Source 1: A primary source - a photograph of Rasputin, the "Mad Monk."".
Rasputin's rose to influence in 1907, through his miraculous ability as a starets or holy man to cure the Tsarevich Alexis' hemophilia. Rasputin was able to succeed where the best surgeons had failed and because of his great help to her son, Alexandra the Tsarist of Russia, kept him close to her at all times. This gave him the entrée to court which he exploited greedily in a scandalous life of debauchery, arousing the jealousy of the aristocracy and dragging the image of the royal family and court, further into the mud. Rasputin's reputation as a degenerate was very damaging to the Tsar and although he boasted of having enormous influence, Rasputin had few political ideas, held no formal position and had little direct effect on policy.
Rasputin played an important role in the roles of the Tsar, Tsarina and the Tsarevich and he had such an influence over Nicholas and Alexandra that he practically ran the country for a few years, until his death. We know that the family put a great deal of trust in him, as they called him Our friend. He had a particularly strong bond and therefore strong personal as well as political influence on Alexandra. The family regarded him as a religious prophet and as a man of God. In 1905, Nicholas II even wrote in his diary "We have got to know a man of God - Grigori - from the Tobolsk Province."" (Source 2)The relationship of the Romanov family and Rasputin can also be viewed in the context of the very strong traditional, age-old bond between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian leadership.
Source 3: This source (see above) is a cartoon from around 1916, which depicts the tsar and tsarina as Rasputin's Puppets showing their disapproval at his unwarranted influence. This was a commonly accepted view of Rasputin's relationship with the royal family. The inscription on the side means The Russian tsars at home.
