Repentant ‘hatchet man,’ Colson was evangelical icon

Charles W. Colson, the Watergate felon who became an evangelical icon and born-again advocate for prisoners, died April 21 after a brief illness. He was 80.

Despite an early reputation as a cutthroat “hatchet man” for President Richard M. Nixon, Colson later built a legacy of repentance based on his work with Prison Fellowship, a ministry he designed to bring Bible study and a Christian message to prison inmates and their families. Colson founded the group in 1976 upon release from federal prison on Watergate-related charges. Prison reform and advocating for inmates became his life’s work and his lasting legacy.

Colson had undergone surgery March 31 to remove a pool of clotted blood on his brain. On April 18, Prison Fellowship Ministries CEO Jim Liske told staff and supporters that Colson would soon be “home with the Lord.” Due to his illness, for the first time in 34 years he did not spend Easter Sunday preaching to prisoners, his ministry said.