Pat Robertson

Pat Robertson (born March 22, 1930, Lexington, Virginia, U.S.—died June 8, 2023, Virginia Beach, Virginia) was an American evangelist who was noted for his conservative views. He founded (1960) what became the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), which aired his talk show, The 700 Club.

Robertson was born into a political family; his father, Absalom Willis Robertson, served in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. After graduating from Washington and Lee University in 1950, the younger Robertson, who had been a reservist in the Marine Corps, was called to active duty. He served for some two years and then earned a law degree in 1955 from Yale University. After undergoing a religious conversion, he studied at New York Theological Seminary, graduating in 1959 and becoming an ordained Southern Baptist minister in 1961. During this time Robertson started (1960) the country’s first Christian television station, in Portsmouth, Virginia, eventually building it into CBN. Its mainstay was his talk show, The 700 Club—originally hosted by the rising televangelist Jim Bakker, who left CBN in 1972. Robertson subsequently founded CBN University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and it opened to students in 1978. The school’s name was changed to Regent University in 1990.

In the 1980s Robertson became increasingly involved in politics, and he subsequently resigned as minister in order to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 1988. His campaign focused on conservative issues, notably opposing abortion and supporting school prayer. After a strong start, however, his support waned, and Robertson withdrew from the race in February 1988. The following year he founded the Christian Coalition, an influential conservative political organization, and served as its head until 2002. In 2007 he stepped down as CEO of CBN and was replaced by his son Gordon Robertson. However, he continued to host The 700 Club until 2021. That year Gordon took over as host, though the elder Robertson announced that he would still occasionally appear on the program.

Throughout his career, Pat Robertson often attracted controversy. Following the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, he and fellow evangelist Jerry Falwell were criticized for apparently agreeing (on a broadcast of The 700 Club) that the tragedy had been caused by the immoral practices of abortionists, feminists, homosexuals, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In 2010 Robertson was criticized again, this time for his claim that the devastating earthquake in Haiti that January was divine retribution for a “pact with the Devil” made in the late 18th century by enslaved Black people seeking liberation from French rule.

Robertson wrote a number of books, including the memoir I Have Walked with the Living God (2020).