The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on January 29, 2009

Billy Graham has had personal contact with ten U.S. presidents, from George W. Bush back to Harry Truman. He had close, personal friendships with a number of them, and counseled and prayed with all of them. These relationships have given Billy Graham the title of America’s pastor and access to the most powerful men in the world.

The book The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House, by TIME magazine veterans Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy, profiles Graham’s relationship with each president and their families. The book goes into incredible detail, digging through personal correspondence and White House records.

The result is a 50-years snapshot of presidential politics that have tried and tested the world’s greatest evangelist. Though Graham tried to stay out of politics and offer neutral prayer and counsel regardless of political party, he didn’t always live up to that. On multiple occasions he allowed his bias to sway votes, though he would often step back from the brink and regret too much political action.

It was during an unguarded moment with Richard Nixon that Billy Graham uttered words that could have unraveled his ministry, words that when they became public in 2002 the evangelist didn’t remember saying and strongly denounced. Nixon’s own downfall in the Watergate scandal blindsided Graham, forcing him to reconsider his proximity to power, but also reinforcing his long held notion that presidents need prayer.

The Preacher and the Presidents offers a behind the scenes peek at the Civil Rights movement, showing both Lyndon Johnson’s and Graham’s frustration with the radical, non-violent leader Martin Luther King Jr. We also witness Graham’s shift from the anti-communist furor of the 1950s to speaking out against the nuclear arms race and beginning to preach in the former Soviet Union.

Though a registered Democrat, it’s intriguing to watch Graham work with presidents from both parties. We see his intimate relationship with the Bush family and his much-criticized friendship with the Clintons. There are stories of skinny-dipping with Lyndon Johnson, being shutout by Harry Truman and offering grace and forgiveness to Bill Clinton.

The Preacher and the Presidents is a detailed look at presidential power and the great need for spiritual guidance in the face of overwhelming challenges.

Published in 2007, the book barely touches on the 2008 election (it mentions candidates and Graham’s thoughts of them, as well as dismissing notions that Graham endorsed Hillary Clinton based on a comment he made at his New York Crusade in 2005). We do know that John McCain met with Graham and Barack Obama has tried to. Graham has expressed a wish to pray with Obama, though his days as a presidential pastor are over (Graham was also apparently “fond” of Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin). And while Graham has participated in a record-tying nine presidential inaugurations, he passed on his inaugural hat to Rick Warren in 2009 (literally).