Watergate figure Charles Colson has died at 80

By Jessica Gresko

Associated Press

Published: Sunday, April 22 2012 3:46 a.m. MDT

Summary

He was described as the "evil genius" of the Nixon administration, and spent the better part of a year in prison for a Watergate-related conviction. His proclamations following his release that he was a new man, redeemed by his religious faith, were met with more than skepticism by those angered at the abuses he had perpetrated as one of Nixon's hatchet men.

Mark Earley, a former Virginia attorney general who became president and chief executive officer of Prison Fellowship Ministries after his failed gubernatorial run in 2001, said the influence of Colson's work in his ministry is a different kind of power from what he had as Nixon's special counsel.

"Yet, it wasn't until he lost that power, what most people would call real 'power,' that Chuck began to make a real difference and exercise the only kind of influence that really matters," Earley said on BreakPoint.

"Prison Fellowship is possible only because its founder, Chuck Colson, was forced to personally identify with those people who hold a special place in God's heart: prisoners and their families."

In October 2000, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush restored Colson's civil rights, allowing him to vote, sit on a jury, run for office and practice law. Colson had a home in Naples, Fla., and Bush called him "a great guy ... a great Floridian."

Ultimately, Colson credited the Watergate scandal with enriching his life.

God "used that experience — Watergate — to raise up a ministry that is reaching hundreds of thousands of people," Colson said in the late 1990s. "So I'm probably one of the few guys around that's saying, 'I'm glad for Watergate.'"

On the Net:

Prison Fellowship Ministries: http://www.pfm.org

Associated Press writers Matthew Barakat and Will Lester and AP Radio's Martin Di Caro contributed to this story.

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