James Dobson, the founder of Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family who exerted influence over the highest levels of American politics, has died. He was 89.

Focus on the Family remembered Dobson as both its founder and its visionary. Jim Daly, the organization’s current president and Dobson’s successor, said in a statement that Dobson’s legacy “is in the people he touched and the families he helped,” adding that “millions of marriages were saved and strengthened” because of his leadership.

An influential leader and morality crusader who waged war on homosexuality and championed family values has died.