It was after divorcing his first wife (because of the drug addictions) and proposing onstage to June Carter in 1968 (who promised to marry him once he had kicked his habits) that his life started to take a better turn. He rediscovered Christianity and they had their first child together. Prompting the start of 7 years clean of substances for Cash. His image was reinvented as he toured and dueted with his wife, who he clearly was madly in love with.
The following year, after the large success of his live prison albums, he started to host The Johnny Cash Show, a TV series in which he showcased contemporary artists, and hosted other segments of country music and history which were important to him. As a man on a mission, his show was one of his first opportunites outside of his music, to highlight important societal issues. He discussed prison reform, the Vietnam war and Native American activism, using his forum of media to influence a mass audience. It was during this period that his identity became fully formed, and he used his music and influence to help others in the same way he had been saved by music following his hardships in his own childhood. While gospel music and learning to play the guitar was his methods of escapism during his youth, he hoped to inspire people in the same way.
The Johnny Cash Show allowed his projected image to develop the saint/sinner binary, by stressing that he, despite all his flaws, still dedicated himself to trying to achieve a better life for his fellow ill-treated Americans.
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