Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson was a prominent American televangelist and political activist known for founding the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) in the 1960s and hosting its flagship program, *The 700 Club*, which gained significant influence in the 1970s and 1980s. He emerged as a key figure in the Religious Right movement, advocating for the active involvement of conservative Christians in politics. In his 1986 book, *America's Dates with Destiny*, he expressed concerns about America's departure from its foundational Christian values. Despite an unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 1988, Robertson continued to shape political discourse through grassroots efforts, notably founding the Christian Coalition in 1989. His influence peaked during the 1980s, although it began to decline in the following decades. Until his passing in June 2023 at the age of 93, Robertson remained an active commentator on political and cultural issues, continuing to host *The 700 Club* and engaging with various public figures. His legacy includes inspiring many conservative Christians to participate in the political landscape, significantly impacting American politics through the lens of evangelical activism.
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Pat Robertson
- Born: March 22, 1930
- Birthplace: Lexington, Virginia
- Died: June 8, 2023
- Place of death: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Using his prominence as the founder of the first Christian television network and the host of a conservative Christian talk show, Robertson led many conservative Christians to become involved in the political process during the 1980s. In the following decades, he continued to use this platform to convey his beliefs regarding topics such as politics, terrorist attacks, climatic events, the economy, and more.
Pat Robertson came to prominence as a television personality in the United States in the 1970s, the decade after he founded the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) and began hosting its most influential television program, The 700 Club, a Christian talk show. In the 1980s, Robertson, along with many other conservative Christians, turned his attention to politics. In his book America’s Dates with Destiny (1986), he argued that America had drifted from the Christian and moral values that had animated its founding. Two years later, Robertson made an unsuccessful attempt to capture the Republican nomination for president of the United States. He lost to George H. W. Bush, who won the Republican primary and went on to win the presidential election of 1988. Undeterred by the loss, Robertson thereafter turned his attention to grassroots political action by founding the Christian Coalition in 1989. The purpose of this organization, he explained, was “to mobilize Christians—one precinct at a time, one community at a time—until once again we are the head and not the tail, and at the top rather than the bottom of our political system.”
The Christian Coalition remained active in American politics during the following decade. Robertson himself continued to use his television prominence to comment on American political and cultural affairs; however, by the beginning of the twenty-first century, when he resigned as president of the Christian Coalition, the influence of conservative Christians such as Robertson in the American political process appeared to have waned somewhat from its height in the 1980s.
By 2017, Robertson, well into his eighties and still serving as chancellor and CEO of Regent University, the educational institution he founded in 1977, was continuing to host The 700 Club, which at this point was being aired in the morning and later at night on the Freeform network (formerly ABC Family). In addition to interviewing major political figures such as Republican president Donald Trump, he appeared on the show to convey his opinions about issues such as feminism and events such as the 2010 earthquake in Haiti as well as the mass shooting that occurred at a country music concert in Las Vegas in October of that year. On June 8, 2023, Robertson died at his home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, at the age of 93.
Impact
During the first three quarters of the twentieth century, conservative Christians tended to avoid interaction with the American political process. In the last quarter of the century, however, they reemerged on the national political stage. Along with televangelist Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson was a key architect of conservative Christian activism. This activism was at its height during the 1980s and continued into the twenty-first century. Robertson never claimed the political prize to which he aspired, the presidency of the United States, but he had a profound impact on the American political process by persuading many conservative believers that they should be active participants in this process.
Bibliography
Boston, Rob. The Most Dangerous Man in America? Pat Robertson and the Rise of the Christian Coalition. Prometheus Books, 1996.
Harrell, David Edwin. Pat Robertson: A Personal, Religious, and Political Portrait. Harper & Row, 1987.
"M.G. 'Pat' Robertson." Regent University, www.regent.edu/about-regent/leadership/m-g-pat-robertson/. Accessed 28 Dec. 2017.
"Pat Robertson Fast Facts." CNN, 12 Mar. 2017, www.cnn.com/2013/03/08/us/pat-robertson-fast-facts/index.html. Accessed 28 Dec. 2017.
Robertson, Pat, with Jamie Buckingham. The Autobiography of Pat Robertson: Shout It from the Housetops! Rev. ed., Bridge, 1995.