Pat Robertson: An American Life

by David John Marley

Overview

This is the first professional, independent biography in twenty years of Pat Robertson: founder of both the Christian Coalition and the Christian Broadcasting Network, host of the daily TV show The 700 Club, and former presidential candidate. Robertson’s Christian Coalition led the Republican take over of Congress in 1994 and his leadership of the Christian Right helped elect George W. Bush. After the 2004 presidential election, pollsters and scholars claimed that the Republican party had become America’s first religious party. A big part of the reason that the GOP became identified with evangelical Christianity is Pat Robertson. Marley attempts to present a balanced view of his subject in which Robertson’s detractors will find reasons to appreciate some of his contributions while his fans will confront tough questions about some of his past actions. More than just a political biography, the book also explains his theology, business dealings, and personal life in a readable narrative style.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742552951
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	04/26/2007
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.29(w) x 9.34(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

David John Marley teaches history at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, California.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Senator's Son Chapter 2 Conversion Chapter 3 The $70 Network Chapter 4 High Hopes and Jimmy Carter Chapter 5 Prophet of Politics and Doom Chapter 6 The Reagan Mirage Chapter 7 The Secret Kingdom Chapter 8 From Ministry to Empire Chapter 9 Robertson's University Chapter 10 Testing the Waters Chapter 11 Into the Ring Chapter 12 Iowa Corn and Cuban Missiles Chapter 13 Robertson's Rhetoric Chapter 14 Pat Robertson, Inc. Chapter 15 The Christian Coalition Triumphant Chapter 16 The Collapse of the Christian Coalition Chapter 17 Trouble at Regent University Chapter 18 Robertson and W Chapter 19 The Emperor in Twilight

Editorial Reviews

David John Marley provides a valuable analysis of one of the leading figures of the Christian Right. Marley shows the diverse elements of Pat Robertson’s financial, educational, and political efforts, telling a fascinating story of one of the most colorful characters in recent American history.

Clyde Wilcox

David John Marley's book reflects impressive research as well as the author's deep understanding of conservative Protestantism. It is simply the best study of Pat Robertson's career as a national figure, especially his finances, his theological twists and turns, and his relations with Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and both Bushes.

Leo Ribuffo

A vitally important and fascinating account of one of the most influential figures in America.

Alan Wolfe

According to American mythology, anyone can be president of the United States. David John Marley's biography of Pat Robertson shows that equally mythological may be the idea that anyone can run for president. As unexpected and remarkable as Pat Robertson's quest for the highest political office in the United States was, in Marley's capable hands it is a story crammed with insights about the peculiar mix of faith, politics, and business enterprise that characterizes the Religious Right.

D. G. Hart

This book evidences good research and a readable narrative style....A useful update to our understanding of an important—but underestimated—figure in recent American religion and culture.

Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture

Marley has done a fine job of researching the life of a major religious figure and showing the ways Robertson has striven to blur boundaries in all his areas of influence.

Journal Of Southern Religion

Interesting and balanced coverage.... Marley has produced a fascinating study of a very powerful man and a dangerous man... Pat Robertson is a valuable study for anyone interested in the ability of one person to make a difference, the role of the Christian Right in AMerican politics and culture, the use of financial support to protect business interests abroad, and the development of the Christian Right as an extension of the Republican Party in the 1980s.

H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online

The timing is right for a biography such as this, and I suspect that Marley's analysis will be the first of several such works that explain the important role Evangelical leaders have played in setting the course of political and social discourse for the twenty-first century.

Pneuma 32

Interesting and balanced coverage.... Marley has produced a fascinating study of a very powerful man and a dangerous man... Pat Robertson is a valuable study for anyone interested in the ability of one person to make a difference, the role of the Christian Right in AMerican politics and culture, the use of financial support to protect business interests abroad, and the development of the Christian Right as an extension of the Republican Party in the 1980s.

H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online

This book evidences good research and a readable narrative style....A useful update to our understanding of an important—but underestimated—figure in recent American religion and culture.

Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture

This book evidences good research and a readable narrative style....A useful update to our understanding of an important—but underestimated—figure in recent American religion and culture.

Church History

Marley has done a fine job of researching the life of a major religious figure and showing the ways Robertson has striven to blur boundaries in all his areas of influence.

Journal of Southern Religion

Marley (history, Vanguard Univ., Costa Mesa, CA) has written a solid and well-researched biography of one of America's most controversial voices, Christian Coalition founder and former presidential candidate Pat Robertson. Robertson is an ambitious and intelligent man who intertwines the spiritual and political arenas and continuously engages in a conversation with the American public in order to succeed in the ideal of "Christian leadership to change the world" (the motto of his alma mater, Regent University). Marley is well versed in his topic-his dissertation was on Robertson and the Christian Right-and he offers a broad yet detailed portrayal of the man from his early days as a politician's son in Virginia and Washington to his present-day struggles with the George W. Bush administration. In the latter chapters, he speaks of the struggles Robertson has faced in recent years and enumerates the complexity of conservatism, Christianity, and politics in America. Though Marley is clearly partial and sympathetic to his subject, he does not overglorify. Fascinating and often engaging; recommended for public or church libraries.
—Anthony J. Elia

Library Journal