Pat Robertson, a religious broadcaster who built the Christian Broadcasting Network from a small Virginia station, attempted a presidential run and used his Christian Coalition to make religion a key part of Republican Party politics in America, has died.
He was 93. His television network confirmed Robertson’s demise on Thursday in an email. The reason wasn’t stated.
Robertson also owned the American Center for Law and Justice, which supports the First Amendment rights of religious persons, Regent University, an evangelical Christian college in Virginia Beach, Operation Blessing, and other businesses.
Known for his “700 Club” television program and, in later years, his televised pronouncements of God’s judgment, which were frequently made with a smile and in the form of a gentle lament, Robertson was a well-known figure in American living rooms for more than fifty years. He was known for attributing natural disasters to gays and feminists and accusing Black Lives Matter protesters of being anti-Christian.
For more than 50 years, Robertson was a recognizable figure in American homes thanks to his “700 Club” television program and, later, his televised prophecies of God’s judgment, which he often delivered with a smile and in the form of a gentle lament. He blamed feminists and gays for natural disasters and claimed that Black Lives Matter protesters were anti-Christian.
Robertson was a “happy warrior” who was soft-spoken, urbane and well-read, said Ralph Reed, who ran the Christian Coalition in the 1990s.
“He was not some backwoods preacher,” Reed said. “He was very enthralling, avuncular and charming. He had a great sense of humour.”
The money poured in as he solicited donations, his influence soared, and he brought a huge following with him when he moved directly into politics by seeking the GOP presidential nomination in 1988.
Robertson established the now-common tactic of targeting Iowa’s network of evangelical Christian churches, finishing ahead of Vice President George H.W. Bush in second place in the Iowa caucuses.
His masterstroke was insisting that three million followers across the U.S. sign petitions before he would decide to run, Robertson biographer Jeffrey K. Hadden said. The tactic gave him an army.
″He asked people to pledge that they’d work for him, pray for him and give him money,” Hadden, a University of Virginia sociologist, told The Associated Press in 1988. ″Political historians may view it as one of the most ingenious things a candidate ever did.″
