Pat Robertson, a religious broadcaster who turned a tiny Virginia TV station into a global evangelical network, ran for president and helped make religion central to Republican Party politics in America, has died at 93.

Robertson's death on Thursday was announced by his broadcasting company, the Christian Broadcasting Network.

He died at his home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, according to a statement from his son, Gordon Robertson. No cause of death was given.

For more than half a century, Robertson was a familiar presence in American living rooms, known for his 700 Club television show, and in later years, his televised pronouncements of God's judgement, blaming natural disasters on everything from homosexuality to the teaching of evolution.

The money poured in as he solicited donations, his influence soared, and he brought a huge following with him when he moved directly into politics by seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 1988.

Robertson pioneered the now-common strategy of courting Iowa's network of evangelical Christian churches, and finished in second place in the Iowa caucuses, ahead of vice-president George HW Bush.

Robertson later endorsed Mr Bush, who won the presidency. Pursuit of Iowa's evangelicals is now a ritual for Republican hopefuls, including those currently seeking the White House in 2024.

Robertson started the Christian Coalition in Chesapeake, Virginia, in 1989, saying it would further his campaign's ideals. The coalition became a major political force in the 1990s, mobilising conservative voters through grassroots activities.

By the time of his resignation as the coalition's president in 2001 — Robertson said he wanted to concentrate on ministerial work — his impact on both religion and politics in the US was "enormous", according to John C Green, an emeritus political science professor at the University of Akron.

In American politics, Robertson helped "cement the alliance between conservative Christians and the Republican Party", Professor Green said.

A marriage of politics and religion

Robertson was born Marion Gordon Robertson on March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, to Absalom Willis Robertson and Gladys Churchill Robertson.

His father served for 36 years as a US representative and US senator from Virginia.

After graduating from Washington and Lee University, he served as assistant adjutant of the 1st Marine Division in Korea. He later received a law degree from Yale University Law School, but failed the bar exam and chose not to pursue a law career.

Robertson met his wife, Adelia "Dede" Elmer, at Yale in 1952. He was a Southern Baptist, while she was a Catholic, earning a master's in nursing.

Eighteen months later, they ran off to be married by a justice of the peace, knowing neither family would approve.

Robertson was interested in politics until he found religion, his wife told the Associated Press in 1987. He stunned her by pouring out their liquor, tearing a nude print off the wall and declaring he had found the Lord.

Robertson received a master's in divinity from New York Theological Seminary in 1959, then drove south with his family to buy a bankrupt UHF television station in Portsmouth, Virginia.

He said he had just $US70 in his pocket, but soon found investors, and CBN went on the air on October 1, 1961.

Established as a tax-exempt religious nonprofit, CBN brought in hundreds of millions, disclosing $US321 million ($479 million) in "ministry support" in 2022 alone.

One of Robertson's innovations was to use the secular talk-show format on the network's flagship show, the 700 Club, which grew out of a telethon when Robertson asked 700 viewers for monthly $US10 contributions.

His guests eventually included several US presidents, including Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump.

On-air statements drew criticism, corrections

At times, his on-air pronouncements drew criticism.

He claimed that the terrorist attacks that killed thousands of Americans on September 11, 2001 were caused by God, angered by the federal courts, pornography, abortion rights and church-state separation.

Talking again about the September 11 attacks on his TV show a year later, Robertson described Islam as a violent religion that wants to "dominate" and "destroy" prompting George W Bush to distance himself and say Islam is a peaceful and respectful religion.

He also called for the assassination of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in 2005. Later that year, he warned residents of a rural Pennsylvania town not to be surprised if disaster struck them because they voted out school board members who favoured teaching "intelligent design" over evolution.