Pat Robertson, The Broadcaster Who Helped Put Religion At The Heart Of Republican Party Politics, Has Died Aged 93
Coast of Virginia.. Late. He is 93 years old.
Robertson’s death was confirmed by email from his TV station on Thursday. No reason given.
Robertson’s endeavors also include Regent University, an evangelical Christian school in Virginia Beach; The yankee middle for regulation and Justice, which protects the primary amendment rights of non secular human beings; and Operation Blessing, an international humanitarian agency.
For more than half a century, Robertson was a fixture in America’s living room, best known for his television show The 700 Club and in later years for his televised statements on God’s judgments, in which he blamed natural disasters for everything from homosexuality to evolution.. theory.
He raised money, increased his power and popularity when he sought the Republican nomination for the presidency in 1988.
Robertson pioneered a now widespread strategy of approaching Iowa’s network of evangelical Christian churches, placing second only to Vice President George HW Bush in the Iowa primary.
His feet led to three million supporters in the US signing a petition before he decided to run, says Robertson biographer Jeffrey C. Haddon. Tactics gave him troops.
“He asked people to promise that they would work for him, pray for him, and give him money,” Haddon, a sociologist at the University of Virginia, told the Associated Press in 1988. “Political historians probably see it as one of the most brilliant things ever by a candidate.
Robertson later supported Bush, who won the presidency. The Iowa evangelical hunt has become a ritual for Republican candidates, including those seeking the White House in 2024.
Robertson founded the Chesapeake Christian Coalition in 1989 and said it would further his campaign’s goals. The coalition became a major political force in the 90s.
By the time he stepped down as president of the coalition in 2001 - Robertson said he wanted to focus on ministerial work - his influence on religion and politics in the US had been "immense", according to John C. Green, emeritus professor of political science at Akron University.
Many have followed the path Robertson took in broadcasting religion, Green told AP in 2021. Robertson connected conservative Christianity to the Republican party.”
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson was born on March 22, 1930 in Lexington, Virginia to Absalom Willis Robertson and Gladys Churchill Robertson. His father was a US Representative and US Senator from Virginia for 36 years.
After graduating from Washington and Lee University, he served as Deputy Adjutant to the 1st Marine Division in Korea.
He graduated from Yale Law School with a law degree but failed the bar exam and decided not to pursue a career in law.
Robertson met his spouse, Adelia “Dude” Elmer, at Yale in 1952.She was a Southern Baptist, he was a Catholic, and earned a master’s degree in nursing. Eighteen months later, they allowed themselves to be married off by a judge, knowing that neither family would approve.
Robertson was interested in politics until he discovered religion, Dede Robertson told the AP in 1987. He surprised him by pouring him the alcohol, ripping the naked print off the wall, and declaring he had found God.
They moved to a commune in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of New York because Robertson said God told him to sell everything he owned and serve the poor. He was tempted to return to Ohio, “but I realized God didn’t want that from me ... I promised to stay, so I did,” he told the AP.
Robertson earned a Master of Divinity degree from New York Theological Seminary in 1959, then headed south with his family to buy the bankrupt UHF television station in Portsmouth, Virginia. He said he only had $70 in his pocket, but he quickly found investors and CBN went off the air on October 1, 1961. Founded as a non-profit, tax-exempt religious organization, CBN raised hundreds of millions and raised $321 million in “ministerial support” in the recent year 2022.
One of Robertson's innovations was using a secular talk show format on the network's main event, The 700 Club, which grew from a telethon in which Robertson solicited 700 viewers for a $10 monthly contribution. It lent itself better to television than to traditional revival meetings or worship services and reached large audiences.
"Here you have people who are trained to have complex conversations with various guests on various topics," said Green, professor of political science at Akron University. “The tone is definitely religious. But it's an approach that includes day-to-day care.
Finally, the guests included several US Presidents – Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump.
Occasionally, his broadcast statements have come under fire.
He argued that the terrorist attacks that killed thousands of Americans on September 11, 2001 were caused by God angry at federal justice, pornography, abortion rights, and the separation of church and state. Speaking again about 9/11 on his television show a year later, Robertson described Islam as a violent religion that tends to "dominate" and "destroy", prompting President George W. Bush to distance himself and say Islam is peaceful and respectful. religion .
He called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in 2005, but later apologized.
Later that year, he warned rural Pennsylvania townspeople not to be surprised by disaster because they elect school board members who would rather teach “intelligent design” than evolution. And in 1998 he said Orlando, Florida should be protected from hurricanes after approving the annual Gay Day event.
In 2014, he angered Kenyans when he warned that towels could transmit AIDS in Kenya. CBN issued a correction, saying Robertson “wrongly spoke about the possibility of contracting AIDS through a towel.”
Robertson is also unpredictable: In 2010, he called for an end to mandatory prison terms for marijuana possession. Two years later, he told the 700 Club that marijuana should be legalized and treated like alcohol because the government’s war on drugs had failed.
Robertson condemned Democrats’ involvement in the sex scandal, saying, for example, President Bill Clinton had turned the White House into a breeding ground for sexual freedom. He backed Donald Trump by excusing his sexually aggressive remarks as an effort to appear masculine.”
Many have followed the path Robertson took in broadcasting religion, Green told AP in 2021. Robertson united conservative Christianity and the Republican Party in American politics.”
Marion Gordon “Pat” Robertson changed into born on March 22, 1930 in Lexington, Virginia, to Absalom Willis Robertson and Gladys Churchill Robertson. His father was a US Representative and US Senator from Virginia for 36 years.
After graduating from Washington and Lee University, he served as Deputy Adjutant to the 1st Marine Division in Korea.
He graduated from Yale Law School with a law degree but failed the bar exam and decided not to pursue a career in law.
Robertson met his spouse, Adelia “Dode” Elmer, at Yale in 1952. She was a Southern Baptist, he was a Catholic, and earned a master’s degree in nursing. Eighteen months later, they allowed themselves to be married off by a judge, knowing that neither family would approve.
Robertson was interested in politics until he discovered religion, Dede Robertson told the AP in 1987. He surprised him by pouring him the alcohol, ripping the naked print off the wall, and declaring he had found God.
They moved to a commune in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of New York because Robertson said God told him to sell everything he owned and serve the poor. He was tempted to return to Ohio, "but I realized God didn't want that from me ... I promised to stay, so I did," he told the AP.
Robertson earned a Master of Divinity degree from New York Theological Seminary in 1959, then headed south with his family to buy the bankrupt UHF television station in Portsmouth, Virginia. He said he only had $70 in his pocket, but he quickly found investors and CBN went off the air on October 1, 1961. Founded as a non-profit, tax-exempt religious organization, CBN raised hundreds of millions and raised $321 million in "ministerial support" in the recent year 2022.
One of Robertson's innovations was using a secular talk show format on the network's main event, The 700 Club, which grew from a telethon in which Robertson solicited 700 viewers for a $10 monthly contribution. It lent itself better to television than to traditional revival meetings or worship services and reached large audiences.
"Here you have people who are trained to have complex conversations with various guests on various topics," said Green, professor of political science at Akron University. “The tone is definitely religious. But it's an approach that includes day-to-day care.
Finally, the guests ncluded several US Presidents — Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump.
Occasionally, his broadcast statements have come under fire.
He argued that the terrorist attacks that killed thousands of Americans on September 11, 2001 were caused by God angry at federal justice, pornography, abortion rights, and the separation of church and state. Speaking again about 9/11 on his television show a year later, Robertson described Islam as a violent religion that tends to "dominate" and "destroy, ", prompting President George W. Bush to distance himself and say Islam is peaceful and respectful. Religion .
He called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in 2005, but later apologized.
Later that year, he warned rural Pennsylvania townspeople not to be surprised by disaster because they elect school board members who would rather teach "intelligent design" than evolution. And in 1998 he said Orlando, Florida should be protected from hurricanes after approving the annual Gay Day event.
In 2014, he angered Kenyans when he warned that towels could transmit AIDS in Kenya. CBN issued a correction, saying Robertson "wrongly spoke about the possibility of contracting AIDS through a towel."
Robertson is also unpredictable: In 2010, he called for an end to mandatory prison terms for marijuana possession. Two years later, he told the 700 Club that marijuana should be legalized and treated like alcohol because the government's war on drugs had failed.
After Trump took office, Robertson interviewed the President on the White house. And CBN welcomes Trump advisers like Kellyanne Conway as guests.
But after President Trump lost to Joe Biden in 2020, Robertson stated Trump turned into dwelling in an “opportunity fact” and needed to “move on”, information outlets said.
Robertson’s son Gordon succeeded him as CEO of CBN in December 2007, which is now based in Virginia Beach. Robertson remained chair of the network and continued to appear on the “700 Club”.
Robertson is stepping down as host in 2021 after half a century and his son Gordon is taking over the weekday show.
Robertson is also the founder and chair of International Family Entertainment Inc., the parent company of the ancestral cable television network The Family Channel. news company by Rupert Murdoch, IFE, was purchased in 1997.
Regent University, whose courses began in Virginia Beach in 1978, now has more than 30,000 graduates, CBN said in a statement.
Robertson has written 15 books, including The Turning Tide and The New World Order.
His wife, Dede, who was a CBN board member, died last year at the age of 94. The couple have four children, 14 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren, CBN said in a statement.
Former Associated Press reporters Don Schanche and Pam Ramsey contributed to this story.
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