Esther's Army : The Christian Women Who Power the American Right

How and why right-wing Christian women have risen to the forefront of American politics

The 2024 election of Donald Trump was the culmination of the strategic efforts of Christian women over six decades. Sociologist Katie Gaddini was with them as they organised, rallied and celebrated. As a former evangelical, Gaddini speaks the language of the Christian Right fluently. In Esther’s Army, she profiles six distinct archetypes: college idealists, anti-feminist powerhouses, Black conservatives, MAHA social media influencers, white suburbanites and “Mama-Bears” marching on state capitols to ban books and gender initiatives. Observing Christian women’s activism from grassroots networks to conservative academies and law school to public politics and jobs at the White House today–as they borrow feminist rhetoric to “lean in” to their executive skills while rejecting liberal feminism–Gaddini reveals how these women have turned being underestimated into a strategic force.