Billy Graham on Sarah Palin (Sort Of)
Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on January 26, 2009
Billy Graham has a long history of involvement in presidential politics, sometimes being less than completely neutral. But the then-89-year-old evangelist mostly stayed out of the 2008 presidential campaign. He did meet with Republican presidential candidate John McCain in the summer of 2008. In October eventual winner and Democratic candidate Barack Obama tried to meet with the evangelist but the visit was canceled due to Graham’s health.
But perhaps the under-reported story is how Billy Graham felt about the vice-presidential candidate and Alaskan governor Sarah Palin. According to Gigi Graham, Billy’s oldest daughter, the evangelist was fond of Palin:
“He’s a typical man. I don’t care if he’s 90 years old, he thought that she is so pretty,” Gigi Graham said. “He loves a pretty woman.”
The comment has little context and is buried in an article about Billy Graham turning 90, but it’s still bizarre. It’s also sad that the comment continues the widespread emphasis on Palin’s looks instead of her politics. Hopefully it’s more an out-of-context joke on Gigi’s part.
George Beverly Shea has been singing solos at Billy Graham crusades for nearly 60 years and on February 1, 2009 he’ll 