Guerillas and bodybags and sharks -- oh my! A short history of Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition.

`Nonpartisan' Christian Coalition Formed

Robertson announces formation of the Christian Coalition, saying the non-partisan group will work to train Christians to shape government policy and "make government and the media responsive to our concerns." (October 1989)

`One Precinct At A Time'

Robertson hires Ralph Reed, a 29-year-old GOP activist, to run the Coalition. Reed tells the Los Angeles Times, "What Christians have got to do is take back this country, one precinct at a time, one neighborhood at a time and one state at a time. I honestly believe that in my lifetime we will see a country once again governed by Christians ... and Christian values." (May 1990)

Big Bucks From The GOP

The "nonpartisan" Coalition accepts a $64,000 donation from the Republican Senatorial Committee and uses it to intervene in a North Carolina Senate race between Republican Jesse Helms and Democrat Harvey Gantt. [At a closed-door meeting of Coalition activists in November 1991, Reed brags that after Helms called Robertson for help, he blanketed the state with 750,000 voter guides and helped Helms win.] (November 1990)

Mainline Christians: `Spirit of the Antichrist'?

On his "700 Club" television program, Robertson blasts other Christian denominations. "You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that and the other thing," he observes. "Nonsense! I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist." (Jan. 14, 1991)

Reed: `You're In A Body Bag'

In an interview with the Norfolk Virginian Pilot, Reed outlines the Coalition's stealth politics, a strategy that encourages Religious Right candidates to tout popular positions such as lower taxes and hide their controversial religious agenda. "I want to be invisible," he says. "I paint my face and travel at night. You don't know it's over until you're in a body bag. You don't know until election night." (November 1991)

Guerilla Warfare

Reed defends "stealth politics" in the Los Angeles Times. "It's like guerilla warfare," he says. "If you reveal your location, all it does is allow your opponent to improve his artillery bearings. It's better to move quietly, with stealth, under the cover of night." (March 1992)

George Bush: Dupe Of Lucifer?

Robertson's book, The New World Order, begins to attract attention. In the volume, Robertson asserts that a centuries-old conspiracy of worldwide leaders directed by Satan has engineered human history. Robertson asserts that President George Bush may be "unknowingly and unwittingly carrying out the mission and mouthing the phrases of a tightly knit cabal whose goal is nothing less than a new order for the human race under the dominion of Lucifer and his followers." Critics point out that the book is based on long-discredited anti-Semitic works from the 1920s. (June 1992)

Coalition Backs Bush

Despite his charges about Bush being a dupe of Satan, Robertson supports Bush's re-election bid and says the Coalition will distribute 40 million voter guides. (November 1992)

Reed Stashes Body Bags In Locker Room

In a six-page letter to CC activists, Reed recommends dropping war metaphors when describing political struggles. He suggests substituting sports metaphors because they "sound playful." (December 1992)

FEC Investigation Launched

The Federal Election Commission investigates the Coalition's role in the `90 Helms race. Reed tells reporters he has no memory of Helms asking Robertson for help. (June 1994)

Reed Takes Credit For GOP Congress

Reed appears on Robertson's "700 Club" and suggests the Christian Coalition and its voter guides should get the credit for the Republican takeover of Congress. (November 1994)

Membership Numbers Slip

Reed claims Coalition membership has hit 2 million. An analysis of postal records by Americans United shows the group's membership actually fell in 1995 -- to 310,000 -- a drop of 40,000 in less than a year (January 1996)

Death Penalty For Gays?

Despite Reed's call for Coalition activists to stop gay bashing, Americans United notes that the Coalition's Christian American magazine is promoting and selling a book called Legislating Immorality, which says the Bible requires the death penalty for homosexuals. (January 1996)

Ex-Staffer: `I Was A Tadpole In A Tank Of Sharks'

Coalition financial officer Judy Liebert is fired after alleging a series of financial irregularities at the group. Speaking of her relationship with Reed, Robertson and company, Liebert later tells the Virginian-Pilot, "I felt like a tadpole swimming in a tank of sharks." (May 1996)

`Dirty Little Secrets' Of Coalition Voter Guides

Political science professor Larry J. Sabato and journalist Glenn Simpson analyze Christian Coalition voter guides from 1994 in their book Dirty Little Secrets: The Persistence of Corruption in American Politics. Sabato and Simpson write that the guides were deliberately slanted to favor Republican congressional candidates. (June 1996)

Reed's Reading: `Satanically Empowered Vatican'?

Americans United publicizes Reed's endorsement of an anti-Catholic prophecy book written by John Wheeler, former editor of the Coalition's Christian American newspaper. In Earth's Two-Minute Warning, Wheeler warns that someday "the Vatican may run amok" after becoming "satanically empowered" and says it is likely that soon "an active Satanist [will] ascend to the Papal throne...." Reed's cover blurb calls the book "compelling." (October 1996)

Bob Dole: `Laconic Kansan With A Bad Arm'

Robertson, angry at the defeat of GOP presidential candidate Robert Dole, says religious conservatives must "coalesce very early and basically select a candidate" in 2000. A few months later, he criticizes the Republicans' choice of Dole, calling the disabled World War II veteran a "a laconic Kansan with a bad arm." (November 1996)

Not-So-Good Samaritans?

Reed announces yet another new focus for the Coalition -- a so-called "Samaritan Project" that will lobby to help the poor and reach out to African Americans. Ten months after its creation, the project is shut down. (January 1997)

Reed Departs Coalition

Reed resigns as executive director of the Christian Coalition and starts a Republican political consulting firm in Georgia called Century Strategies. (April 1997)

Robertson Rants Behind Closed Doors

Americans United releases a closed-door tape recording of Robertson speaking to Christian Coalition supporters about the need to get behind a GOP presidential candidate early and propel him to victory in 2000. During the speech, Robertson says the Coalition should emulate Tammany Hall, a corrupt 19th-century political machine. Americans United sends a copy of the tape to the IRS and asks the tax agency to revoke the Coalition's tax-exempt status. (September 1997)

Merry Christmas!: CC Staffers Get The Axe

Just days before Christmas, the Coalition fires 20 of its 110 employees and shuts down its flagship publication, Christian American magazine. The fired employees receive no severance package. (December 1997)

Pat Forecasts Orlando Hurricane, `Possibly A Meteor'

Robertson captures headlines nationwide for asserting on his nationally broadcast "700 Club" program that the city of Orlando will face divine retribution for allowing a gay group to fly rainbow flags from light poles during an event at Disney World. Robertson asserts that the city could face terrorist attacks, hurricanes, earthquakes "and possibly a meteor." [AU gave the info to the news media.] (June 1998)

IRS Denies Coalition Tax Exemption

News that the Internal Revenue Service has denied the Christian Coalition tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(4) organization leaks out. Robertson announces that the group will split into two entities -- a for-profit arm and a non-profit arm that will continue to operate as a 501(c)(4) group using the tax-exempt status of the Christian Coalition of Texas. (June 1999)

Voter Guides Biased, Court Rules

Despite volumes of evidence that the Coalition worked on behalf of Republican candidates, a federal judge dismisses the bulk of the Federal Election Commission's lawsuit against the Christian Coalition, holding that there was insufficient proof of illegal coordination with the GOP. However, the judge does note that Coalition voter guides clearly favor some candidates over others, writing, "[T]hese materials made clear which candidates the Coalition preferred...." (August 1999)

Robertson: Assassinate World Leaders

Robertson calls for changing U.S. foreign policy to permit assassination of world leaders. Asserts Robertson, "It would just seem so much more practical to have that flexibility.... I just think it's the intelligent thing to do and I don't see anything unChristian about it." (August 1999)

CC Chapters Collapse

Media organizations report that Coalition state chapters are down from 48 to seven. Ex-CC officials admit the group lied about the number of voter guides it distributed. Reports surface that the group is $2.5 million in debt. The Coalition announces plans to move its operation from Chesapeake, Va., to Washington, D.C. (August-November 1999)

Robertson Backs Bush

Robertson announces that he will endorse George W. Bush for president and adds that the Coalition will sit out the election if U.S. Sen. John McCain gets the GOP nomination "You know," Robertson says on CNN, "we're not under the obligation to put out any literature for anybody." (February 2000)

Back Door Treatment: Employees Allege Bias

Ten African-American employees allege a pattern of racial discrimination at the Coalition's D.C. offices. The staffers say they were excluded from prayer meetings, told to enter through the back door and denied use of the lunchroom. (February 2001)

Robertson Resigns

Robertson announces his resignation from the Coalition and turns the group over to Roberta Combs. (Dec. 5, 2001)