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415123458/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/books/review/29warner.html?pagewanted=all |date=April 15, 2015 }}, The New York Times, January 29, 2006. Schlafly was the Republican nominee for Illinois's 24th congressional district again in 1960. She again lost the general election to Price, this time by 144,560 votes (72.22%) to 55,620 (27.79%).Official Vote of the State of Illinois Cast at the General Election November 8, 1952, Judicial Election 1959–1960 Primary Election General Primary April 12, 1960, Compiled by Charles F. Carpentier Secretary of State

She came to national attention when millions of copies of her self-published book A Choice Not an Echo were distributed in support of Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign, especially in California's hotly fought winner-take-all-delegates GOP primary.{{Cite book |last=Critchlow |first=Donald T. |title=Phyllis Schlafly and Grassroots Conservatism |date=2005 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=9780691070025 |pages=109}}{{Cite book |last=Du Mez |first=Kristin Kobes |author-link=Kristin Kobes Du Mez |title=Jesus and John Wayne: how white evangelicals corrupted a faith and fractured a nation |date=2020 |publisher=Liveright Publishing |isbn=978-1-63149-573-1 |location=New York, NY |pages=66}} In it, Schlafly denounced the Rockefeller Republicans in the Northeast, accusing them of corruption and globalism. Critics called the book a conspiracy theory about "secret kingmakers" controlling the Republican Party.Berlet and Lyons. 2000. Right–Wing Populism in America, pp. 180, 202.

Schlafly had previously been a member of the John Birch Society; founder Robert Welch Jr. referred to her as a "very loyal" member.{{cite thesis |last1=Celestini |first1=Carmen |title=God, Country, and Christian Conservatives: The National Association of Manufacturers, the John Birch Society, and the Rise of the Christian Right |date=2018 |type=PhD |publisher=University of Waterloo |url=https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/handle/10012/13361/Celestini_Carmen.pdf |pages=183–184}} She later quit and denied she had been a member because she feared her association with the organization would damage her book's reputation. By mutual agreement her books were not mentioned in the John Birch Society's magazine, and the distribution of her books by the society was handled so as to mask their involvement. The society was able to dispense 300,000 copies of A Choice Not an Echo in California prior to the June 2, 1964, GOP primary.{{Citation|title=Phyllis Schlafly, 'Mrs. America,' Was a Secret Member of the John Birch Society|last=Radosh|first=Ronald|newspaper=The Daily Beast|publisher=Dailey Beast|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/phyllis-schlafly-mrs-america-was-a-secret-member-of-the-john-birch-society?source=articles&via=rss|date=April 20, 2020|access-date=April 22, 2020|archive-date=September 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923013449/https://www.thedailybeast.com/phyllis-schlafly-mrs-america-was-a-secret-member-of-the-john-birch-society?source=articles&via=rss|url-status=live}} Gardiner Johnson, Republican National Committee for California, stated that the distribution of her book in California was a major factor in Goldwater's winning the nomination.{{Cite book|title=A Choice Not An Echo|last=Schlafly|first=Phyllis|publisher=Pere Marquette Press|year=1964|pages=preface}}

In 1967, Schlafly lost a bid for the presidency of the National Federation of Republican Women against the more moderate candidate Gladys O'Donnell of California. Outgoing NFRW president and future United States Treasurer Dorothy Elston of Delaware worked against Schlafly in the campaign.Critchlow 2005, pp. 138-59.

In 1970, she ran unsuccessfully for Illinois's 23rd congressional district, losing to Democratic incumbent George E. Shipley by 91,158 votes (53.97%) to 77,762 (46.04%). She never sought public office again.

American feminists made their greatest bid for national attention at the 1977 National Women's Conference in Houston; however, historian Marjorie J. Spruill argues that the anti-feminists led by Schlafly organized a highly successful counter-conference, the Pro-Life, Pro-Family Rally, to protest the National Women's Conference and make it clear that feminists did not speak for them. At their rally at the Astro Arena they had an overflow of over 15,000 people,{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/11/20/archives/equal-rights-plan-and-abortion-are-opposed-by-15000-at-rally-like-a.html |title=Equal Rights Plan and Abortion Are Opposed by 15,000 at Rally |work=The New York Times |date=November 20, 1977 |access-date=May 27, 2020 |archive-date=July 23, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723004558/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/11/20/archives/equal-rights-plan-and-abortion-are-opposed-by-15000-at-rally-like-a.html |url-status=live }} and announced the beginning of a pro-family movement to oppose politicians who had been supporting feminism and liberalism, and to promote "family values" in American politics, and so moved the Republican Party to the right and defeated the ratification of the ERA.Marjorie J. Spruill.Divided We Stand: The Battle Over Women's Rights and Family Values That Polarized American Politics. (2017) [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/06/books/review/divided-we-stand-marjorie-j-spruill.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fbooks&action=click&contentCollection=books®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront online review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908112840/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/06/books/review/divided-we-stand-marjorie-j-spruill.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fbooks&action=click&contentCollection=books®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront |date=September 8, 2017 }}.

File:STOP ERA.gif

Schlafly became an outspoken opponent of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) during the 1970s as the organizer of the "STOP ERA" campaign. STOP was a backronym for "Stop Taking Our Privileges". She argued that the ERA would take away gender-specific privileges enjoyed by women, including "dependent wife" benefits under Social Security, separate restrooms for males and females, and exemption from Selective Service (the military draft).{{citation|last=Kolbert|first=Elizabeth|author-link=Elizabeth Kolbert|title=Firebrand: Phyllis Schlafly and the Conservative Revolution|url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/11/07/051107crbo_books?currentPage=all|magazine=The New Yorker|volume=81|issue=34|date=November 7, 2005|page=134|access-date=February 4, 2012|archive-date=May 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517152154/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/11/07/051107crbo_books?currentPage=all|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/27/AR2007032702357_pf.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|title=New Drive Afoot to Pass Equal Rights Amendment|first=Juliet|last=Eilperin|access-date=May 22, 2010|archive-date=September 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925233329/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/27/AR2007032702357_pf.html|url-status=live}} She was opposed by groups such as the National Organization for Women (NOW) and the ERAmerica coalition. The Homemakers' Equal Rights Association was formed to counter Schlafly's campaign.{{Cite journal|last=Heath|first=Carol|date=2008|title=Homemakers' Equal Rights Association (HERA) Records, 1971-1987, n.d|url=https://www.luc.edu/media/lucedu/wla/pdfs/Homemakers%27%20Equal%20Rights%20Association.pdf|journal=Women and Leadership Archives Loyola University Chicago|access-date=December 12, 2019|archive-date=February 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200223154310/https://www.luc.edu/media/lucedu/wla/pdfs/Homemakers%27%20Equal%20Rights%20Association.pdf|url-status=live}}

In 1972, when Schlafly began her campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment, the ERA had already been ratified by 28 of the required 38 states.{{cite web |title=The Women Who Fought For And Against The ERA: Part II |url=https://www.wwno.org/podcast/tripod-new-orleans-at-300/2017-04-27/the-women-who-fought-for-and-against-the-era-part-ii |website=wwno.org |publisher=WWNO |access-date=June 1, 2022 |archive-date=July 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726110407/https://www.wwno.org/podcast/tripod-new-orleans-at-300/2017-04-27/the-women-who-fought-for-and-against-the-era-part-ii |url-status=live }} Seven more states ratified the amendment after Schlafly began organizing opposition, but another five states rescinded their ratifications. The last state to ratify the ERA was Indiana, where State Senator Wayne Townsend cast the tie-breaking vote in January 1977.{{Cite web|url=https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/politics/indiana-governor-candidate-wayne-townsend-dies/article_6a1a975c-4c6a-5b96-b4ec-1942dc38a901.html|title=1984 Indiana governor candidate Wayne Townsend dies|author=Tom Davies|agency=Associated Press|website=South Bend Tribune|language=en|access-date=December 12, 2019|archive-date=December 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212005939/https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/politics/indiana-governor-candidate-wayne-townsend-dies/article_6a1a975c-4c6a-5b96-b4ec-1942dc38a901.html|url-status=live}} (Nevada, Illinois and Virginia ratified the ERA between 2017 and 2020, many years after the deadline to do so.){{cite news |last1=Chappell |first1=Bill |title=Virginia Ratifies The Equal Rights Amendment, Decades After The Deadline |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/01/15/796754345/virginia-ratifies-the-equal-rights-amendment-decades-after-deadline |website=NPR.org |date=January 15, 2020 |publisher=National Public Radio |access-date=April 15, 2020 |language=en |archive-date=May 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515042054/https://www.npr.org/2020/01/15/796754345/virginia-ratifies-the-equal-rights-amendment-decades-after-deadline |url-status=live }}

The Equal Rights Amendment was narrowly defeated, having only achieved ratification in a total 35 states. Political scientist Jane J. Mansbridge concluded in her history of the ERA:{{blockquote|Many people who followed the struggle over the ERA believed—rightly in my view—that the Amendment would have been ratified by 1975 or 1976 had it not been for Phyllis Schlafly's early and effective effort to organize potential opponents.Jane J. Mansbridge, Why we lost the ERA (University of Chicago Press, 1986) p 110.}}

Joan Williams argues, "ERA was defeated when Schlafly turned it into a war among women over gender roles."{{cite book|last=Joan Williams|title=Unbending Gender: Why Family and Work Conflict and What To Do About It|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SxtNubyWAEMC&pg=PA147|year=1999|publisher=Oxford UP|page=147|isbn=9780199840472|access-date=February 19, 2016|archive-date=January 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102075538/https://books.google.com/books?id=SxtNubyWAEMC&pg=PA147|url-status=live}} Historian Judith Glazer-Raymo argues:{{blockquote|As moderates, we thought we represented the forces of reason and goodwill but failed to take seriously the power of the family values argument and the single-mindedness of Schlafly and her followers. The ERA's defeat seriously damaged the women's movement, destroying its momentum and its potential to foment social change ... Eventually, this resulted in feminist dissatisfaction with the Republican Party, giving the Democrats a new source of strength that when combined with overwhelming minority support, helped elect Bill Clinton to the presidency in 1992 and again in 1996.{{cite book|last=Judith Glazer-Raymo|title=Shattering the Myths: Women in Academe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pTWzBcW07RwC&pg=PA19|year=2001|publisher=Johns Hopkins UP|page=19|isbn=9780801866418|access-date=February 19, 2016|archive-date=January 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102075538/https://books.google.com/books?id=pTWzBcW07RwC&pg=PA19|url-status=live}}}}

Critics of Schlafly pointed out that she was not a typical housewife, as she was heavily involved in political causes.{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,945990,00.html |magazine=Time |title=Nation: Anti-ERA Evangelist Wins Again |date=July 3, 1978 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110121004145/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C945990%2C00.html |archive-date=January 21, 2011 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/04/02/int04008.html|title=Buzzflash Headlines|access-date=September 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130828012920/http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/04/02/int04008.html|archive-date=August 28, 2013}}

In broadcast media, Schlafly provided commentaries on Chicago news radio station WBBM from 1973 to 1975, the CBS Morning News from 1974 to 1975, and then on CNN from 1980 to 1983. In 1983, she began creating syndicated daily three-minute commentaries for radio. In 1989, she began hosting a weekly radio talk show, Eagle Forum Live.{{cite web|title=Phyllis Schlafly bio|url=http://www.eagleforum.org/misc/bio.html|publisher=Eagle Forum|access-date=February 4, 2012|archive-date=November 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103171548/http://www.eagleforum.org/about/bio.html|url-status=live}}

In November 1977, she was an opposition speaker at the 1977 National Women's Conference with Lottie Beth Hobbs, Dr. Mildred Jefferson, Nellie Gray, and Bob Dornan."[https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-526-f47gq6s51g 1977 National Women's Conference: A Question of Choices]," 1977-11-21, The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public BroadcastingFile:President Ronald Reagan meeting with Phyllis Schlafly.jpg

Schlafly told Time magazine in 1978, "I have cancelled speeches whenever my husband thought that I had been away from home too much."{{cite news |date=July 3, 1978 |title=Anti-ERA Evangelist Wins Again |url=http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,945990,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110121004145/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C945990%2C00.html |archive-date=January 21, 2011 |magazine=Time}}

In an interview on March 30, 2006, she attributed improvement in women's lives during the last decades of the 20th century to labor-saving devices such as the indoor clothes dryer and disposable diapers.{{cite news |last=Bellafante |first=Ginia |date=March 30, 2006 |title=A Feminine Mystique All Her Own |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/30/garden/30phyllis.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304171607/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/30/garden/30phyllis.html |archive-date=March 4, 2014 |access-date=January 31, 2008 |work=The New York Times}}

She called Roe v. Wade "the worst decision in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court" and said that it "is responsible for the killing of millions of unborn babies".{{cite news |date=January 18, 2002 |title=Anniversary: Roe v. Wade |url=http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/02/nation_schlafly011802.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610060153/http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/02/nation_schlafly011802.htm |archive-date=June 10, 2011 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}

{{External media|video1=[https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip_81-021c5bwq Phyllis Schlafly and Geline B. Williams discussing their opposition to the ERA on "Woman; 107; Equal Rights Amendment, Part 2," 1973-12-06, WNED, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (WGBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC ]}}

Schlafly focused political opposition to the ERA in defense of traditional gender roles, such as only men fighting in war. She argued that the Equal Rights Amendment would eliminate the men-only draft and ensure that women would be equally subject to conscription and be required to serve in combat, and that defense of traditional gender roles proved a useful tactic. In Illinois, the anti-ERA activists used traditional symbols of the American housewife, and took homemade foods (bread, jams, apple pies, etc.) to the state legislators, with the slogans, "Preserve us from a congressional jam; Vote against the ERA sham" and "I am for Mom and apple pie."{{cite book|first=Rosalind|last=Rosenberg|title=Divided Lives: American Women in the Twentieth Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h-GMcnUaLhEC&pg=PA225|year=2008|page=225|publisher=Macmillan |isbn=9780809016310|access-date=February 19, 2016|archive-date=January 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102075538/https://books.google.com/books?id=h-GMcnUaLhEC&pg=PA225|url-status=live}}

The historian Lisa Levenstein said that, in the late 1970s, the feminist movement briefly attempted a program to help older divorced and widowed women.{{cite web|url=https://www.uncg.edu/his/faculty/levenstein.html|title=Lisa Levenstein – HIS – UNCG|access-date=August 24, 2015|archive-date=December 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210190838/http://www.uncg.edu/his/faculty/levenstein.html|url-status=live}} Many widows were ineligible for Social Security benefits, few divorcees received alimony, and, after a career as a housewife, few had any work skills with which to enter the labor force. The program, however, encountered sharp criticism from young activists who gave priority to poor minority women rather than to middle-class women. By 1980, NOW downplayed the program, as they focused almost exclusively on ratification of the ERA. Schlafly moved into the political vacuum, and denounced the feminists for abandoning older, middle-class widows and divorcees in need, and warned that the ERA would unbalance the laws in favor of men, stripping legal protections that older women urgently needed.{{cite journal |last1=Levenstein |first1=Lisa |title="Don't Agonize, Organize!": The Displaced Homemakers Campaign and the Contested Goals of Postwar Feminism |journal=Journal of American History |date=March 1, 2014 |volume=100 |issue=4 |pages=1114–1138 |doi=10.1093/jahist/jau007 }}

Schlafly said that the ERA was designed for the benefit of young career women, and warned that if men and women had to be treated equally, that social condition would threaten the security of middle-aged housewives without job skills. She also contended that the ERA would repeal legal protections, such as alimony, and eliminate the judicial tendency for divorced mothers to receive custody of their children.{{cite book|first1=Deborah L.|last1=Rhode|title=Justice and Gender: Sex Discrimination and the Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S1qosJPdqPkC&pg=PA66|year=2009|publisher=Harvard UP|pages=66–67|isbn=9780674042674|access-date=February 19, 2016|archive-date=January 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102075538/https://books.google.com/books?id=S1qosJPdqPkC&pg=PA66|url-status=live}} Schlafly's argument that protective laws would be lost resonated with working-class women.{{cite book|first=Rosalind|last=Rosenberg|title=Divided Lives: American Women in the Twentieth Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h-GMcnUaLhEC&pg=PA225|year=2008|pages=225–26|publisher=Macmillan |isbn=9780809016310|access-date=February 19, 2016|archive-date=January 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102075538/https://books.google.com/books?id=h-GMcnUaLhEC&pg=PA225|url-status=live}}

In 2007, while working to defeat a new version of the Equal Rights Amendment, Schlafly warned it would force courts to approve same-sex marriages and deny Social Security benefits for housewives and widows.

Schlafly objected to the concept of the gender pay gap, calling it "a deceitful propaganda campaign has been orchestrated by the feminist movement."{{sfn|Schlafly|2003|p=98}} She stated that it is "part of the feminists' denigration of the role of motherhood [...] designed to eliminate [...] motherhood by changing us into a society in which women are harnessed into the labor force both full-time and for a lifetime".{{sfn|Schlafly|2003|p=98}} In fact, she believed that even if men do earn more than women, it is beneficial to society as a whole, because, "we want a society in which the average man earns more than the average woman so that his earnings can fulfill his provider role in providing a home and support for his wife who is nurturing and mothering their children."{{sfn|Schlafly|2003|p=79}} She stated: "We certainly don't want a society in which the average wage paid to all women equals [that of] men, because that society would have eliminated the role of motherhood."{{sfn|Schlafly|2003|p=99}}

Schlafly believed that the primary role of a woman should be that of wife, mother, and homemaker rather than career woman.{{sfn|Schlafly|1977|p=56}} She also believed that motherhood is crucial to the well-being of society, stating: "[Motherhood] is the most socially useful role of all"{{sfn|Schlafly|2003|p=99}} and "the dependent wife and mother who cares for her own children...performs the most socially necessary role in our society."{{sfn|Schlafly|2003|p=94}}

Schlafly held the position that men and women are fundamentally different and opposed what she termed the "feminist [propagandist]" assertion that "we must redesign society to become gender neutral and that men must shed their macho image and remake themselves to become househusbands."{{sfn|Schlafly|2003|p=60}} Instead, she believed that it was not possible to eradicate the differences between men and women. She argued that feminists "will have to take up their complaint with God," because "no other power can alter the fundamental and necessary differences between men and women."{{sfn|Schlafly|1977|p=12-3}}

Schlafly contended that the family is the place of greatest growth and satisfaction for women.{{sfn|Schlafly|1977|p=52}} She rejected what she claimed is the feminist view that the family is an anachronism that binds women down.{{sfn|Schlafly|2003|p=195}} She believed that the institution of the family as "the basic unit of society [...] is the greatest single achievement in the entire history of women's rights."{{sfn|Schlafly|1977|p=33}} She stated that "the future of our nation depends on children who grow up to be good citizens, and the best way of achieving that goal is to have emotionally stable, intact families."{{sfn|Schlafly|2003|p=102}}

In March 2007, Schlafly spoke against the concept of marital rape in a speech at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, "By getting married, the woman has consented to sex, and I don't think you can call it rape."{{cite news |last=Leonard |first=J.T. |date=March 29, 2007 |title=Schlafly cranks up agitation at Bates |url=https://www.sunjournal.com/2007/03/29/schlafly-cranks-agitation-bates/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023055246/https://www.sunjournal.com/2007/03/29/schlafly-cranks-agitation-bates/ |archive-date=October 23, 2020 |access-date=December 28, 2010 |newspaper=Sun Journal}}

Schlafly argued that in marriage, men and women's roles are different and should remain so. She defended her stance as one necessary to order instead of a threat to equality; she said, "If marriage is to be a successful institution, it must...have an ultimate decision maker, and that is the husband."{{sfn|Schlafly|1977|p=50}}

Schlafly opposed same-sex marriage and civil unions: "[a]ttacks on the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman come from the gay lobby seeking social recognition of their lifestyle."{{cite web |last=Schlafly |first=Phyllis |date=November 2009 |title=Feminists Psychoanalyze Themselves Again |url=http://www.eagleforum.org/psr/2009/nov09/psrnov09.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124173251/http://www.eagleforum.org/psr/2009/nov09/psrnov09.html |archive-date=November 24, 2010 |access-date=November 23, 2010 |website=The Phyllis Schlafly Report |publisher=Eagle Forum}} Linking the Equal Rights Amendment to LGBT rights and same-sex marriage played a role in Schlafly's opposition to the ERA.{{cite web |last=Schlafly |first=Phyllis |date=September 1986 |title=A Short History of E.R.A |url=http://www.eagleforum.org/psr/1986/sept86/psrsep86.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125172914/http://www.eagleforum.org/psr/1986/sept86/psrsep86.html |archive-date=November 25, 2010 |access-date=November 23, 2010 |website=The Phyllis Schlafly Report |publisher=Eagle Forum}}{{cite news |last=Sachs |first=Andrea |date=April 7, 2009 |title=Phyllis Schlafly at 84 |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1889757,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410072604/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1889757,00.html |archive-date=April 10, 2009 |access-date=November 23, 2010 |magazine=Time}}

Over the years, Schlafly disdained the United Nations. On the 50th anniversary of the UN in 1995, she referred to it as "a cause for mourning, not celebration. It is a monument to foolish hopes, embarrassing compromises, betrayal of our servicemen, and a steady stream of insults to our nation. It is a Trojan Horse that carries the enemy into our midst and lures Americans to ride under alien insignia to fight and die in faraway lands." She opposed President Bill Clinton's decision in 1996 to send 20,000 American troops to Bosnia during the Yugoslav Wars. Schlafly observed that Balkan nations have fought one another for 500 years and argued that the U.S. military should not be "policemen" of world trouble spots.Critchlow 2005, pp. 298–99

Prior to the 1994 Congressional elections, Schlafly condemned globalization through the World Trade Organization as a "direct attack on American sovereignty, independence, jobs, and economy ... any country that must change its laws to obey rulings of a world organization has sacrificed its sovereignty."Critchlow 2005, p. 298

In late 2006, Schlafly collaborated with Jerome Corsi and Howard Phillips to create a website in opposition to the idea of a "North American Union", under which the United States, Mexico, and Canada would share a currency and be integrated in a structure similar to the European Union.{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2007/11/25/the_amero_conspiracy/?page=full|title=The amero conspiracy|last=Bennett|first=Drake|date=November 25, 2007|work=The Boston Globe|access-date=February 20, 2009|archive-date=February 25, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225173748/http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2007/11/25/the_amero_conspiracy/?page=full|url-status=live}}

During the Cold War, Schlafly opposed arms control agreements with the Soviet Union. In 1961, she wrote that "[arms control] will not stop Red aggression any more than disarming our local police will stop murder, theft, and rape."Phyllis Schlafly, "Communist Master Plan for 1961", Cardinal Mindszenty Newsletter, February 15, 1961.

Schlafly was an outspoken critic of what she termed "activist judges", particularly on the Supreme Court. In 2005, Schlafly made headlines at a conference for the Judeo-Christian Council for Constitutional Restoration by suggesting that "Congress ought to talk about impeachment" of Justice Anthony Kennedy, citing as specific grounds Justice Kennedy's deciding vote to abolish the death penalty for minors.{{cite news|first=Dana|last=Milbank|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38308-2005Apr8.html|title=And the Verdict on Justice Kennedy Is: Guilty|newspaper=Washington Post|date=April 9, 2005|page=A03|author-link=Dana Milbank|access-date=September 8, 2017|archive-date=May 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170526101742/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38308-2005Apr8.html|url-status=live}}

In April 2010, shortly after John Paul Stevens announced his retirement as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Schlafly called for the appointment of a military veteran to the Court. Stevens had been a veteran and, with his retirement, the court was "at risk of being left without a single military veteran."{{cite press release|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/schlafly--obama-would-be-foolish-to-leave-supreme-court-without-a-veteran-90368884.html|title=Schlafly: Obama Would Be Foolish to Leave Supreme Court Without a Veteran|publisher=Prnewswire.com|access-date=June 2, 2013|archive-date=October 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015132948/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/schlafly--obama-would-be-foolish-to-leave-supreme-court-without-a-veteran-90368884.html|url-status=live}}

Schlafly believed the Republican Party should reject immigration reform proposals; she told Focus Today that it is a "great myth" that the GOP needs to reach out to Latinos in the United States. "The people the Republicans should reach out to are the white votes, the white voters who didn't vote in the last election. The propagandists are leading us down the wrong path ... [T]here's not any evidence at all that these Hispanics coming in from Mexico will vote Republican."{{cite news |last=Bennett-Smith |first=Meredith |date=May 30, 2013 |title=Phyllis Schlafly Tells Republicans To Ignore Hispanic Voters, Focus On White People (VIDEO) |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/phyllis-schlafly-hispanic-voters-ignore-white-people_n_3361620 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803055659/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/phyllis-schlafly-hispanic-voters-ignore-white-people_n_3361620 |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |access-date=April 26, 2020 |work=HuffPost}}[https://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/Politics/phyllis-schlafly-myth-republicans-seek-hispanic-voters/story?id=19287799 Phyllis Schlafly's White Voter Mirage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130032035/https://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/Politics/phyllis-schlafly-myth-republicans-seek-hispanic-voters/story?id=19287799|date=November 30, 2020}}, Jordan Fabian, ABC News/Univision, May 29, 2013

File:Phyllis Schlafly by Gage Skidmore 2.jpg

Schlafly did not endorse a candidate for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, but she spoke out against Mike Huckabee, who, she says, as governor left the Republican Party in Arkansas "in shambles". At the Eagle Forum, she hosted U.S. Representative Tom Tancredo of Colorado, known for his opposition to illegal immigration. Before his election, she criticized Barack Obama as "an elitist who worked with words".{{cite web|first=Sam|last=Leith|title=Obama's Oratory|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/acef9222-e35a-11dd-a5cf-0000779fd2ac.html|website=Financial Times|date=January 17–18, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108064335/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/acef9222-e35a-11dd-a5cf-0000779fd2ac.html|archive-date=January 8, 2010}}

During the election, she endorsed John McCain in an interview by saying: "Well, I'm a Republican, I'm supporting McCain". When asked about criticism of John McCain from Rush Limbaugh, she said: "Well, there are problems, we are trying to teach him".{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vExMOKn3Swk| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/vExMOKn3Swk| archive-date=November 17, 2021 | url-status=live|title=Phyllis Schlafly Speaks Out|date=May 15, 2008|publisher=YouTube|access-date=June 2, 2013}}{{cbignore}}

Schlafly endorsed Michele Bachmann in December 2011 for the Iowa caucus of the 2012 Republican presidential primaries, citing Bachmann's work against "ObamaCare" and deficit spending and Bachmann's support of "traditional values."{{cite news|url=http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/2011/12/04/conservative-activist-phyllis-schlafly-endorses-michele-bachmann|title=Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly endorses Michele Bachmann|last=Jacobs|first=Jennifer|date=December 4, 2011|newspaper=The Des Moines Register|access-date=December 6, 2011}}{{Dead link|date=October 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

File:Phyllis Schlafly by Gage Skidmore 3.jpg

On February 3, 2012, Schlafly announced that she would be voting for Rick Santorum in that year's Missouri Republican primary.{{cite web|last1=Levy|first1=Pema|title=Phyllis Schlafly Will Vote For Santorum|url=http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/phyllis-schlafly-will-vote-for-santorum|website=TPM|access-date=July 16, 2017|format=Livewire|date=February 3, 2012|quote=... planning to vote for Rick Santorum|archive-date=October 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002022116/http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/phyllis-schlafly-will-vote-for-santorum|url-status=live}} In 2016, she endorsed Donald Trump's candidacy for president.{{cite web|last1=Ward|first1=Jon|title=The Trump supporter who matters more to Iowa conservatives than Palin|url=https://www.yahoo.com/politics/the-trump-supporter-who-matters-more-to-iowa-215629893.html|website=Yahoo! Politics|date=January 20, 2016|quote=And she's willing to take a chance with someone who's going to shake things up.|access-date=January 21, 2016|archive-date=January 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120234816/https://www.yahoo.com/politics/the-trump-supporter-who-matters-more-to-iowa-215629893.html|url-status=live}} The endorsement soon led to a breach in the Eagle Forum board. Schlafly broke with six dissident members, including her daughter, Anne Cori,{{cite news|url=http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3419831/posts?page=1|title=Phyllis Schlafly Pushes Own Daughter to Resign Amid Cruz-Trump Split|work=Daily Caller|date=April 11, 2016|first1=Alex|last1=Pfeiffer|access-date=April 11, 2016|archive-date=April 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416221237/http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3419831/posts?page=1|url-status=live}} and Cathie Adams, the former state chairman of the Texas Republican Party.{{cite news|last1=Weigel|first1=David|title=Phyllis Schlafly faces coup over Trump endorsement|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/04/11/phyllis-schlafly-endorses-trump-then-faces-coup/|access-date=July 19, 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=April 10, 2016|archive-date=October 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002022535/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/04/11/phyllis-schlafly-endorses-trump-then-faces-coup/|url-status=live}} Adams instead supported U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Trump's principal challenger whom Adams considered a more conservative choice.{{cite web|last1=Medina|first1=Jose|title=Texas Eagle Forum's Cathie Adams: Schlafly Was Manipulated into Endorsing Trump|url=http://tfn.org/texas-eagle-forums-cathie-adams-schlafly-manipulated-trump/|date=March 23, 2016|website=Texas Freedom Network|quote=When you're 91 and you're not out with the grass roots all the time, it is very much taking advantage of someone.|access-date=July 17, 2017|archive-date=September 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909131159/http://tfn.org/texas-eagle-forums-cathie-adams-schlafly-manipulated-trump/|url-status=live}}

Schlafly's last book, The Conservative Case for Trump, was published September 6, 2016, one day after her death.{{cite book|last1=Schlafly|first1=Phyllis|last2=Martin|first2=Ed|last3=Decker|first3=Brett M.|title=The Conservative Case for Trump|date=September 6, 2016|publisher=Regnery Publishing|isbn=978-1621576280|page=272}}

On May 1, 2008, the trustees of Washington University in St. Louis, announced that Schlafly would receive an honorary degree at the graduation ceremony for the Class of 2008. This news was met with objection from some students and faculty, who complained she was anti-feminist and criticized her work in defeating the Equal Rights Amendment.{{cite news|url=http://publicbroadcasting.net/kwmu/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1278560§ionID=1|title=Wash-U chancellor apologizes for controversy, but Schlafly will still get honorary degree|date=May 15, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080519220922/http://publicbroadcasting.net/kwmu/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1278560§ionID=1|agency=Associated Press|archive-date=May 19, 2008}}

In a letter, fourteen law professors complained Schlafly's career demonstrated "anti-intellectualism in pursuit of a political agenda."{{cite web|url=http://abajournal.com/news/phyllis_schlafly_hon_degree_sparks_wash_u_spat_law_prof_protests|title=Phyllis Schlafly Hon. Degree Sparks Wash U Spat, Law Prof Protest|access-date=July 25, 2008|publisher=UPI|archive-date=July 19, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080719033404/http://www.abajournal.com/news/phyllis_schlafly_hon_degree_sparks_wash_u_spat_law_prof_protests|url-status=live}}

While the trustees' honorary-degree committee unanimously approved who would be honored, five student-members of the committee complained, in writing, that they were required to vote for the five people to be honored, as a slate, rather than individually, and thought that the selection of Schlafly was a mistake, despite her prominence as a famous graduate of Washington University.{{cite web|url=http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leiter/2008/05/wash-u-alumni-c.html|title=Brian Leiter's Law School Reports|access-date=May 29, 2008|archive-date=May 15, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515001015/http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leiter/2008/05/wash-u-alumni-c.html|url-status=live}} In the days before the graduation ceremony, Washington University Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton explained the trustees' decision to award Schlafly an honorary degree with the following statement of disclaimer:

In bestowing this degree, the University is not endorsing Mrs. Schlafly's views or opinions; rather, it is recognizing an alumna of the University whose life and work have had a broad impact on American life and have sparked widespread debate and controversies that in many cases have helped people better formulate and articulate their own views about the values they hold.{{cite web|url=http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/11789.html|title=Statement on Phyllis Schlafly's honorary degree|access-date=May 14, 2008|date=May 14, 2008|archive-date=May 21, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080521165853/http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/11789.html|url-status=live}}

At the May 16, 2008, commencement ceremony, Schlafly was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, yet faculty and students protested to rescind Schlafly's honorary degree. During the ceremony, hundreds of the 14,000 people in attendance, including one-third of the graduating class and some faculty, silently stood and turned their backs to Schlafly in protest.{{cite web|url=http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/schlafly_honor_protested|title=Schlafly Honor Protested|publisher=Outsidethebeltway.com|date=May 17, 2008|access-date=June 2, 2013|archive-date=February 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201202244/http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/schlafly_honor_protested/|url-status=live}} In the days before the commencement there were protests regarding the awarding of an honorary degree; Schlafly described the protesters as "a bunch of losers". Moreover, after the ceremony, Schlafly said that the protesters were "juvenile" and "I'm not sure they're mature enough to graduate." As planned, Schlafly did not address the graduating class, nor did any other honored guest, except for the commencement speaker, news commentator Chris Matthews of MSNBC.{{cite web|url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/05/16/Students-faculty-protest-Schlafly-honor/UPI-20161210976312/|title=Students, faculty protest Schlafly honor|publisher=UPI|date=May 16, 2008|access-date=February 4, 2012|archive-date=June 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629185111/http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/05/16/Students-faculty-protest-Schlafly-honor/UPI-20161210976312/|url-status=live}}

On October 20, 1949, she married attorney John Fred Schlafly Jr., a member of a wealthy St. Louis family; he died in 1993. His grandfather, August, immigrated in 1854 from Switzerland. In the late 1870s, the three brothers founded the firm of Schlafly Bros., which dealt in groceries, Queensware (dishes made by Wedgwood), hardware, and agricultural implements.The 1881 History of Marion & Clinton Counties, Illinois Fred and Phyllis Schlafly were both active Catholics. They linked Catholicism to Americanism and often exhorted Catholics to join the anti-communist crusade.Critchlow 2005, pp. 42–43.

Fred and Phyllis Schlafly moved across the Mississippi River to Alton, Illinois, and had six children: John, Bruce, Roger, Liza, Andrew, and Anne.Critchlow 2005, pp. 31–33. When her husband died in 1993, she moved to Ladue, Missouri. In 1992, their eldest son, lawyer John Schlafly, was outed as gay by Queer Week magazine.{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/09/02/at_80_schlafly_is_still_a_conservative_force|work=The Boston Globe|title=At 80, Schlafly is still a conservative force|first=Yvonne|last=Abraham|date=September 2, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090522141234/http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/09/02/at_80_schlafly_is_still_a_conservative_force/|archive-date=May 22, 2009}} He acknowledged that he was gay and stated that he agreed with his mother's opposition to same-sex marriage and extension of civil rights protection to gays and lesbians.{{cite news|newspaper=The Washington Post|title=Schlafly's Son, Out of the Closet|first=Laura|last=Blumenfeld|date=September 19, 1992|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1992/09/19/schlaflys-son-out-of-the-closet/bbc13552-b0f8-47d2-a761-461d4b1eee8d/|access-date=July 7, 2017|archive-date=May 23, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523235918/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1992/09/19/schlaflys-son-out-of-the-closet/bbc13552-b0f8-47d2-a761-461d4b1eee8d/|url-status=live}} Their son Andrew, also a lawyer and activist, created the wiki-based Conservapedia.{{cite news|last=Simon|first=Stephanie|title=A conservative's answer to Wikipedia|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jun-19-na-schlafly19-story.html|access-date=November 2, 2007|date=June 22, 2007|work=Los Angeles Times|archive-date=June 24, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624100044/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jun/19/nation/na-schlafly19|url-status=live}} Their daughter Anne Schlafly Cori, married to the son of Nobel-winning scientists Carl and Gerty Cori,{{cite web|title=Nobels All Around |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/nobels-all-around-jay-nordlinger/ |work=National Review|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417064601/https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/nobels-all-around-jay-nordlinger/ |archive-date=April 17, 2022 |access-date=December 26, 2022 |date=September 22, 2012}} is chairman and treasurer of Eagle Forum.{{cite web |title=Eagle Forum Board of Directors |url=https://eagleforum.org/about/governance.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204235419/https://eagleforum.org/about/governance.html |archive-date=December 4, 2022 |access-date=December 26, 2022}}

Schlafly was the aunt of conservative anti-feminist author Suzanne Venker; together they wrote The Flipside of Feminism: What Conservative Women Know – and Men Can't Say.{{cite news|last=Daum|first=Meghan|title=Phyllis Schlafly: back on the attack|url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/la-xpm-2011-mar-31-la-oe-daum-column-schlafly-20110331-story.html|access-date=November 27, 2012|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=March 31, 2011|archive-date=August 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120811153553/http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/31/opinion/la-oe-daum-column-schlafly-20110331|url-status=live}}

Schlafly died of cancer on September 5, 2016, at her home in Ladue, Missouri, at the age of 92.{{cite news|last1=Sullivan|first1=Patricia|title=Phyllis Schlafly, a conservative activist, has died at age 92|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/phyllis-schlafly-a-conservative-activist-has-died-at-age-92/2016/09/05/513420e2-73bc-11e6-be4f-3f42f2e5a49e_story.html|access-date=September 7, 2016|date=September 5, 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post|archive-date=September 6, 2016|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160906003924/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/phyllis-schlafly-a-conservative-activist-has-died-at-age-92/2016/09/05/513420e2-73bc-11e6-be4f-3f42f2e5a49e_story.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/conservative-activist-phyllis-schlafly-dies/article_08b63543-2a9b-5e96-bbc0-91367561fdf4.html|title=Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly dies|date=September 6, 2016|work=Saint Louis Post-Dispatch|access-date=September 6, 2016|archive-date=September 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160908082947/http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/conservative-activist-phyllis-schlafly-dies/article_08b63543-2a9b-5e96-bbc0-91367561fdf4.html|url-status=live}}

Schlafly was the author of 26 books on subjects ranging from child care to phonics education. She wrote a syndicated weekly newspaper column for Creators Syndicate.{{cite web|url=http://www.creators.com/opinion/phyllis-schlafly.html|title=Gang of Eight Increases Unemployment by Phyllis Schlafly on Creators.com – A Syndicate of Talent|publisher=Creators.com|access-date=June 2, 2013|archive-date=May 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511140557/http://www.creators.com/opinion/phyllis-schlafly.html|url-status=live}}

Schlafly's published works include:

• A Choice Not an Echo (Pere Marquette Press, 1964) {{ISBN|0-686-11486-8}}
• Grave Diggers (with Chester Ward) (Pere Marquette Press, 1964) {{ISBN|0-934640-03-3}}
• Strike from Space: A Megadeath Mystery (Pere Marquette Press, 1965) {{ISBN|80-7507-634-6}}
• Safe Not Sorry (Pere Marquette Press, 1967) {{ISBN|0-934640-06-8}}
• The Betrayers (Pere Marquette Press, 1968) ISBN B0006CY0CQ
• Mindszenty the Man (with Josef Vecsey) (Cardinal Mindszenty Foundation, 1972) ISBN B00005WGD6
• Kissinger on the Couch (Arlington House Publishers, 1974) {{ISBN|0-87000-216-3}}
• Ambush at Vladivostok, with Chester Ward (Pere Marquette Press, 1976) {{ISBN|0-934640-00-9}}
• The Power of the Positive Woman (Crown Pub, 1977) {{ISBN|0-87000-373-9}}
• The Power of the Christian Woman (Standard Pub, 1981) ISBN B0006E4X12
• Equal Pay for UNequal Work (Eagle Forum, 1984) {{ISBN|99950-3-143-4}}
• Child Abuse in the Classroom (Crossway Books, 1984) {{ISBN|0-89107-365-5}}
• Pornography's Victims (Crossway Books, 1987) {{ISBN|0-89107-423-6}}
• Who Will Rock the Cradle?: The Battle for Control of Child Care in America (World Publications, 1989) {{ISBN|978-0849931987}}
• First Reader (Pere Marquette Press, 1994) {{ISBN|0-934640-24-6}}
• Turbo Reader (Pere Marquette Press, 2001) {{ISBN|0-934640-16-5}}
• Feminist Fantasies, foreword by Ann Coulter (Spence Publishing Company, 2003) {{ISBN|1-890626-46-5}}
• The Supremacists: The Tyranny of Judges and How to Stop It (Spence Publishing Company, 2004) {{ISBN|1-890626-55-4}}
• Judicial Tyranny: The New Kings of America? – contributing author (Amerisearch, 2005) {{ISBN|0-9753455-6-7}}
• The Flipside of Feminism: What Conservative Women Know—and Men Can't Say (WorldNetDaily, 2011) {{ISBN|978-1935071273}}
• No Higher Power: Obama's War on Religious Freedom (Regnery Publishing, 2012) {{ISBN|978-1621570127}}
• Who Killed the American Family? (WND Books, 2014) {{ISBN|978-1938067525}}
• A Choice Not an Echo: Updated and Expanded 50th Anniversary Edition (Regnery Publishing, 2014) {{ISBN|978-1621573159}}
• How the Republican Party Became Pro-Life (Dunrobin Publishing, 2016) {{ISBN|978-0-9884613-9-0}}
• The Conservative Case for Trump – posthumously, with Ed Martin and Brett M. Decker (Regnery Publishing, 2016) {{ISBN|978-1-62157-628-0}}

Phyllis Schlafly is mentioned extensively in the seventh episode of the third season of the comedy TV series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, titled "Marvelous Radio". Set in 1960, the episode sees Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) agreeing to participate in a live radio commercial for Schlafly. Initially, Midge is enthusiastic about the prospect of supporting a woman running for Congress. However, after learning about her views, which are portrayed as ultra-conservative and antisemitic, she changes her mind and refuses to speak her part, while already at the recording studio with the broadcast about to start.The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, season 3, episode 7 "Marvelous Radio". Episode written and directed by Daniel Palladino. 2019.

The FX miniseries Mrs. America also partially focuses on Schlafly's life and activism, with Cate Blanchett portraying Schlafly. Though some praise the series for its accuracy,{{cite web |last1=Channing |first1=Cornelia |title=What's Fact and What's Fiction in Mrs. America |url=https://slate.com/culture/2020/04/mrs-america-accuracy-fact-fiction-fx-hulu-miniseries.html |website=Slate Magazine |language=en |date=April 15, 2020 |access-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729040636/https://slate.com/culture/2020/04/mrs-america-accuracy-fact-fiction-fx-hulu-miniseries.html |url-status=live }} Schlafly's family members, among other critics, dispute the accuracy of several accounts in the series.{{cite web |title=The caricature of Phyllis Schlafly in Mrs. America is pure propaganda |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/mrs-americas-caricature-of-phyllis-schlafly-is-pure-propaganda |website=Washington Examiner |language=en |date=April 14, 2020 |access-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-date=June 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619221601/https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/mrs-americas-caricature-of-phyllis-schlafly-is-pure-propaganda |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Foussianes |first1=Chloe |title=Phyllis Schlafly's Daughter, Anne Schlafly Cori, Thinks 'Mrs. America' Got Her Mom Wrong |url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a32141764/phyllis-schlafly-daughter-anne-cori-mrs-america-criticism/ |website=Town & Country |date=April 16, 2020 |access-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-date=July 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714070338/https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a32141764/phyllis-schlafly-daughter-anne-cori-mrs-america-criticism/ |url-status=live }}

Schlafly is briefly referred to in the Margaret Atwood novel The Testaments. The 2019 sequel to Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, The Testaments is set in a dystopian theocratic state in which women are segregated by caste and social function, including wives, housekeepers, teachers, and impregnable women. In this setting there is a "Schlafly Café" which is open to women in the "Aunt" or teacher caste.{{Cite book |last=Atwood |first=Margaret |title=The Testaments |date=2019 |isbn=978-0-385-54378-1 |location=New York |oclc=1098191298}}

;1952

{{Election box begin no change |title=1952 Republican primary for Illinois's 24th congressional district}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Phyllis Stewart Schlafly

|votes = 18793

|percentage = 61.14

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = John T. R. Godlewski

|votes = 11943

|percentage = 38.86

}}

{{Election box total no change

|votes = 30736

|percentage = 100

}}

{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change |title=1952 Illinois's 24th congressional district election}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Melvin Price (incumbent)

|votes = 117408

|percentage = 64.80

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Phyllis Stewart Schlafly

|votes = 63778

|percentage = 35.20

}}

{{Election box total no change

|votes = 181186

|percentage = 100

}}

{{Election box end}}

;1960

{{Election box begin no change |title=1960 Illinois's 24th congressional district election}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Melvin Price (incumbent)

|votes = 144560

|percentage = 72.22

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Phyllis Stewart Schlafly

|votes = 55620

|percentage = 27.79

}}

{{Election box total no change

|votes = 200180

|percentage = 100

}}

{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no party no change |title=Vote for delegates to the 1956 Republican National Convention from Illinois's 24th districtOfficial Vote of the

State of Illinois Cast at the General Election November 6, 1956, Judicial Election 1955, 1956 Primary Election General Primary, April 10, 1956 Compiled by Charles F. Carpentier Secretary of State (1956)}}

{{Election box winning candidate no party no change

|candidate = Phyllis Stewart Schlafly

|votes = 10338

|percentage = 36.74

}}

{{Election box winning candidate no party no change

|candidate = Wetzel G. Harness

|votes = 6445

|percentage = 22.91

}}

{{Election box candidate no party no change

|candidate = Henry A. Schwarz

|votes = 5837

|percentage = 20.75

}}

{{Election box candidate no party no change

|candidate = Horace J. Eggmann Jr.

|votes = 3539

|percentage = 12.58

}}

{{Election box candidate no party no change

|candidate = Daniel H. Schade

|votes = 1977

|percentage = 7.03

}}

{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no party no change |title=Vote for delegates to the 1964 Republican National Convention from Illinois's 24th districtOfficial Vote of the State of Illinois Cast at the General Election, November 3, 1964, Judicial Election, 1963-1964 Primary Election General Primary, April 14, 1964, Compiled by Paul Powell Secretary of State (1964)}}

{{Election box winning candidate no party no change

|candidate = Phyllis Stewart Schlafly

|votes = 9100

|percentage = 27.59

}}

{{Election box winning candidate no party no change

|candidate = Ralph D. Walker

|votes = 9060

|percentage = 27.47

}}

{{Election box candidate no party no change

|candidate = Rolla J. Mottaz

|votes = 8434

|percentage = 25.57

}}

{{Election box candidate no party no change

|candidate = Dr. E. L. Rauth

|votes = 6389

|percentage = 19.37

}}

{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no party no change |title=Vote for delegates to the 1968 Republican National Convention from Illinois's 24th districtState of Illinois Official Vote Cast at the General Election, November 5, 1968, Judicial Primary Election General Primary, June 11, 1968, John W. Lewis Secretary of State (1968)}}

{{Election box winning candidate no party no change

|candidate = James B. Wham

|votes = 14580

|percentage = 34.50

}}

{{Election box winning candidate no party no change

|candidate = Phyllis Schlafly

|votes = 14356

|percentage = 33.97

}}

{{Election box candidate no party no change

|candidate = Parker Graves

|votes = 13323

|percentage = 31.53

}}

{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no party no change |title=Vote for alternate delegates to the 1960 Republican National Convention from Illinois's 24th district}}

{{Election box winning candidate no party no change

|candidate = Phyllis Stewart Schlafly

|votes = 9569

|percentage = 43.92

}}

{{Election box winning candidate no party no change

|candidate = Robert D. Kecle

|votes = 8566

|percentage = 39.32

}}

{{Election box candidate no party no change

|candidate = Henry Plats

|votes = 3653

|percentage = 16.77

}}

{{Election box end}}

• 1964 (film)
• Mrs. America, a TV miniseries based on Schlafly and her role on the Equal Rights Amendment; Schlafly is played by Cate Blanchett.{{Cite news|last=Caryn James|url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20200402-mrs-america-review-a-smart-tale-of-an-anti-feminist-icon|title=Mrs America review: A smart tale of an anti-feminist icon|access-date=April 26, 2020|language=en|archive-date=May 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200504205212/http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20200402-mrs-america-review-a-smart-tale-of-an-anti-feminist-icon|url-status=live}}
• Mary Whitehouse, British conservative activist

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book | title = The Power of the Positive Woman

| url = https://archive.org/details/powerofpositivew00schl

| url-access = registration

| last = Schlafly | first = Phyllis

| year = 1977

| publisher = Arlington House Publishers | isbn = 9780870003738

| place = New York

}}

• {{cite book | title = Feminist Fantasies

| last = Schlafly | first = Phyllis

| year = 2003

| publisher = Spence Publishing Company| place = Texas

}}

• Critchlow, Donald T. Phyllis Schlafly and Grassroots Conservatism: A Woman's Crusade. Princeton University Press, 2005. {{ISBN|0-691-07002-4}}.
• Ehrenreich, Barbara. 1983. The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment. New York: Anchor Books.
• Felsenthal, Carol. The Sweetheart of the Silent Majority: The Biography of Phyllis Schlafly. Doubleday, 1981. {{ISBN|0-89526-873-6}}.

• Bass, Paul W. Missouri Innovators: Famous (and Infamous) Missourians who led the way in their field. Missouri: The Acclaim Press, 2019.
• Carroll, Peter N. Famous in America: The Passion to Succeed: Jane Fonda, George Wallace, Phyllis Schlafly, John Glenn. New York: Dutton, 1985.
• Farber, David. The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism: A Short History. 2010. pp. 119–158.
• Hallow, Ralph Z. "[http://washingtontimes.com/national/20051007-120157-1091r.htm Conservatives' first lady sparked pro-family effort]." The Washington Times, October 7, 2005.
• Schlafly, Phyllis. A Choice Not an Echo.
• Spruill, Marjorie J. Divided We Stand: The Battle Over Women's Rights and Family Values That Polarized American Politics. Bloomsbury, 2017.

{{commons}}

{{Wikiquote|Phyllis Schlafly}}

• [http://www.phyllisschlafly.com/ Phyllis Schlafly Eagles website]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080704195513/http://www.umsl.edu/~whmc/guides/whm0224.htm Phyllis Schlafly Collection (1972–1982) in the Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri-St. Louis]
• {{C-SPAN|3706}}
• [https://www.c-span.org/video/?174246-1/depth-phyllis-schlafly In Depth interview with Schlafly, January 5, 2003]
• {{find a Grave|169429833}}
• [https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip_15-086348h98h Interview with Phyllis Schlafly] (2014), 1964 Interviews Collection, American Archive of Public Broadcasting

{{Portal bar|Biography|Conservatism|Illinois|United States|Law|Politics|Journalism|Radio|Television|Books|Christianity}}

{{Authority control}}

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