Pat Robertson

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Lore & Background

Pat Robertson was born into a prominent political family; his father, A. Willis Robertson, was a conservative Democratic U.S. Senator. He earned a B.A. in history from Washington and Lee University, graduating magna cum laude and joining Phi Beta Kappa. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War, receiving three Battle Stars. After earning a law degree from Yale Law School in 1955 near the top of his class, he failed his first and only attempt at the New York bar exam. Following a religious conversion, he earned a Master of Divinity from The Biblical Seminary in New York in 1959. He was ordained as a Southern Baptist minister in 1961 by Freemason Street Baptist Church in Norfolk, Virginia. In 1960, Robertson established the Christian Broadcasting Network by buying the license of a defunct UHF station in Portsmouth, Virginia. The station, WYAH-TV, first broadcast on October 1, 1961. CBN launched The 700 Club in 1966, which Robertson co-hosted for decades. On April 29, 1977, CBN launched the first satellite television channel in America, the CBN Satellite Service, which became The Family Channel and was later sold to News Corporation for $1.9 billion in 1997. Robertson founded CBN University (renamed Regent University in 1990) in 1977. He also founded Operation Blessing International, the American Center for Law & Justice, and the Christian Coalition. He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 1988. Robertson retired from hosting The 700 Club in October 2021, on the sixtieth anniversary of CBN's first telecast. Robertson was a controversial figure, known for his opposition to LGBTQ rights, feminism, and abortion, and for promoting conspiracy theories about the Illuminati and New World Order. He was described as 'a vector for vivid conspiracy theories on the right.'

Reader's Guide

Pat Robertson's significance lies in his fusion of conservative Christian theology with mass media and political activism. By founding CBN and The 700 Club, he created a platform that reached millions of viewers daily, shaping evangelical discourse and mobilizing conservative voters. His founding of the Christian Coalition, a 1.7-million-member organization, provided a grassroots infrastructure that influenced Republican Party politics. Robertson also established Regent University, which became a training ground for conservative leaders in law, government, and media. His advocacy of dominionist ideas and his promotion of conspiracy theories, however, made him a polarizing figure. Scholars credit him with helping to shift the American religious right from a peripheral movement to a central force in national politics, though his legacy remains contested due to his controversial statements and alliances.

Did You Know?

• Robertson earned a B.A. in history from Washington and Lee University, graduating magna cum laude and joining Phi Beta Kappa.
• He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War and was awarded three Battle Stars.
• Robertson failed his first and only attempt at the New York bar exam after earning a law degree from Yale Law School.
• He founded the Christian Broadcasting Network in 1960 by buying the license of a defunct UHF station in Portsmouth, Virginia.
• Robertson retired from hosting The 700 Club in October 2021, on the sixtieth anniversary of CBN's first telecast.