Speaker Mike Johnsons (R-La.) elevation to the heights of the U.S. House of Representatives marked one of the most significant achievements of the religious right since its splash onto the political scene in the late 20th century. It had successfully placed a true believer who worked inside its movement into one of the most important political offices in the country.

And with him, he brought the bona fides of a record of advancing one of the movements most important goals: putting Christianity back into every facet of public life.

Johnson has a long history of supporting and promoting creationist causes, acting as a lawyer for the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter in Kentucky where dinosaurs are seen as passengers on a re-creation of Noahs Ark, as previously reported by HuffPost . But perhaps most important is his key role as a lawyer for the religious-right forces in Louisiana, which successfully passed legislation enabling teachers to inject creationism into public school classrooms and aided his rise to become speaker of the House.

When the law faced challenges to its implementation and schools faced lawsuits for teaching creationism, Johnson, who worked as a senior litigator for the Alliance Defending Freedom and sat on the Louisiana Family Forums attorneys resources council, was the one to swoop in with legal memos, letters threatening lawsuits, and prayer rallies on behalf of the religious-right groups opposed to secular education. Johnson did not reply to HuffPosts request for comment on this story.

Johnson was always their legal go-to guy, said Barbara Forrest, a professor at Southeastern Louisiana University who helped lead the opposition to creationism in schools in the state and clashed with the Louisiana Family Forum. They knew that they could call on him.