Charles Colson

Charles Colson, born in 1931, lay minister, author, and former attorney and official in the administration of President Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974). As the self-described “hatchet man” of the Nixon administration, Colson was deeply involved in assorted political activities to identify and undermine the president's opposition, including the creation of a White House “enemies list,” composed of politicians, journalists, academics, and entertainers, among others.

Charles Wendell Colson was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He earned a bachelor's degree from Brown University in 1953 and a law degree from George Washington University in 1959. He joined the White House staff in 1969 as a special counsel to President Nixon. He quickly became one of the president's most trusted aides and proclaimed his willingness to do anything to keep the president in power. Colson left the White House staff in 1972, but continued to work as an unpaid consultant.

In 1971 Colson brought E. Howard Hunt onto the White House staff. Hunt, part of a group known as “the plumbers,” was a ringleader in the 1972 burglary of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex, as well as an earlier burglary at the offices of the psychiatrist of Daniel Ellsberg. Ellsberg, a former federal official, had angered the White House by publicizing classified documents about the Vietnam War (1959-1975), known as the Pentagon Papers.

On March 1, 1974, Colson was indicted along with six others on charges of perjury and conspiracy to obstruct justice in connection with the Watergate burglary. The next week, he was charged with six others for obstruction of justice in connection with the 1971 burglary of the offices of Ellsberg's psychiatrist. Colson pleaded guilty in the Ellsberg case, and the other charges were dropped. He served a seven-month prison term. While in prison, Colson started a Christian ministry program known as Prison Fellowship. By the early 1990s, the program had more than 40,000 volunteers in 50 states.