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Charles Wendell "Chuck" Colson (October 16, 1931 - April 19, 2012) was a Evangelical Christian leader, cultural commentator, and former Special Counsel for President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973.

He was commonly named as one of the Watergate Seven and pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for attempting to defame Pentagon Papers defendant Daniel Ellsberg. He became a Christian in 1973, and the following year served seven months of a one-to-three year sentence in the federal Maxwell Prison in Alabama as the first member of the Nixon administration to be incarcerated for Watergate-related charges.

Once known as President Nixon's "hatchet man," Colson's mid-life conversion to Christianity sparked a radical life change that lasted the remainder of his life. He began anew with a dual focus on both the non-profit ministry he founded after his time behind bars — Prison Fellowship — and to Christian worldview teaching and training. Colson is also a public speaker and the author of more than 30 books.. He is founder and chairman of The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview, which is "a research, study, and networking center for growing in a Christian worldview", and includes Colson's daily radio commentary, BreakPoint, heard on more than 1,400 outlets across the United States.

Colson has received 15 honorary doctorates and in 1993 was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, the world's largest annual award (over $1 million) in the field of religion, given to a person who "has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension". He donated this prize to further the work of Prison Fellowship, as he does all his speaking fees and royalties.

Early life

During World War II, Colson organized fundraising campaigns in his school for the war effort that raised enough money to buy a Jeep for the army.

In 1948, Colson volunteered in the campaign to re-elect then-Governor of Massachusetts, Robert Bradford.

After attending Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge in 1949, he earned his B.A., with honors, from Brown University in 1953, and his J.D., with honors, from George Washington University Law School in 1959.

Colson served in the United States Marine Corps from 1953 to 1955, reaching the rank of Captain. From 1955 to 1956, he was Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Material). He then worked on the successful 1960 campaign of Leverett Saltonstall (US Republican Party for the U.S. Senate) and was his Administrative Assistant from 1956 to 1961. In 1961 Colson founded the law firm of Colson & Morin, which swiftly grew to a Boston and Washington, D.C. presence with the addition of former Securities Exchange Commission chairman Edward Gadsby and former Raytheon Company general counsel Paul Hannah. Colson and Morin shortened the name to Gadsby & Hannah in late 1967. Colson left the firm to join the Richard Nixon administration in January 1969.

Colson's first marriage with Nancy Billings, in 1953, bore three children: Wendell Ball II (born 1954), Christian Billings (1956) and Emily Ann (1958). This marriage ended in divorce in January 1964, after some years of separation. He then married Patricia Ann Hughes on April 4, 1964.

Nixon administration

In 1968, Colson served as counsel to Republican presidential candidate Richard Nixon's Key Issues Committee.

On November 6, 1969, Colson was appointed as Special Counsel to President Nixon.

Colson was responsible for inviting influential private special interest groups into the White House policy-making process and winning their support on specific issues. His office served as the President's political communications liaison with organized labor, veterans, farmers, conservationists, industrial organizations, citizen groups, and almost any organized lobbying group whose objectives were compatible with the administration's. Colson's staff broadened the White House lines of communication with organized constituencies by arranging presidential meetings and sending White House news releases of interest to the groups.

In addition to his liaison and political duties, Colson's responsibilities included: performing special assignments for the president, such as drafting legal briefs on particular issues, reviewing presidential appointments, and suggesting names for White House guest lists. His work also included major lobbying efforts on such issues as construction of an antiballistic missile system, the president's Vietnamization program, and the administration's revenue-sharing proposal.

Slate magazine writer David Plotz described Colson as "Richard Nixon's hard man, the 'evil genius' of an evil administration." Colson has written that he was "valuable to the President ... because I was willing ... to be ruthless in getting things done". This is perhaps complimentary when read in comparison to the descriptions of Colson which pepper the work of Rolling Stone National Affairs' Political Correspondent, Hunter S. Thompson during the period.

Colson authored the 1971 memo listing Nixon's major political opponents, later known as Nixon's Enemies List. A quip that "Colson would walk over his own grandmother if necessary" mutated into claims in news stories that Colson had boasted that he would run over his own grandmother to re-elect Nixon. In a February 13, 1973 conversation, Colson told Nixon that he had always had “a little prejudice.” Plotz reports that Colson sought to hire Teamsters thugs to beat up anti-war demonstrators. Colson also proposed firebombing the Brookings Institution and stealing politically damaging documents while firefighters put the fire out.

Colson's voice, from archives from April 1969, was heard in the 2004 movie Going Upriver deprecating the anti-war efforts of John Kerry. Colson's orders were to "destroy the young demagogue before he becomes another Ralph Nader." In a phone conversation with Nixon on April 28, 1971, Colson said, "This fellow Kerry that they had on last week...He turns out to be really quite a phony."

Watergate and Ellsberg scandals

Colson also became involved in the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP or CREEP). At a CRP meeting on March 21, 1971, it was agreed to spend $250,000 on "intelligence gathering" on the Democratic Party. Colson and John Ehrlichman appointed E. Howard Hunt to the White House Special Operations Unit (the so-called "Plumbers") which had been organized to stop leaks in the Nixon administration. Hunt headed up the Plumbers' burglary of Pentagon Papers-leaker Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office in September 1971. The Pentagon Papers were military documents about the Vietnam War which helped increase opposition to the war. Colson hoped that revelations about Ellsberg could be used to discredit the anti-Vietnam War cause. Colson admitted to leaking information from Ellsberg's confidential FBI file to the press, but denied organizing Hunt's burglary of Ellsberg's office. He expressed regret for attempting to cover up this incident in his 2005 book, The Good Life.

Those among us who consider themselves most worldly — Pete Hamill, for instance; or the writers for the Village Voice—treat as a huge joke, as if W. C. Fields had come out for the Temperance Union. They are waiting for the second act, when the resolution comes, and W. C. Fields is toasting his rediscovery of booze, and Colson is back practicing calisthenics on his grandmother's grave.

— William Buckley, Washington Star, June 28, 1974

On March 10, 1973, Colson resigned from the White House to return to the private practice of law, as Senior Partner at the law firm of Colson and Shapiro, Washington, D.C.

On March 1, 1974, Colson was indicted for conspiring to cover up the Watergate burglary.

As Colson was facing arrest, his close friend, Raytheon Company chairman of the board Thomas L. Phillips, gave Colson a copy of Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, which, after reading it, led Colson to become an evangelical Christian. Colson then joined a prayer group led by Douglas Coe and including Democratic Senator Harold Hughes, Republican congressman Al Quie and Democratic congressman Graham B. Purcell, Jr.. When news of the conversion emerged much later, several U.S. newspapers, as well as Newsweek, The Village Voice, and Time, ridiculed the conversion, claiming that it was a ploy to reduce his sentence. In his 1975 memoir Born Again. Colson noted that a few writers published sympathetic stories, as in the case of a widely reprinted UPI article, "From Watergate to Inner Peace."

If Mr. Colson can repent of his sins, there just has to be hope for everybody.

— "Amen Brother," Boston Globe editorial, 1973

After taking the Fifth Amendment on the advice of his lawyers during early testimony, Colson found himself torn between his desire to be truthful and his desire to avoid conviction on charges of which he believed himself innocent. Following prayer and consultation with his fellowship group, Colson approached his lawyers and suggested a plea of guilty to a different criminal charge of which he did consider himself culpable.

After days of negotiation with Jaworski and Gesell, Colson pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice on the basis of having attempted to defame Ellsberg's character in the build-up to the trial in order to influence the jury against him. Journalist Carl Rowan commented in a June 10 column that the guilty plea came "at a time when the judge was making noises about dismissing the charges against him" and speculated that Colson was preparing to reveal highly damaging information against Nixon, an expectation shared by columnist Clark Mollenhoff; Mollenhoff even went so far as to suggest that for Colson not to become a "devastating witness" would cast doubt on the sincerity of his conversion. On June 21, 1974, Colson was given a one- to three-year sentence and fined $5,000. He was subsequently disbarred in the District of Columbia, with the expectation of his also being prohibited from using his licenses from Virginia and Massachusetts.

Colson served seven months in Maxwell Correctional Facility in Alabama, — with brief stints at a facility on the Fort Holabird grounds when needed as a trial witness — entering prison on July 9, 1974 and being released early, on January 31, 1975, by the sentencing judge because of family problems. At the time that Gesell ordered his release, Colson was one of the last of the Watergate defendants still in jail, only Gordon Liddy was still incarcerated; Egil Krogh had served his sentence and been released before Colson entered jail, while John Dean, Jeb Magruder, and Herb Kalmbach had been released earlier in January 1975 by Judge John Sirica. (Although Gesell declined to name the "family problems" prompting the release, Colson wrote in his 1976 memoir that his son Chris, angry over his father's imprisonment and looking to replace his broken car, had bought $150 worth of marijuana in hopes of selling it at a profit, and had been arrested in South Carolina, where he was in college. The state later dropped the charges.)

Born Again, Colson's personal memoir reflecting on his religious conversion and prison term, was made into a 1978 dramatic film starring Dean Jones as Colson, Anne Francis as his wife Patty, and Harold Hughes as himself. Actor Kevin Dunn would also portray Colson in the 1995 movie Nixon.

During his time in prison, Colson had become increasingly aware of what he saw as injustices done to prisoners and shortcomings in their rehabilitation; he also had the opportunity, during a three-day furlough to attend his father's funeral, to pore over his father's papers and discover the two shared an interest in prison reform. He became increasingly convinced that he was being called by God to develop a ministry to prisoners with an emphasis in promoting changes in the justice system.

Career after prison

Prison ministry

After his release from prison, Colson founded Prison Fellowship in 1976, which today is "the nation’s largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families". Colson has worked to promote prisoner rehabilitation and reform of the prison system in the United States, citing his disdain for what he calls the "lock 'em and leave 'em" warehousing approach to criminal justice. He has helped to create prisons whose populations come from inmates who choose to participate in faith-based programs.

In 1983, Colson founded Justice Fellowship, using his influence in conservative political circles to push for bipartisan, legislative reforms in the U.S. criminal justice system.

On June 18, 2003, Colson was invited by President George W. Bush to the White House to present results of a scientific study on the faith-based initiative, InnerChange, at the Carol Vance Unit (originally named the Jester II Unit) prison facility of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Fort Bend County, Texas. Colson led a small group that includes Dr. Byron Johnson of the University of Pennsylvania, who was the principal researcher of the InnerChange study, a few staff members of Prison Fellowship and three InnerChange graduates to the meeting. In the presentation, Dr. Johnson explained that 171 participants in the InnerChange program were compared to a matched group of 1,754 inmates from the prison's general population. The study found that only 8 percent of InnerChange graduates, as opposed to 20.3 percent of inmates in the matched comparison group, became offenders again in a two-year period. In other words, the recidivism rate was cut by almost two-thirds for those who complete the faith-based program. Those who are dismissed for disciplinary reasons or who drop out voluntarily, or those who are paroled before completion, have a comparable rate of rearrest and incarceration.

Christian worldview advocacy

Colson also maintains a variety of media channels which discuss contemporary issues from an evangelical Christian worldview. Colson's views are typically consistent with a politically conservative interpretation of evangelical Christianity. In his Christianity Today columns, for example, Colson has opposed same-sex marriage, and argued that Darwinism is used to attack Christianity. He has also argued against Darwinism and in favor of intelligent design, saying Darwinism helped cause forced sterilizations by eugenicists.

Colson has been an outspoken critic of postmodernism, believing that, as a cultural worldview, it is incompatible with the Christian tradition. He has debated prominent post-evangelicals, such as Brian McLaren, on the best response for the evangelical church in dealing with the postmodern cultural shift. Colson has, however, come alongside the controversial "creation care" movement when endorsing Christian-environmentalist author Nancy Sleeth's Go Green, $ave Green: a simple guide to saving time, money, and God's green earth. In the early 1980s, Colson was invited to New York by David Frost's variety program on NBC for an open debate with Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the famous atheist who, in 1963, brought the court case (Murray v. Curlett) that eliminated official public school prayers.

Colson is a member of the Family (also known as the Fellowship), described by prominent evangelical Christians as one of the most politically well-connected fundamentalist organizations in the US.

On April 4, 1991, Colson was invited to deliver a speech as part of the Distinguished Lecturer series at Harvard Business School. The speech was titled "The Problem of Ethics," where he argued that a society without a foundation of moral absolutes cannot long survive.

In November 2009, Colson was a principal writer and driving force behind an ecumenical statement known as the Manhattan Declaration calling on evangelicals, Catholics and Orthodox Christians not to comply with rules and laws permitting abortion, same-sex marriage and other matters that go against their religious consciences. He previously had ignited controversy within Protestant circles for his mid-90s common-ground initiative with conservative Roman Catholics Evangelicals and Catholics Together, which Colson wrote alongside prominent Roman Catholic Richard John Neuhaus.

More recently, Colson has been a proponent of the Bible Literacy Project's curriculum The Bible and Its Influence for public high school literature courses.

Political engagement

On October 3, 2002, Colson was one of the co-signers of the Land letter sent to President George W. Bush. The letter was written by Richard D. Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and co-signed by four prominent American evangelical Christian leaders with Colson among them. The letter outlined their theological support for a just war pre-emptive invasion of Iraq.

On June 1, 2005, Colson appeared in the national news commenting on the revelation that W. Mark Felt was Deep Throat. Colson expressed disapproval in Felt's role in the Watergate scandal, first in the context of Felt being an FBI employee who should have known better than to disclose the results of a government investigation to the press (violating a fundamental tenet of FBI culture), and second in the context of the trust placed in him (which demanded a more active response, such as a face-to-face confrontation with the FBI director or Nixon or, had that failed, public resignation). His criticism of Felt provoked a harsh response from former Washington Post executive editor Benjamin Bradlee, one of only three individuals to know who Deep Throat was prior to the public disclosure, who said he was "baffled" that Colson and Liddy were "lecturing the world about public morality" considering their role in the Watergate scandal. Bradlee stated that "as far as I'm concerned they have no standing in the morality debate."

Colson also supported the passage of Proposition 8. He signed his name to a full-page ad in the December 5, 2008 New York Times that objected to violence and intimidation against religious institutions and believers in the wake of the passage of Proposition 8. The ad stated that "violence and intimidation are always wrong, whether the victims are believers, gay people, or anyone else." A dozen other religious and human rights activists from several different faiths also signed the ad, noting that they "differ on important moral and legal questions," including Proposition 8.

Awards and honors

From 1982 to 1995, Colson received honorary doctorates from various colleges and universities.

In 1990, the Salvation Army recognized Colson with its highest civic award, the Others Award. Previous recipients of the award include Barbara Bush, Paul Harvey, US Senator Bob Dole and the Meadows Foundation.

In 1993, Colson was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, the world's largest cash gift (over $1 million), which is given each year to the one person in the world who has done the most to advance the cause of religion. He donated this prize, as he does all speaking fees and royalties, to further the work of Prison Fellowship.

In 1994, Colson was famously quoted in contemporary Christian music artist Steven Curtis Chapman's song "Heaven in the Real World" as saying:

"Where is the hope? I meet millions of people who feel demoralized by the decay around us. The hope that each of us has is not in who governs us, or what laws we pass, or what great things we do as a nation. Our hope is in the power of God working through the hearts of people. And that's where our hope is in this country. And that's where our hope is in life."

In 1999, Colson co-authored "How Now Shall We Live?" with Nancy Pearcey and published by Tyndale House. The book was winner of the 2000 Gold Medallion Book Award.

On February 9, 2001, the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) presented Colson with the Mark O. Hatfield Leadership Award at the Forum on Christian Higher Education in Orlando, Florida. The award is presented to individuals who have demonstrated uncommon leadership that reflects the values of Christian higher education. The award was established in 1997 in honor of US Senator Mark Hatfield, a long-time supporter of the Council.

In 2008, Colson was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President George W. Bush.

Later years

In 2000, Florida Governor Jeb Bush reinstated the rights taken away by Colson's felony conviction, including the right to vote.

On March 31, 2012, Colson underwent surgery to remove a blood clot on his brain after he fell ill while speaking at a Christian worldview conference. CBN erroneously reported on April 18, 2012, that he died with his family at his side on April 18, 2012 but Prison Fellowship later (12:30am on April 19 and again at 7:02am) pointed out that this is not the case.

Death

Colson passed away April 19, 2012.

Books

(This is not a complete list. Colson has a long list of publications and collaborations, including over 30 books which have sold more than 5 million copies. He has also written forewords for several other books.)

(Some of these ISBNs are for recent editions of the older books.)

Notes

1. A Gallery of the Guilty. Time Magazine, January 13, 1975
2. ^ "About Chuck Colson". Retrieved 25 November 2009. Cite error: The named reference "bio" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
3. "The Chuck Colson Center". Retrieved 18 April 2012.
4. "Colson Center Fact Sheet". Retrieved 18 April 2012.
5. Colson, Charles W. (2005). The Good Life. Tyndale House. pp. 9, 83. ISBN 0-8423-7749-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
6. ^ Special Files: Charles W. Colson, United States National Archives and Records Administration
7. ^ David Plotz (March 10, 2000). "Charles Colson - How a Watergate crook became America's greatest Christian conservative". Slate.
8. ^ Colson, Charles W. (1975). Born Again. Chosen. ISBN 0-8007-9377-3. Chapter 5.
9. Nagourney, Adam (2010-12-10) In Tapes, Nixon Rails About Jews and Blacks, New York Times
10. Mehren, Elizabeth (February 18, 2003). "Insanity in Nixon's White House". Los Angeles Times. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help) (Text available here.)
11. Dean, John (1976). Blind Ambition. ISBN 0-671-81248-3pages= 35–39. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
12. Fred Emery. Watergate. Simon and Schuster, 1995. ISBN 0-684-81323-8. Pages 47-48. References Nixon's memoirs regarding firebombing.
13. ^ With antiwar role, high visibility, Boston Globe, June 17, 2003
14. ^ Nixon targeted Kerry for anti-war views, Brian Williams, NBC News, March 16, 2004
15. Colson, Charles W. (2005). The Good Life. Tyndale House. pp. 19, 20. ISBN 0-8423-7749-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
16. ^ William Buckley. "Colson Christianity skepticism unfounded," originally in Washington Star and reprinted in The Dallas Morning News, June 28, 1974, page 21A.
17. Papers of Charles Wendell Colson - Collection 275, Archives, Billy Graham Center, December 8, 2004.
18. "The Man Who Converted to Softball". TIME. June 17, 1974.
19. Colson, Charles W. Born Again. Chosen Books, 1975
20. United Press International. "From Watergate to Inner Peace," The Dallas Morning News, December 20, 1973, page 8A.
21. Charles W. Colson. "Born Again." Google eBooks. Page 183.
22. Maryln Schwartz. "Prayer for Colson," The Dallas Morning News, June 7, 1974, page 8A.
23. Carl Rowan. "Colson could bring swift end to puzzle," The Dallas Morning News, June 10, 1974, page 23A.
24. Clark Mollenhoff. "Colson could mean trouble," The Dallas Morning News, June 29, 1974, page 19A.
25. Associated Press. "Colson ordered to serve 1 to 3 years in prison," The Dallas Morning News, June 22, 1974, page 1A.
26. No author. "Court Disbars Charles Colson," The Dallas Morning News, June 27, 1974, page 12A.
27. ^ About Chuck Colson, BreakPoint website
28. Associated Press. "Committee hears Colson: testimony leaves panel members confused," The Dallas Morning News, July 16, 1974, page 2AL "Colson was brought from his jail cell at Fort Holabird, Md., to testify on his inside knowledge of the plumbers, the Watergate break-in and coverup, and the ITT and milk matters."
29. ^ "Charles Colson, Nixon counsel, ordered freed," The Dallas Morning News, February 1, 1975, page 1A.
30. No author. "Colson begins prison term with data offer," The Dallas Morning News, page 2A.
31. Born Again, Chapter 27.
32. Colson, Charles W. (1976). Born Again. Chosen Books. p. 364. ISBN 0912376139.
33. "Prison Fellowship: A Timeline". Retrieved 18 April 2012.
34. "Nation's Largest Prison Ministry Announces Appointment of New CEO". June 6, 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
35. Justice Fellowship website
36. CRRUCS Report 2003: InnerChange Freedom Initiative
37. Colson, Charles W. (2005). "Epilogue". The Good Life. Tyndale House. pp. 362–364. ISBN 0-8423-7749-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
38. "The coming persecution: how same-sex 'marriage' will harm Christians," Christian Post, July 2, 2008.
39. God Versus Darwin: What Darwinism Really Means, Breakpoint (a Prison Fellowship publication).
40. Chuck Colson's Ten Questions about Origins, Breakpoint
41. Deadly exports
42. Colson, Charles W. (2005). The Good Life. Tyndale House. ISBN 0-8423-7749-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
43. Sharlet, Jeff (2008). The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power. HarperCollins. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-06-055979-3.
44. The Problem of Ethics, Charles W. Colson, April 4, 1991
45. Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience
46. What Scholars and Leaders are Saying
47. Nixon aides say Felt is no hero
48. , Interview, Deep Throat Revealed: Ben Bradlee, June 2, 2005
49. NoMobVeto.org
50. Dinner to begin local Salvation Army campaign, The Bryan-College Station Eagle, September 26, 2004
51. Charles Colson receives prestigious leadership award, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, February 15, 2001
52. TIME: 25 Most Influential Evangelicals Photo Essay: Charles Colson, Time Magazine, February 7, 2005
53. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/aprilweb-only/colson-critical-condition.html
54. http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2012/April/Devoted-Prison-Fellowship-Founder-Chuck-Colson-Dies/
55. https://twitter.com/#!/prisonfellowshp/status/192840970881081344
56. https://twitter.com/#!/prisonfellowshp/status/192976372472348674
57. ""Born Again" Amazon Editorial Review". Retrieved 18 April 2012.
58. "1984 Gold Medallion Book Awards Winners". Retrieved 25 November 2009.
59. "1988 Gold Medallion Book Awards Winners". Retrieved 25 November 2009.
60. "1990 Gold Medallion Book Awards Winners". Retrieved 25 November 2009.
61. "1992 Gold Medallion Book Awards Winners". Retrieved 25 November 2009.
62. "1993 Gold Medallion Book Awards Winners". Retrieved 25 November 2009.
63. "1994 Gold Medallion Book Awards Winners". Retrieved 25 November 2009.
64. "2004 Gold Medallion Book Awards Winners". Retrieved 25 November 2009.
65. "2000 Gold Medallion Book Awards Winners". Retrieved 25 November 2009.
66. "The Sky is Not Falling". worthypublishing.com. 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2011.

External links

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• BreakPoint Commentary
• Columns in Christianity Today
• Columns in The Christian Post
• Colson Center for Christian Worldview
• Chuck Colson's biography at Prison Fellowship Ministries
• Watergate Key Players by the Washington Post
• Nixon aides say Felt is no hero MSNBC June 1, 2005.
• Born Again by Al Hartley
• ShortNews.com (Source for Citizens Medal Presentation)

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