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Billy Graham: Pastor to presidents, for more than 50 years

From staff reports

The Rev. Billy Graham will go down in the annals of U.S. presidential politics as “the great legitimater,” according to one biographer.

Over the years, beginning with President Harry Truman and extending through the presidency of George W. Bush, Graham served as pastor, preacher, chaplain and counselor.

But most of all, Graham’s presence lent a legitimacy to presidents and their political policies, said William Martin, a professor of sociology at Rice University. Martin wrote a definitive biography of Graham that was published in 1991 — “Prophet with Honor: The Billy Graham Story.”

“Graham didn’t have to say anything. Just the friendship made it appear that (a president’s) programs were something that conservative Christians should support,” Martin said. “Having Graham as your friend meant you and your programs, at the least, were worthy of attention and respect. At the most, it meant they were good and Christian. That is an immeasurable, but important, asset.”

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Billy Graham with President John F. Kennedy.

Graham also realized the benefits of rubbing elbows with the leader of the free world worked for him as well.

Here are the highlights of Graham’s association with a string of U.S. presidents. The following has been gleaned from an interview with Martin and from Graham’s own writings in his 1997 book “Just as I am.”

Harry S Truman

Graham learned an early lesson in dealing with presidents and the press after Truman invited Graham to the White House in 1950.

After a 20-minute meeting with the president, Graham and colleagues Grady Wilson, Cliff Barrows and Jerry Beavan met with reporters and photographers. When pressed by reporters, Graham recounted his meeting with the president. Next, Graham and his colleagues posed for photographers. Graham knelt on the White House lawn for prayer at the press corps’ urging for Graham and his colleagues to re-enact his prayer with the president.

Evangelist Billy Graham talks with President Dwight D. Eisenhower during a call at the White House in May 1957.

“It dawned on me a few days later that we had abused the privilege of seeing the president,” Graham wrote. “National coverage of our visit was definitely not to our advantage. The president was offended that I had quoted him without authorization.”

In a visit years later, Graham apologized to Truman.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Graham played “a somewhat significant role” in helping to persuade Eisenhower to run for president, Martin said.

After being encouraged to write Eisenhower a letter asking him to run, Graham did so. “I have been told that Eisenhower took that seriously,” Martin said.

Graham never endorsed Eisenhower, “but certainly let it be known that he favored Eisenhower,” Martin said, and even gave Ike a Bible that he carried prominently during his campaign. Later, Graham visited and golfed with the president.

MORE: EDITORIAL: Who will be the next Billy Graham? No one.

John F. Kennedy

During Kennedy’s ascent to the White House, Graham found himself pulled in several different directions.

Graham declined a Kennedy aide’s request that Graham issue a statement asking for tolerance in regards to Kennedy’s standing as a Roman Catholic. But Graham also wrote that while he turned down that request, he also “refused the demands of some Protestants to come out against a Catholic candidate.”

Billy Graham with President John F. Kennedy.

In the general election, which pitted Kennedy against Richard Nixon, Graham wrote that he felt Nixon’s experience in the Eisenhower administration made him a better-qualified candidate. Graham was also a friend of the Nixon family.

But Graham never declared himself. According to Martin, Graham wrote a column for “Life” magazine that favored Nixon, but asked at the last minute that it not run. The election was a close race, “and it might have made the difference,” Martin said.

The relationship between Kennedy and Graham was cordial, but the men didn’t have much in common, according to Martin.

Lyndon B. Johnson

After Kennedy’s assassination, Graham called Johnson and offered to help in any way he could. Within days, Johnson summoned Graham to the White House.

Graham spoke out on behalf of Johnson’s anti-poverty program and “to some extent, helped work on behalf of easing integration,” Martin said.

“Many people criticized (Graham) for not being more aggressive in the civil rights movement. But he was still ahead of his constituency. He was never in the vanguard. He wasn’t protesting. But he should be given more credit than blame,” Martin said.

During the Vietnam War, Graham’s position evolved, Martin said.

Billy Graham with President Lyndon B. Johnson.

First, Graham took the administration’s side. But after talking with missionaries and the military men and women who served, “he became less confident that we were doing the right thing. Then he said we should either do something — either pull out, or win. I think he shared in the frustration and ambivalence that a great many Americans did,” Martin said.

Like many people, Graham noted Johnson’s overwhelming personality and inherent contradictions in the man. “He could be coarse and charming at the same time, and even profanely poignant,” Graham wrote. “Almost every time he swore in my presence, he would quickly turn and say, ‘Excuse me, Preacher.’”

Richard M. Nixon

The height of Nixon’s political career matched the height of Graham’s involvement in presidential politics.

Graham was a long-time friend of Nixon and his family. It was Graham’s counseling that provided “decisive encouragement” for Nixon to decide to run again for president, Martin said.

Graham was in regular contact with Nixon’s chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, and wasn’t shy in offering advice, according to Martin. “It was clear that he was a friend.”

After the Watergate scandal, Graham first downplayed its significance. But gradually, Graham became deeply concerned. “He was terribly disillusioned by the language (Nixon used) and the machinations that were clearly there. It was one of the most painful episodes of his life,” Martin said.

EVANGELIST BILLY GRAHAM, LEFT, AND VICE PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON RELAX DURING A BREAK AT A CONFERENCE OF THE PRESBYTERIAN MEN'S COUNCIL OF APPALACHIA IN 1956 AT MONTREAT, WHERE NIXON WAS THE FEATURED SPEAKER.

EVANGELIST BILLY GRAHAM, LEFT, AND VICE PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON RELAX DURING A BREAK AT A CONFERENCE OF THE PRESBYTERIAN MEN'S COUNCIL OF APPALACHIA IN 1956 AT MONTREAT, WHERE NIXON WAS THE FEATURED SPEAKER.

Graham wrote that “when the worst came out, it was nearly unbearable for me.”

“On the day the contents of the White House tapes were made public and I heard the president’s words, I was deeply distressed. The thing that surprised and shook me most was the vulgar language he used. Never, in all the times I was with him, did he use language even close to that. I felt physically sick and went into the seclusion of my study at the back of the house. Inwardly, I felt torn apart,” Graham wrote.

Graham wrote that he did not shrink from commenting on Watergate. “I called the whole affair sordid, describing it as a symptom of a deeper moral crisis that affected other nations besides our own.”

Never again would Graham have such a close affiliation with a sitting president.

Gerald R. Ford

After Nixon left the White House, Graham encouraged Ford to initiate a healing process by pardoning Nixon.

Graham called the White House and talked with Ford. Graham wrote that Ford told him, “Well, it’s a tough call, a tough decision. I’m certainly giving it a lot of thought and prayer.”

Graham wrote that he responded, “Mr. President, I’m praying for you constantly.”

James E. Carter

Graham had a polite relationship with the Carters, but they were never close.

Graham called the personal contacts “cordial though infrequent” during Carter’s tenure. Without speaking specifically about the topic, Graham felt both men believed that active involvement on Graham’s part “could easily have raised suspicion that I was somehow taking advantage of our shared faith to influence political decisions or to secure favors for the evangelical movement,” Graham wrote.

Billy Graham talks with former presidents Bush, Carter, and Clinton during the dedication ceremonies for the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte Thursday. (Steve Dixon - 5/31/07)

“Many leaders, I am afraid, place their religious and moral convictions in separate compartments and do not think of the implications of their faith on their responsibilities. Jimmy Carter was not like that.”

Ronald Reagan

Graham’s relationship with Reagan was that of a friend, more than anything else.

The two had known each other since the 1950s. Martin said Graham told him he visited the White House more during the Reagan years that at any time prior. “But they never talked politics. Graham said that Reagan just wanted to talk about the old times,” Martin said.

After the assassination attempt on Reagan, Graham counseled the family and wrote that he led them through the ordeal with spiritual encouragement.

George Bush

Another genuine, deep friendship boosted the president during a crucial undertaking — the Persian Gulf War. Once again, Graham’s support lent legitimacy to a president and his policies.

Before the launch of the war, Bush summoned Graham to the White House to be by his side. The move caught Graham off guard, according to Martin.

“Graham said it looked like he was there to bless the war, and he didn’t like that,” Martin said.

Graham wrote that, “The president never asked me for any of my thoughts about (the war), nor did I volunteer them. I was with him as a friend and pastor, not as a political adviser.”

Bill Clinton

Graham kept a commitment to pray at Clinton’s inauguration, although he disagreed with Clinton on several of his political stances.

Graham also spoke up in defense of Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

President Clinton embraces Rev. Billy Graham on Capitol Hill Monday Jan. 20, 1997 during an inaugural luncheon after the president was sworn in for a second term. (AP Photo/Joyce Naltchayan/Pool)

Graham was criticized for his remarks and has said that he felt a warm personal affection for Clinton despite some differences.

Graham participated in a memorial service with Clinton following the Oklahoma City bombing, an event Graham said was very moving.

On May 2, 1996, Clinton presented Graham and his wife, Ruth, with the Congressional Medal of Honor. The day before the ceremony, Graham and Clinton spent an afternoon together.

“It was a time of warm fellowship with a man who has not always won approval from his fellow Christians but who has in his heart a desire to serve God.”

George W. Bush

JACKSONVILLE, UNITED STATES:  Republican Presidential candidate Texas Governor George W. Bush and his wife Laura stand beside the Rev. Billy Graham (C) as Graham announces his support for Bush 05 November, 2000 in a hotel suite  in Jacksonville, Florida. The US general election, which is neck-and-neck in the race for US president according to polling data, is 07 November 2000.   AFP PHOTO/Paul J. RICHARDS (Photo credit should read PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

The longtime friendship between Graham and the Bush family continued.

Bush credited Graham with triggering a deepened sense of spiritualism. Graham was invited to participate in Bush’s inauguration, but Graham — then 82 and battling Parkinson’s disease — was too ill to appear at the ceremony. That broke a string of Graham inaugural appearances that began in 1965 with President Johnson’s inauguration.

Barack Obama

President Barack Obama tried to meet with Graham in 2008, when he was in Asheville preparing for a presidential debate, but Graham’s poor health prevented the meeting. Obama later visited Graham at his home in 2010, when the president and first lady were on vacation in Asheville.

In this image released by the White House, President Barack Obama meets with Billy Graham, 91, at his mountainside home in Montreat, N.C., Sunday, April 25, 2010. Obama concluded his North Carolina vacation with his first meeting of the ailing evangelist, who has counseled commanders in chief since Dwight Eisenhower. (AP Photo/The White House, Pete Souza)

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney met with Graham in 2012, and the aging evangelist pledged to do “all I can” to help the GOP nominee win the presidency in his race against Obama.

“Prayer is the most helpful thing you can do for me,” Romney told the 93-year-old Graham.

Donald J. Trump

At the time known for his real estate empire, Trump made an appearance at Graham’s 95th birthday celebration at the Omni Grove Park Inn in 2013.