In 1983, Ralph Reed found God. Or rather, as one of his college classmates put it, “He didn’t change his views. He just found out that God agreed with him.”[17] Reed’s newfound faith reportedly compelled him to seek forgiveness for some of his past transgressions and ultimately led to the founding of Students for America (SFA), a spin-off of Young Americans for Freedom that sought to get college-aged evangelicals involved in politics.[18]
The skills and contacts he had developed during his stint with the College Republicans came in handy as the head of Students for America, an organization which he claimed - just one year after it was founded –consisted of more than “7,000 students on approximately 200 college campuses in 41 states.”[19]
Reed’s love of political theater and right-wing activism served him well at SFA. For instance, when he found out that there was a women’s health clinic just down the street from SFA’s headquarters, Reed rented a powder blue Cadillac to serve as a hearse and organized protests and “pray-ins” outside the clinic, even going so far as to picket the home of the doctor who had founded the clinic.[20]
Reed’s Washington connections were a big draw for SFA, which held training sessions for activists that featured right-wing stalwarts such as Jack Kemp, Newt Gingrich, Bill Bennett, Jeane Kirkpatrick, and Jesse Helms.[21]
Reed eventually became “burned out” on politics and retreated to Emory University where he obtained a PhD. in American History.[22] But he would soon return to right-wing politics as the man behind the newly formed “Christian Coalition.”