Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly dies at 92

She was a delegate to the Republicans’ convention in Cleveland.

Phyllis Schlafly, a champion all right, but not of women.

Among the decorations in Schlafly’s office were a chunk of the Berlin Wall, a “Doonesbury” cartoon mocking her and a necktie from Ronald Reagan, who was her favorite president in her lifetime. “She was a valued friend”.

Schlafly, however, was hardly the stay-at-home mom she held as an ideal, as her critics often pointed out.

She remained active in conservative politics until her death.

Her organization Eagle Forum, founded in St. Louis, says on its website that it opposes “the feminist goals of stereotyping men as a constant danger to women”, and that it “exposes the radical feminists”.

Arch-conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, who bitterly opposed LGBT rights, pro-choice rights and the Equal Rights Amendment, among other causes, died September 5.

“With the political establishment, the media, and academia all arrayed against her, she organized a grassroots movement that not only stopped the Equal Rights Amendment but became the foundation for the pro-life, pro-family movement we have today”, he said. She is the co-author, with George Neumayr, of the New York Times Best-Seller titled “No Higher Power: Obama’s War on Religious Freedom”. President Reagan praised her campaign against ERA as “brilliant” and called Schalfly “an example to all those who would struggle for an America that is prosperous and free”. She fought every day right to the end for America First. A pie was smashed into her face, pig’s blood was thrown on her, and feminist Betty Friedan once told Mrs. Schlafly: “I’d like to burn you at the stake”.

Schlafly’s lifelong mantra was that a woman’s role is to be mother and wife. Schlafly’s attack on the proposed amendment was based on the premise that the rights of women already were well protected by the U.S. Constitution. “And this is exactly and precisely what we will lose if the Equal Rights Amendment is passed”. Her protests used symbols of the stereotypical American housewife, such as homemade bread and jams.

Schlafly was born on August 15, 1924, and grew up in St. Louis during the Great Depression in a Republican household. Though she received a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and a law degree, published over twenty books and had a vibrant career as a speaker and activist, Schlafly rejected the idea that most women should be anything more than homemakers.

Schlafly graduated as a Phi Beta Kappa from Washington University. Her joy in life was evident to all through her smile and wit. She never gave an inch when it came to defending principle.

Schlafly also built a reputation as a strident anti-Communist and opponent of arms control treaties. “I will miss her personally, but the conservative cause has lost its matriarch”.

She frequently criticized immigration reform and the Obama administration. In 1964 she wrote a book called “A Choice Not An Echo” endorsing the candidacy of Sen.