A Prophet with Honor
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405.BG knew LBJ “not a McGovern man.” BG, interview, March 5, 1989.
406.BG denies active involvement in 1972 election. BG, interviews, March 5 and 6, 1989.
Chapter 25: A Ministry of Reconciliation
407.China an “enemy of freedom,” AP, July 31, 1965.
407.BG goes to Ireland. “Billy Graham: From Birmingham to Belfast,” Christianity Today, June 9, 1972; John Pollock, Billy Graham: Evangelist to the World (Harper & Row, 1979), pp. 91–92.
408.BG and Blessit tour Belfast. Graham Lacey, oral history, 1974, CN 141, Box 11, Folder 27, BGCA. John Pollock, drawing on Lacey’s account, tells much the same story in Evangelist to the World, pp. 93–95.
409.Paisley attacks BG. Charlotte Observer, June 8, 1972; J. D. Douglas, “He Put It over with Love,” Christianity Today, July 7, 1972, p. 4. Douglas reported that in his pastoral prayer at one of the services, Paisley “thanked God that a bomb being handled by IRA officers a few hours earlier had accidentally exploded, killing several of them.”
410.RN calls BG in Belfast. Pollock, Evangelist to the World, p. 95. WH Master List, Contact File by Name, Graham, WHCH, NPM. The call occurred on May 29, 1972, 4:29 P.M., EDT. That Nixon would call was not a complete surprise. He had also called Graham for a brief communication on February 26, during his visit to China.
410.BG meets with Roman Catholic and Protestant leaders, expects peace but recognizes problems. Pollock, Evangelist to the World, pp. 95–96; Charlotte Observer, June 8, 1972; Douglas, “He Put It over with Love,” Christianity Today, July 7, 1972, p. 5.
411.BG in Dublin. Pollock, Evangelist to the World, pp. 98–102; Charlotte Observer, June 8, 1972; Brian Kingsmore, interview, July 7, 1986.
412.Nagas build road. Robert Cunville, oral history, CN 141, Box 3, Folder 9, BGCA; Pollock, Evangelist to the World, p. 9.
412.Kohima provides beds, food, wood. Pollock, Evangelist to the World, p. 9.
414.The Kohima crusade. Ibid., pp. 3–26; Cunville, oral history and interview, July 17, 1986; The Reverend A. Jack Dain, interview.
415.BG and Moynihan’s ambassadorship. BG, interview, March 5, 1989. Graham’s account is supported by internal memos between WH aides David Parker and Bruce Kehrli. Parker to Kehrli, December 20, 1972, and Kehrli to Parker, December 22, 1972, Folder “CF FO 2/CO-66–FO 2/CO-99,” CF Box 30, WHSF, NPM.
416.BG meets with the Shah. Interview, March 5, 1989; “Graham and the Shah,” Christian Century, January 10, 1973, p. 3. Graham recalled that “I was sort of overwhelmed at the magnificence of the palace. I talked my head off to him. I talked to him about Daniel the prophet, the beginning of Persia, what God would do, and Christ, and so forth. I vowed a long time ago that I’d never be in the presence of anybody like that without preaching the gospel. He was very gracious. I spent several hours. He pulled a screen and we watched Walter Cronkite give the news from the night before.” Interview, March 5, 1989.
416.BG considers Washington crusade. Letters, BG to Robert Hancock, n.d.; John Dean to Rose Mary Woods, January 31, 1972; RN to BG, February 1,1972; BG to RN, February 4, 1972; all in Folder RM 3 1/1/71–12/31/72, RM Box 18, WHCH, NPM.
416.“We decided we would not cooperate.” The Reverend Ernest Gibson, interview, May 2, 1986.
417.Cassidy’s efforts to combat apartheid. Michael Cassidy, “The Ethics of Political Nationalism,” in One Race, One Gospel, One Task, ed. Carl F. H. Henry and Stanley Mooneyham, vol. I of official reference volumes of the World Congress on Evangelism, Berlin, 1966 (Minneapolis: World Wide Publications, 1967), pp. 312–17.
417.BG accepts invitation to preach in South Africa. Pollock, Evangelist to the World, pp. 28–31.
418.Women’s prayer movement in South Africa. Ibid., pp. 32–33.
418.Integrated stadium at Durban: “Even if Billy Graham . . . enough of a testimony.” Ibid., p. 33.
418.“Christ belongs to all people!” Film, South Africa, World Wide Pictures, 1973.
419.“Apartheid Doomed.” Pollock, Evangelist to the World, p. 36.
419.Disappointment at BG’s address and departure. Ibid., pp. 36–37.
419.BG recommends castration for rapists. UP1, March 20, 1973; AP, March 30, 1973; BG, interview, February 26, 1987; Talking paper, March 3, 1973, Folder “EX FO 8, 3/1/73–4/30/73,” Box 73, WHCF, NPM. Also, “A Graham Follow-up,” Christian Century, April 11, 1973, pp. 414–15; Pollock, Evangelist to the World, pp. 38–39.
420.Gary Player. Player and BG were already longtime friends. It was Player, in fact, whom BG credited with having broken him from his awkward cross-handed golf grip. Edwin Fiske, “The Closest Thing to a White House Chaplain,” The New York Times Magazine, June 8, 1969, p. 106.
421.Black attendance low at Atlanta crusade. “Blacks Close Their Ears to Graham,” St. Petersburg Times, July 7, 1973; Dr. Russell Dilday, oral history, March 5, 1980, CN 141, Box 11, Folder 10, BGCA; Edward E. Plowman, “Billy and the Blacks: Atlanta and Graham Revisited,” Christianity Today, July 20, 1973, pp. 40–41.
421.BG responds to charges of black clergy in Minneapolis. “Graham to Tour Black Areas in Support Bid,” Minneapolis Star, July 10, 1973; Chicago Defender, July 10, 1973; “Two City Ministers Stand Firm on Denouncement of Graham,” St. Paul Dispatch, July 12, 1973.
422.Growth of Korean Christianity. Billy Kim, interview, July 17, 1986; Akbar Abdul-Haqq, interview, May 2, 1986.
422.Korean separatism and ecumenism. Kim, interview; Pollock, Evangelist to the World, pp. 46–47.
423.“Americans . . . follow doctor’s way.” Ibid., p. 46.
424.Billy Kim agrees to interpret. Kim, interview; Henry Holley, oral history, January 9, 1976, CN 141, Box 4, Folder 29, BGCA.
424.Limousines embarrass BG. Kim, interview.
425.Park regime monitors BG and crusade. David Poling, Why Billy Graham? (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1977), p. 85
426.Korean Crusade description. Pollock, Evangelist to the World, pp. 54–57; Kim, Abdul-Haqq, Holley, interviews; Holley, oral history.
Chapter 26: Vietnam and Watergate
428.BG commends RN’s inaugural address. BG to RN, February 6,1973, Folder “Presidential and Pre-Presidential, 1/1/73,” SF RM Box 2, WHCF, NPM.
429.BG surprised at Nixon’s contributions. Boston Globe, December 29, 1973; Charlotte Observer, December 28, 1972. In 1972 Nixon contributed a total of $295 to charitable causes. The New York Times, December 23, 1973, p. 24.
429.BG upset at Supreme Court decisions on prayer and Bible reading: “atheists should be overruled.” George Burnham and Lee Fisher, Billy Graham: Man of God (Westchester, Ill.: Good News Publishing, n.d.), p. 54, quoted by Marshall Frady, Billy Graham: Parable of American Righteousness (Boston: Little, Brown, 1979), p. 438.
429.BG recommends Protestant schools. David E. Kucharsky, “Billy Graham and ‘Civil Religion,’” Christianity Today, November 6, 1970, pp. 56–58.
429.BG recommends reading Ten Commandments in schools. The New York Times, January 22, 1973, p. 38; NBC News, January 21, 1973, CN 74, VT 4-NBC, BGCA; Commends Mao’s Eight Values, interview with Maureen D’Honau, Mainichi (Japan) Daily News, May 28, 1973. In responding to criticisms of his positive words for Mao’s precepts, BGEA spokesmen said that the interviewer had not spoken good English and had misunderstood what BG was trying to say. Ms. D’Honau, who was American-born and spoke no language other than English, insisted she was quoting BG accurately. Reported in Review of the News, March 1974, quoted in Edgar Bundy, Billy Graham: Performer, Politician, Preacher, Prophet? (Miami Shores, Fla.: Edgar Bundy Ministries, 1982), p. 83. BG continues to recommend reading of Commandments in schools. “Graham on Demons: Milestone in Arizona,” Christianity Today, June 7, 1974, p. 49.
430.Zedekiah and Ahab. I Kings 22. The comparison was made by, among others, Will Campbell, in “An Open Letter to Dr. Billy Graham,” Katallagete-Be Reconciled, Winter 1971, p. 2. It was also alluded to in the Charlotte Observer’s editorial on October 14, 1971, with the comment that “the unsucessful Micaiah,” the courageous prophet
who told King Ahab the truth, “is remembered and the others are forgotten.”
430.“I have never advocated war.” BGEA press release, attached to letter, Chapin to HRH, January 8, 1973, Box 125 (Graham), HRH Files, WHSF, NPM. Quoted in Joan Rattner Heilman, “Billy Graham’s Daughter Answers His Critics,” Good Housekeeping, June 1973, p. 154.
430.BG denies he is “White House Chaplain.” BGEA press release, attached to letter, Chapin to HRH, January 8, 1973, Box 125 (Graham), HRH Files, WHSF, NPM.
431.“The President doesn’t call me up . . . that’s all.” AP, in Charlotte Observer and News, January 4, 1973; “Graham: ‘Not White House Chaplain,’” Abilene Reporter-News, January 5, 1973; “Graham Calls Ministry Evangelistic, Not Political,” The Dallas Morning News, January 4, 1973.
431.“I felt gloomy . . . demonstrations against alcohol?” Edward Fiske, the New York Times, January 21, 1973. In response to a question from Newsweek reporter Jane Whitemore, Graham named smoking as a villain of similar scope; though not published in Newsweek, his comment was reported in “Quote of the Week,” New Republic, January 6 and 13, p. 11; Referred to in Garry Wills, “A Prophet Gagged,” Chicago Sun-Times, January 30, 1973; “Graham Discusses Viet War,” Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Twin City Sentinel, January 30, 1973.
431.BG recalls only one remark in favor of war. January 1973 press release; “A Clarification,” Christianity Today, January 19, 1973, p. 36; Graham has since identified his “lone remark” as one he made at the Denver Press Club in 1965, criticizing protesting ministers. BG, interview, March 6, 1989.
432.Bennett, “others,” and BGEA spokesman, quoted in Joan Rattner Heilman, “Billy Graham’s Daughter Answers His Critics,” Good Housekeeping, June 1973, p. 154.
432.BG the “hard-line type.” HRH to Colson, April 25, 1972, Folder “HRH Chronological,” Box 199, HRH Files, WHSF, NPM.
432.BG “disturbed by some press reports.” DC to HRH, January 8,1973, Box 125 (Graham), HRH Files, WHSF, NPM.
432.Liberal commentators disappointed. BG to RN, February 6, 1973, SF RM Box 2, WHCF, NPM.
433.McGovern “desperate.” AP, in Charlotte Observer, November 3, 1972
433.BG amazed at furor over “alleged escapade.” BG to HRH, October 20, 1972, Box 21 (Correspondence, personal, October 1972), HRH Files, WHSF, NPM.
433.“I have marveled . . . hall of fame.” BG to RN, April 6, 1973, Folder EX F08 4/1/73–4/30/73, Box 73, WHCF, NPM.
433.BG “distancing myself.” Interview, February 26, 1987.
433.BG speaks out on Watergate. The statements are from the Today interview, April 27, 1973, quoted in John Pollock, Billy Graham: Evangelist to the World (New York: Harper & Row, 1979), p. 176; Billy Graham, “Watergate and Its Lessons of Morality,” op-ed page, the New York Times, May 6, 1973; Hour of Decision, May 13, 1973.
434.BG recommends “picture situations.” Recounted in Higby to RN, May 2, 1973, Folder “Presidential Handwriting, May 1973,” POF Box 22, WHSF, NPM. 434 “Your friends understand.” Letter, Jesse Helms to RN, May 4, 1973, JL Box 12, WHCF, NMP.
434.BG and RN “had never discussed Watergate.” Quoted in Charlotte Observer, June 15, 1973.
434.“another sign of permissiveness.” The New York Times, May 1, 1973; cited in editorial, Arkansas Gazette, July 7, 1973.
435.Thanksgiving press release, November 22, 1973, sent to Rosemary Woods by Charles Crutchfield. PPF Box 8, WHCF, NPM.
435.RN calls BG. WH Master List, Contact File by Name, Graham, p. 1414, WHCF, NPM.
435.BG at White House Christmas Service. WH Master List, Contact File by Name, Graham, p. 1415, WHCF, NPM; telephone call and reaffirmations, letter, BG to RN, December 1973, Folder RM 2-1 “Religious Services in WH, 10/16/73–12/31/73,” SF RM Box WHCF, NPM.
435.BG sees RN as “chipper.” Charlotte News, December 17, 1973; 1973 to be better, BG to RN, December 26, 1973, Folder RM 2-1, “Religious Services in WH, 10/16/73–12/31/73,” SF RM Box 17, WHCF, NPM.
436.Speaking at White House not “a benediction of what had been going on there.” BG interview, “Watergate,” Christianity Today, January 4, 1974, pp. 8–10. In an interview with The Christian Science Monitor, December 31, 1973, Graham repeated his opinion that Nixon would become a great president if he could get Watergate out of his system.
436.“if it serves your vanity.” George E. Stringfellow to BG, January 9, 1974, Folder EX JL 3 80 of 89, 2/25/74–3/4/74, SF JL Box 21, WHCF, NPM.
436.“I was saddened by your statements.” Peale to BG, February 4, 1974, and RN to Peak, March 4, 1974, Folder EX JL 3 80, 2/25/74–3/4/74, SF JL Box 21, WHCF, NPM.
437.Colson’s conversion. CC to RN, November 21, 1973, CF SP 2-4/1969 (State of Union), and Folder “CF SP 3-162 Prayer Breakfast Remarks,” Box 60, CF 1971–74, WHCF, NPM.
437.Colson presses for two breakfasts. Unsigned, undated memo, Folder CF SP 3-162, “Prayer Breakfast Remarks,” Box 60, CF 1971–74, WHCF, NPM.
437.“Two Breakfasts are too many.” Talking paper, Congressman Al Quie (Republican-Minnesota, president of National Prayer Breakfast Committee), ibid. The Prayer Breakfast Committee, which sponsored the larger breakfast, agreed with Colson on the need for a smaller event.
437.BG’s suggestions for Prayer Breakfast remarks. Included, with Haig’s assessment, in Haig to RN, January 30, 1974, Folder CF SP 3-162 “Prayer Breakfast Remarks,” Box 60, CF 1969–74, WHCF, NPM.
438.Haldeman doubts RN shunned BG. Haldeman, interview, August 14, 1989.
438.BG and Nixon have limited contact. BG made the claim of limited access as least as early as August 1974 in an interview with John Dart, of the Los Angeles Times, reported in Charlotte Observer, August 17, 1974. He made the same claim in Donald H. Harrison, “Billy Graham Voices Doubts on ‘Final Days,’” San Diego Union, April 1, 1976. He repeated it at least twice in interviews with me, on February 26, 1987 and March 5, 1989. Colson expressed his doubts in an interview, April 18, 1989. WH Master List, Contact File by Name, Billy Graham, p. 1415, WHCF, NPM. The list records calls for February 25 (four minutes), April 15 (six minutes), May 4 (three minutes), and June 2 (14 minutes).
439.McLaughlin: Swearing “a form of therapy.” “White House Priest Defends Profanity,” Charlotte Observer, May 9, 1974. McLaughlin characterized swearing as a “form of emotional drainage” that is “good, valid, and sound” for men under high pressure. Observing that the “essence of morality is charity,” he asserted that Nixon had done more to create a climate of charity “than any leader of this century.” In response to those who were chastising Nixon for his language, he noted that Christ had reserved his “most scorching condemnation” for those guilty of “moral arrogance.” He also insisted that Nixon had “not only a lawful privilege but a moral obligation” to resist Judge John Sirica’s subpoena of the White House tapes.
439.“I have known . . . salty language.” Charlotte News, May 1, 1974. “I just didn’t know . . . ‘Excuse me, Billy.’” Observer, May 9, 1974.
439.“I don’t approve” . . . “not hold him guiltless.” Charlotte Observer, May 9, 1974.
439.Nixon called “to say hello.” In George Cornell, AP, in Sumter, South Carolina, Daily Item, quoted in Frady, Parable, p. 477. Frady places the call on the day the tapes were released, but the tapes became available to the press on May 1, and the call came on May 4 (Contact File, Master List by Name, Billy Graham, p. 1415, WHCF, NPM). Frady also indicates that a response by BG on May 2 came after the call, which is incorrect. Frady’s account makes a better story, perhaps, but it does not fit the evidence.
439.“I never saw that side of him.” Quoted in John Dart, Los Angeles Times News Service, Charlotte Observer, August 17, 1974.
439.Ruth: “the hardest thing.” Quoted in Pollock, Evangelist to the World, p. 181.
440.“I’d had a real love . . . somebody else.” Frady, Parable, p. 478.
440.“had to confront his own . . . collusion.” In an “Open Letter to Billy Graham,” delivered on his syndicated TV show, Paul H
arvey observed that people must be writing to the evangelist, saying, “So this is the man to whom you were spiritual adviser.” Harvey’s comment: “It hurts, Billy, but you asked for it . . . For God’s sake—and I use the expression as you would—in the future stay out of politics!” Harvey, who claimed he had warned Graham against getting involved in politics, called Graham after the program, and indicated he had accepted the advice “cordially.” Noting that “no mortal means more to me than Billy,” the commentator allowed that he was not sure he had done the right thing and would ask forgiveness if he came to believe he had made a mistake by airing his criticism publicly. Charlotte Observer, May 26, 1974.
440.“I thought like Wesley . . . hell.” Quoted by Frady, Parable, p. 479.
440.BG’s press release, May 29, 1974. Printed in the New York Times, May 29, 1974; NBC News, CN 74, VT 4-NBC, BGCA, etc.
440.RN calls BG on June 2, 1974. WH Master List, Contact File by Name, Graham, p. 1415, WHCF, NPM.
441.“This has been my own danger.” Billy Graham, “Why Lausanne?” in Let the Earth Hear His Voice, ed. J. D. Douglas, official reference volume of the International Congress on World Evangelism (Minneapolis: World Wide Publications, 1975), p. 30. The applause was reported in interviews with both Leighton Ford, March 4, 1989, and Don Hoke, March 6, 1989.
441.“I tried to get to him” . . . “I couldn’t get anything.” BG, interview, March 26, 1987. Also, Charlotte Observer, August 17, 1974.
441.“I shall always consider . . . some privacy now.” BG statement quoted in the New York Times, August 9, 1974.
441.BG approves pardon of Nixon. AP, in Palo Alto Times, September 9, 1974.
441.Nixon declines to visit with BG. Charlotte Observer, September 17 and 18, 1974. From the Washington Post/Los Angeles Times News Service.
441.Ruth hires plane. BG, interview, March 26, 1987.
441.BG and RN dine at San Clemente. David E. Kucharsky, “Graham’s Powwow: Springtime in the Rockies,” Christianity Today, April 11, 1975, pp. 38–39; NBC News, March 18, 1975, CN 74, VT 4-NBC, BGCA; Saginaw, Michigan, Catholic Weekly, April 4, 1975.