WI: Pat Robertson goes into law?

[Anarcho-Occultist]

Pat Robertson is one of the key faces of the American Christian Right. He played a key role in forming it into a clear movement.

However this was not inevitable. Robertson’s religiosity wasn’t always such a key part of him. Indeed he only became so religious in the late 1950’s after he failed the bar exam despite completing law school at Yale with high marks. The question I have is what if Robertson passed the bar exam and embarked on a legal career? How does Christian conservatism develop without him? How does Robertson himself fare if he attempts to follow in his father’s footsteps on the back of a law career instead of his preaching?

 

[Chapman]

Well, as an attorney he'd be on the more "conventional" path to politics than he was IOTL. So I'd say between his connection to his father and his own abilities, he'd probably get some kind of elected office eventually. It's hard to say with certainty, of course, but it seems likely here. Maybe he seeks his father's former offices, and becomes a Senator, or goes off on his own path. In any event, despite (potentially) a lack of hard religiosity here compared to IOTL, he still probably looks the same politically. His father's politics were conservative, at least on social issues, so the meat of who Robertson is most likely still exists, unless he has a dramatic change of opinion for some reason. Perhaps he's also a Dixiecrat, instead of a Republican (although he'd likely make the switch, assuming limited butterflies). All in all, i'd say this sets him up to have a better chance at the presidency than he had in his 1988 bid, so maybe we see President Robertson at some point.