Charles Colson

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Charles Colson (ca.1969)

Charles Wendell "Chuck" Colson (born October 16, 1931 in Boston , Massachusetts , † April 21, 2012 in Falls Church , Virginia ) was an American lawyer and politician ( Republican Party ). He served as the primary adviser to US President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973 and was one of seven Nixon advisors sentenced to prison for the Watergate Affair .

Life

Colson grew up in Boston and graduated with honors from Brown University and George Washington University in law. From 1953 to 1955 he served in the Marines . He was married and had four children.

In November 1969, he was appointed Special Counsel to the President for Public Liaison ; he held this post until March 1973. Known as the “enforcer” of President Nixon, Colson could always count on Colson's support when it came to achieving a desired political goal. Significant was his unconditional loyalty to the president with regard to his political goals.

When he was about to be arrested in the course of the Watergate Affair, a friend gave him the book Pardon I Am a Christian by C. S. Lewis , which, according to his autobiography, converted him to an evangelical Christian. Cartoons in various newspapers in the United States, as well as in magazines such as Newsweek and Time , ridiculed his decision and described it as a cynical move to reduce his sentence. Involved in the course of investigations into the Watergate scandal, he agreed in 1974 voluntarily, the offense of violation of the law can not be denied in this case and was sentenced to one to three years in prison. He spent most of his sentence in Maxwell Correctional Facility in Alabama . In 1976 he was released from prison.

After his release, Colson founded the nonprofit Prison Fellowship , which cares for the spiritual, moral, social and physical well-being of prison inmates, ex-prisoners and their families. In this context, merits are due to the release of Elizabeth Morgan from prison. In the United States, there are 1,300 programs in prisons through the organization. In this context, she works with 7,700 churches and 14,000 volunteers. Prison Fellowship is active in 110 countries.

One of his successes was the establishment of prisons based on the Christian faith and whose inmates had asked to be transferred to an appropriate prison. He was also responsible for a large number of broadcasters in which key issues of current affairs are dealt with from the standpoint of evangelical Protestantism. His writing consisted of more than 20 publications, the proceeds of which from authoring rights flowed to his foundation.

In October 2002, Colson, along with other prominent American evangelical leaders, signed an open land letter to President Bush outlining an argument in favor of a preventive invasion of Iraq as a recommendation to fight for a just cause.

He died of a cerebral haemorrhage in April 2012.

Bibliography (excerpt)

  • Born again. The true story of Charles Colson. Hodder and Stoughton, London / Sydney / Auckland / Toronto 1980.
  • Verdict: Life. (Original: Life sentence. ) 2nd edition, Hänssler, Neuhausen-Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-7751-0530-1 .
  • Live the peace of God. The challenge. (Original: Loving God. ) Hänssler, Neuhausen-Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-7751-0973-0 .
  • The consultant. The machinations of the mighty. 4th edition (earlier than Watergate as no one has seen it before . ) (Original: Born again. ) Hänssler, Neuhausen-Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-7751-1377-0 .
  • Loving God. Zondervan 1997.
  • Burden of Truth: Defending the Truth in an Age of Unbelief. Tyndale House, 1998.
  • Fortunately, the community as a self-service shop? Back to the church as the body of Christ. (Original: The Body. ) Hänssler, Holzgerlingen 1999, ISBN 3-7751-3282-1 .
  • How Now Shall We Live? Tyndale House, 1999.
  • with Ellen Vaughn: Being the Body. Thomas Nelson, 2004. (expanded edition of The Body. )
  • with William A. Dembski: The Design Revolution: Answering the Toughest Questions About Intelligent Design. InterVarsity Press, 2004.
  • with Harold Fickett: The good life. Tyndale, 2005.
  • Read that go unchallenged in Media and Government. Tyndale, 2005.
  • God & Government: An Insider's View on the Boundaries Between Faith & Politics. Zondervan 2007.

Movie

The story of Colson's advisory work in the White House , his conversion to Christianity and his stay in prison were filmed in 1978 by Irving Rapper under the title Born again . The role of Charles Colson was played by Dean Jones , his wife Patty was played by Anne Francis . Ex-Senator Harold Hughes played his role himself. The film is strongly influenced by the Christian message and is available in German-speaking countries under the title The Consultant .

Web links

Wikiquote: Charles Colson  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chuck Colson, Nixon's 'dirty tricks' man, dies at 80
  2. ↑ http://www.livenet.ch/themen/people/portraits/214199-gott_erreichte_mich_in_der_tiefe_des_skandals.html (accessed on: April 25, 2012).
  3. ↑ http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/aprilweb-only/chuck-colson-dead.html


personal data
SURNAME Colson, Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Colson, Chuck; Colson, Charles Wendell
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lawyer, adviser to US President Richard Nixon
DATE OF BIRTH October 16, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Boston , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH April 21, 2012
Place of death Falls Church , Virginia