R.I.P.: Pat Robertson, Influential Religious Broadcaster

Pat Robertson (1930-2023)

Pat Robertson, a religious broadcaster who turned a tiny Virginia station into the global Christian Broadcasting Network, tried a run for president and helped make religion central to Republican Party politics in America through his Christian Coalition, has died. He was 93, according to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Robertson's death Thursday was announced by his broadcasting network. No cause was given.

Robertson's enterprises also included Regent University, an evangelical Christian school in Virginia Beach; the American Center for Law and Justice, which defends the First Amendment rights of religious people.

But for more than a half-century, Robertson was a familiar presence in American living rooms, known for his "700 Club" television show, and in later years, his televised pronouncements of God's judgment on America for everything from homosexuality to the teaching of evolution.; and Operation Blessing, an international humanitarian organization.

Robertson pioneered a now-common strategy of courting Iowa's network of evangelical Christian churches, and finished in second place in the Iowa caucuses, ahead of Vice President George H.W. Bush.

At the time, Jeffrey K. Hadden, a University of Virginia sociologist and a Robertson biographer, said Robertson's masterstroke was insisting that three million followers across the U.S. sign petitions before he would decide to run. 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 told The Associated Press in 1988. "Political historians may view it as one of the most ingenious things a candidate ever did."

Robertson later endorsed Bush, who won the presidency. Pursuit of Iowa's evangelicals is now a ritual for Republican hopefuls, including those currently seeking the White House in 2024.

Robertson started the Christian Coalition in Chesapeake in 1989, saying it would further his campaign's ideals. The coalition became a major force in Republican politics in the 1990s, mobilizing conservative voters through grass-roots activities.

By the time of his resignation as the coalition's president in 2001 — Robertson said he wanted to concentrate on ministerial work — his impact on both religion and politics in the U.S. was "enormous," according to John C. Green, an emeritus political science professor at The University of Akron.