Jim Bakker, who has died aged 86, was one of the most popular and influential US television evangelists of the 1970s and 80s, but he was brought down, as were many of his preaching contemporaries, by the twin sins of greed and lust.
Bakker and his wife, Tammy Faye, built an empire around their Christian chatshow PTL (for Praise the Lord), which spawned their own satellite TV network based in Charlotte, North Carolina. At their peak, their broadcasts attracted more than 13 million viewers and $1m a day in donations; and their Disney-style theme park, Heritage USA, at Fort Mill, South Carolina, drew six million visitors a year. In 1980, Bakker joined President Jimmy Carter on Air Force One to pray for the American hostages held in Iran – but Bakker’s support and that of his fellow conservative evangelicals soon proved key in electing Ronald Reagan president.
