The organization was chaired by former Missouri Senator John Danforth and former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman and tended to be critical of what it considered to be the disproportionate role of conservative Christians in the Republican Party.
The RLC dropped its embattled stance on abortion in favor of a neutral affirmation of the importance of "protecting individual rights" and "promoting strong families."
Governor John Engler of Michigan and Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, Republicans who oppose abortion were recruited to model a more inclusive position on that issue.
Financier Henry Kravis and John A. Moran, former Kansas Senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole, 1996 campaign finance chairman, were named as the organization's co-chairs.
[2] The RLC was inactive for several years after 2003, but was revived after the 2006 midterm elections by Whitman, former Missouri Senator John Danforth and former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele.