Terry Dolan, 36, Chairman of Conservative Lobby, Dies

John T. (Terry) Dolan, leader of a well-financed New Right lobby noted for its strongly worded political ads, died Sunday at the age of 36 after a long illness. A private funeral service was held Tuesday.

The immediate cause of death was congestive heart failure, according to a spokesman for NCPAC (National Conservative Political Action Committee), which Dolan helped create in 1975.

NCPAC gained national prominence when Ronald Reagan was elected President and Republicans took control of the Senate in 1980. The organization, led by Dolan as chairman, funneled nearly $2 million into Reagan’s campaign and took credit for defeating seven Democratic senators.

Refused to Run Ads

In the 1982 elections, NCPAC spent about $9 million more to support conservative congressional candidates and oppose liberal office-seekers. Many ads aimed at Democrats were so negative that some TV stations refused to run them. Although NCPAC’s influence faded in the 1984 and 1986 elections, its attack style of advertising was widely adopted by candidates in both parties.

In the 1984 presidential election, NCPAC sponsored advertisements opposing Democratic nominee Walter F. Mondale, including bumper stickers saying: “Honk if Mondale Has Promised You Something.”

Dolan, whom admirers called an energetic, creative strategist in the New Right movement, was a leading supporter of permitting organized prayer in public schools, banning abortions and reducing the size of government.

The dapper, outspoken Dolan was also controversial for his biting criticism of liberals and laws they supported. He once called the Civil Rights Act “irrelevant” and the Voting Rights Act “absolutely silly.” He called Republican Sen. Charles McC. Mathias Jr. of Maryland a “hemophiliac liberal.”

President’s Daughter

And he once suggested that conservatives “muzzle” Maureen Reagan, the President’s daughter, for her liberal views. “Maureen Reagan is the type of person who, in the middle of a war, would go out and shoot our wounded,” Dolan said.

He opposed most governmental programs and once declared that if he were in charge of the federal budget, it would be “99% for defense--keep America strong--and 1% on delivering mail. That’s it. Leave us alone.”

His political involvement began at the age of 9, when he worked part time for Richard M. Nixon’s unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1960. He attended the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami to support Reagan and worked for President Nixon’s reelection effort in 1972. He later became disenchanted with Nixon, denouncing him as “the most liberal President we’ve ever had.”

Dolan is survived by his mother, Peg Dolan; a brother, Anthony, director of President Reagan’s speech writers, and a sister, Maiselle, who worked on the White House staff.