William Franklin “Billy" Graham (1918-2018) was the best-known Baptist evangelist of the 20th century. After earning an undergraduate degree at Wheaton University, Graham became a pastor, hosted a radio program, became involved with Youth for Christ, and briefly headed Northwestern Bible College in Minneapolis, Minnesota, before beginning a series of evangelistic crusades throughout the United States. Graham constantly evoked the authority of the Bible and frequently called upon members of his audience to be born again.
Graham was associated with the evangelical movement, which showed greater flexibility than fundamentalist forbears, while sticking to basic theological orthodoxy. He was influential in the establishment of Christianity Today magazine.
Billy Graham’s crusades
At an early crusade in Los Angeles, Graham caught the attention of publisher William Randolph Hearst, who “puffed” his appearances, as Henry Luce, editor of Time magazine, would later do. They were impressed by Graham’s firm stance against communism during a time of great fear of world domination by the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China. Ironically, in later years, he was invited to hold crusades in communist nations including North Korea.
Billy Graham’s relationship with U.S. presidents
Graham was very handsome and charismatic and earned the reputation as the pastor to presidents from Harry S. Truman through the Bush presidencies. As one who considered himself to be a “New Testament evangelist not an Old Testament prophet,” he was more inclined to share good news with them than point out their flaws or call upon them to repent (Pierard 1980, 126).
His relationship with Truman was strained after he recreated a prayer he held with Truman for reporters. Truman considered this action to be in poor taste, although they reconciled after Truman left the presidency. In the election of 1960, Graham favored Richard Nixon over John F. Kennedy, in part because of concerns that the latter was a Roman Catholic. He later favored Ronald Reagan over fellow Baptist Jimmy Carter (Balmer 2024). Graham was particularly close to presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Lyndon B. Johnson.
George W. Bush claimed that he had turned his life around prior to becoming president after a transformative conversation with Graham.
As he reflected back on his ministry, Graham who was particularly disillusioned when the tapes of Nixon’s conversations revealed Nixon’s participation in the Watergate coverup and his proclivity for profanity, regretted his participation in political issues. He was proud that he had racially integrated his early crusades but did not participate actively in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr,’s efforts on behalf of civil rights.
In contrast to a number of his successors on the airwaves, Graham closely guarded his personal life and avoided both sexual and financial scandals.
Billy Graham’s belief in power of religion in America
Graham believed that Christ was the way not only to personal redemption but also the solution to such national problems as crime, racism, abortion, rising divorce rates and other society maladies. Graham was proud of the stance that Baptists and other forebears had taken for religious liberty and stressed the religious roots of other liberties.
In a message that he delivered on Dec. 31, 1975, Graham noted that the words inscribed on the Liberty Bell from Leviticus 25:10, “proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof” was, like Jesus’ proclamation of his own mission in Luke 4:18, a reference to the Jewish Year of Jubilee in which slaves would be freed and debts forgiven (Graham 1975 in 2023). In similar fashion, he pointed to the religious references in the Declaration of Independence, and to the fact that the first right to be mentioned within the Bill of Rights related to religious freedom.
In this same sermon, Graham observed that “freedom of religion” did not mean “freedom from religion,” and he called for national repentance, which he thought would lead to national redemption, just as personal repentance could lead to individual salvation.
Graham was a nationalist who took pride in the United States, believed that Christians should participate in politics, and opposed U.S. Supreme Court decisions rejecting prayer and Bible reading in public schools. Although he favored tough U.S. policies in Korea and Vietnam and thought that the Warren Court decisions widening the rights of criminal defendants had been too liberal, he supported President Johnson’s War on Poverty, federal aid to education, and hopes for further racial reconciliation (Pierard 1980).
Graham delivered prayers at a number of presidential inaugurations, and he guided Nixon (who did as much as any president to leverage his connection to Graham for partisan gain) in selecting individuals to preach at religious services at the White House.
Graham honored at Capitol Building
Graham was the only pastor ever to be honored by having his body lie in state at the Capitol Rotunda. His son, Franklin Graham [b. 1952], who heads Samaritan’s Purse, a world aid society that his father created, has been less cautious and, as an early and outspoken supporter of Donald Trump, has not heeded his father’s advice to stay out of politics.
John R. Vile is a political science professor and dean of the Honors College at Middle Tennessee State University.