Pat Robertson

Claimed that the portion of the U.S. Constitution that pertains to the separation of church and state was not in the original Constitution and was forged onto it by a Communist spy sent to Washington, DC, by the Russians in the late 1920s. According to Robertson, the original framers of the Constitution were told by God that the United States was to be governed by a coalition of ministers, businessmen and property owners, and that the words "democracy" and "republic" are nowhere to be found in the original U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. [1996]

Pat Robertson was born on March 22, 1930 in Lexington, Virginia, USA as Marion Gordon Robertson.

In 1932, when Robertson was only 2, his father was elected to the United States House of Representatives where he served for 14 years. In the House, he was a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee where he was a principle author of the "pay as you go" taxation plan which still yields a harvest of payroll deductions for the Federal government each month.

In 1946, when Robertson was 16, his father was elected to fill the U.S. Senate seat of the aging Carter Glass, and there he served for 20 years, becoming one of the handful of senior conservative southern Democrats who controlled much of the business of the United States Senate.

Enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in 1948. Graduated from Washington and Lee in 1950 and was commissioned at the same time. Served in the rank of 2nd Lieutenant as the assistant adjutant of the First Marine Division in Korea. He was later promoted to first lieutenant in 1952, upon his return to the United States.

In 1956, upon attending dinner at a hotel, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he met Cornelius Vanderbreggen, a Dutch missionary leader, whom the 26-year-old Robertson asked to accept Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior. Vanderbreggen was also a good friend of Robertson's mother.

Left New York City to move to Tidewater, Virginia, where he planned to buy a bankrupt UHF television station in Portsmouth. Arriving with only $70 in his pocket, Robertson proceeded to raise the finances to purchase the station. CBN was formed January 11, 1960, and on October 1, 1961, CBN went on the air for the first time.

Since 1961, he resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

He is known for his work on The 700 Club (1966), First Landing (2007) and The Temple of Phenomenal Things (1997).

His mother, Gladys Churchhill Willis Robertson, died in 1968, at age 71.

He appeared with popular evangelical and charismatic leaders Bill Bright, D. James Kennedy, James Robison, Jim Bakker, Rex Humbard, Robert H. Schuller, Pat Boone, Nicky Cruz, David du Plessis, Demos Shakarian, and Thomas Zimmerman (Assemblies of God) at the Washington for Jesus Rally in Washington, D.C. Joining them was independent Baptist pastor Jerry Falwell. [29 April 1980].

In 1982, he served on President Ronald Reagan's Task Force on Victims of Crime.

He and the rest of his supporters celebrated the 25th Anniversary of CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network), among the people who attended was: Jim Bakker, Gavin MacLeod and Dr. Adrian Rogers, who was the keynote speaker, who in turn, served as President of the Southern Baptist Convention. [2 October 1986].

Unsuccessfully campaigned for the U.S. Republican presidential nomination in 1988. Took over hosting duties of The 700 Club (1966), a religious talk show, in 1972, when then host Jim Bakker left to start The P.T.L. Club (1976). His son, Tim Robertson, took over the host role in 1988 while he campaigned.

Referred to one of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain's campaign members as a "vicious bigot" against Christian conservatives. [2000]

Release of his book, "Six Steps to Spiritual Revival". [2002]

Caused a scandal in 2003 when a guest on his show who wrote a book claiming that the US State Department was a "nest of subversives" said that the only way to clean it out was to drop an atomic bomb on it. Robertson said, "I completely agree with you". Later on he said that he didn't mean it.

Caused a firestorm of controversy in 2005 when he called for the US government to assassinate Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, a frequent critic of the policies of the Republican administration of President George W. Bush, of whom Robertson was a fervent supporter. Robertson at first denied having said it and claimed it was a "liberal media" plot to discredit him, but when footage was aired showing that he indeed did advocate Chavez's assassination, he said that he didn't mean it.

Release of the book, "Pat Robertson: An American Life" by David John Marley. [2007]

Release of his book, "Right on the Money: Financial Advice for Tough Times". [2009]

Had celebrated his 85th birthday with his friends and family in Washington, D.C. Both fellow evangelists, Billy Graham and Robert H. Schuller weren't present at the party, of course, due to their failing healths, just 1 week before Schuller's death. [22 March 2015].