A dozen years ago, the Christian Coalition was one of the most powerful and successful political organizations in the nation.

Founded by Pat Robertson in the wake of his more-successful-than-expected 1988 bid for the GOP presidential nomination, and midwifed to success by Ralph Reed, the Christian Coalition was a critical element of the movement that helped Republicans recapture the House of Representatives in the 1994 mid-term elections, garnering the cover of TIME magazine in the process.

But in 1997, Reed left to open a consulting firm; his departure was followed in 2001 by that of Robertson himself.