302.BG discounts human efforts at racial harmony. Los Angeles Times, August 3 and 10, 1963; Christianity Today, September 13 and 30, 1963, pp. 1134, 1187–88, 1194–95.
302.Black churchmen criticize BG. Presbyterian pastor, L. David Cowie, “Apostolic Preaching in Los Angeles,” Christianity Today, October 25, 1963, p. 69. It is noteworthy that Cowie’s criticism appeared in CT in the context of an article generally complimentary of BG. The NANE president was Marvin Prentis, quoted in “The Crowded Coliseum,” Christianity Today, September 27, 1963, p. 1245, and by AP, August 29, 1963.
302.Negro Evangelicals commend BG. Cowie, “Apostolic Preaching,” p. 69.
302.BG’s limited political statements. Criticizes Supreme Court decision on prayer and Bible reading, CN 19, Box 4, Folder 22 (General Correspondence), BGCA; quoted in “Prayer Still Legal in Public Schools,” Christian Century, July 4, 1962, 79; quoted in Cort R. Flint, with the staff of Quote magazine, Billy Graham Speaks!: The Quotable Billy Graham (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1968), p. 126.
302.BG commends JFK stand on parochial-school aid. AP, in Charlotte Observer, August 19, 1961. On communism. Billy Graham, “Facing the Anti-God Colossus,” Christianity Today, December 21, 1961, pp. 6–8.
302.BG, “The Ultimate Weapon,” sermon, Hour of Decision, 1961; “My Answer” column, November 8, 1961.
302.BG repudiates Welch charges. AP, July 9, 1961.
303.BG recommends sending food to China. AP, February 13, 1961.
303.BG and Kennedy regard each other with reserve. Correspondence, BG to JFK, August 26, 1963; JFK to BG, January 6, 1962; August 26, 1963. Letters, White House Names File, Billy Graham, JFKLA.
303.Infrequent visits. BG, interview, February 27, 1987.
303.JFK “gritted his teeth.” Edward Fiske, “The Closest Thing to a White House Chaplain,” the New York Times Magazine, June 8, 1969, p. 114.
303.JFK and Jackie condescend to BG. Chuck Ashman, The Gospel According to Billy (Secaucus, N.J.: Lyle Stuart, 1977), p. 178.
303.BG puffs Connally. AP, January 16, 1963.
303.News of JFK’s assassination. BG, interview, March 26, 1987; T. W. Wilson, interview, February 27, 1987.
304.“we must have a terrible shock sometimes.” UPI, December 8, 1963.
Chapter 19: Billy and Lyndon
309.“Your message met the need.” Letter, Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) to BG, December 9, 1963. Box 227a, “Billy Graham,” White House Central Files (WHCF), Lyndon B. Johnson Library Archives (LBJLA). Unless otherwise noted, all correspondence between BG and the Johnson White House was found in this 266-page collection.
309.BG’s first visit to the Johnson White House. BG, oral history (interview by Monroe Billington), AC 84–76, LBJLA.
305.BG concedes Johnson may have had political interest in him. Ibid.
306.LBJ “best qualified.” Charlotte News, December 17, 1963. “as God had been with Washington . . . Lincoln.” Letter, BG to LBJ, December 29, 1963.
306.H. L. Hunt offers to back Grady Wilson and BG. Grady Wilson, interview, May 1, 1987; BG, press conference, Washington, D.C., April 24, 1986; Calvin Thielman, interviews, February 25, 1987, and May 29, 1991; Lane Adams, interviews, February 9, 1987, and May 29,1991; “Evangelist Graham Considers Draft for President—by GOP,” Houston Press, January 31, 1964; Chuck Ashman, The Gospel According to Billy, (Secaucus, N.J.: Lyle Stuart, 1977), p. 163; “Billy Won’t Run for President,” Christian Century, February 12, 1964, p. 197. Several people were familiar with the Hunt offer. The amount of money Hunt offered was reported to be as large as $10 million in some versions of the story, but $6 million seems to be the preferred figure. Though confirming that he once flirted briefly with the possibility of running for the presidency and acknowledging that substantial financial support would have been forthcoming, Graham declined to say that H. L. Hunt had offered him the sum in question. T. W. Wilson asserted that Hunt made no such call but acknowledged that other factors had led Graham to consider a draft by the GOP. Another source asserted that such an offer had definitely been made but remembered the would-be supporter as Sid Richardson rather than H. L. Hunt. Since Richardson died in 1959—BG preached his funeral—this cannot have been true and probably reflects a slightly faulty memory. The Houston Press did not name Hunt, but confirmed that Graham “has been offered eye-popping support, running into the millions.” In view of the existing evidence, I have chosen to accept the account reported here but acknowledge that the evidence is a bit ambiguous.
307.Invitation to LBJ to attend crusade. Reflected in LBJ’s polite decline, July 22, 1964.
307.Grahams visit White House. Invitation, LBJ to BG, July 22, 1964; Thank-you letter, BG to LBJ, August 27, 1964.
307.BG forged ties with Moyers and Watson. Moyers letter to BG, January 8, 1964.
307.Marvin Watson ties. Numerous memos and letters.
307.Anne endorses Goldwater, LBJ’s call. BG, oral history, pp. 10–11; Charlotte Observer, May 20, 1965 (a Johnson reminiscence).
308.Telegram campaign. Charlotte News, November 3, 1964; AP, December 23, 1964.
308.Weekend prior to election spent in White House. Marshall Frady, Billy Graham: Parable of American Righteousness (Boston: Little, Brown, 1979), p. 266.
308.“as truly a servant of God as was your great-grandfather.” Letter, BG to LBJ, November 10, 1964.
308.Telegram money “might have been better spent.” BG and Goldwater campaign.
308.BG speaks at inaugural church service. Calvin Thielman interview, February 25, 1987; Grady Wilson, interview, March 1, 1987.
308.BG and LBJ exchange greetings and gifts. Correspondence, LBJ or White House staff to or concerning BG: August 21, September 11, and December 4, 1965; May 3 and September 1, 1966; November 8 and 11, 1966; January 3 and June 21, 1968 (leisure shoes). BG or staff to LBJ or staff: August 27, November 20, and December 6, 1965; March 28, December 2, 1966, etc. Intercessory prayer for flu: BG to LBJ, January 30, 1965; for supernatural wisdom: BG to LBJ, February 12, 1965; BG to LBJ, June 21, 1968.
309.Moyers on Johnson’s use of men as symbols. Frady, Parable, pp. 264–65. Moyers confirmed the accuracy of Frady’s account in a letter received February 26, 1991.
309.Gallup polls of “most-admired” men. Reported in Detroit Free Press, January 2, 1966.
309.“We bragged on each other.” Charlotte Observer, May 20, 1965.
309.LBJ seeks BG’s advice. War on Poverty: Calvin Thielman, interview, February 25, 1987. 304 “cut ten million dollars.” Frady, Parable, p. 263.
310.“Now Billy, tell me what you really think.” Carloss Morris, oral history, January 10, 1978, CN 141, Box 10, Folder 14, BGCA.
310.BG recommended Humphrey. Frady, Parable, pp. 263–64.
310.“I was well-known in Texas.” BG, oral history.
310.LBJ afraid of the Baptist Standard. BG, Legends, CNN, 1986; also, in slightly different form, in BG, oral history.
310.LBJ’s religiosity. BG, oral history; interview, March 26, 1987; Calvin Thielman, interview, February 25, 1987.
311.BG Pavilion at New York World’s Fair. Carloss Morris, oral history; John Pollock, Billy Graham: The Authorized Biography (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966), p. 261; Cort R. Flint, with the staff of Quote magazine, Billy Graham Speaks!: The Quotable Billy Graham (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1968), pp. 168–69; Martin E. Marty, “Religious Cafeteria,” Christian Century, June 10, 1964, pp. 758–59; “Some Clouds on a Summer’s Day,” Christian Century, July 1, 1964, p. 854; personal observation.
312.Four and a half million see The Restless Ones. Edward Fiske, “White House Chaplain,” the New York Times Magazine, June 8, 1969, p. 113.
313.Effectiveness of film ministry. Dave Barr, interview, November 14, 1987.
313.“That’s why God has given us this medium.” Barr, interview.
314.1964 Boston crusade. Allan Emery, oral history, April 9, 1979, CN 141, Box 10, Folder 4, BGCA.
314.BG visits Ted Kennedy. “Graham Chats with Kennedy in Hos
pital,” Boston Globe, September 23, 1964; “Graham Blames Courts for Violence,” Boston Herald, September 18, 964.
314.BG visits Combat Zone. “Graham Wins ‘Combat Zone,’” Boston Sunday Advertiser, September 20, 1964; “The Aftermath of a Crusade,” Boston Herald, September 27, 1964.
315.Visit with Cardinal Cushing arranged. George M. Collins, “Graham to Meet Cardinal Tomorrow,” Boston Globe, October 6, 1964. In a statement Jews also found appealing, Graham declared that “it is high time that the church spoke authoritatively to Israel and assured all Jews that we do not hold them as a nation responsible for the crucifixion,” a position Cushing had also espoused. “Graham Visits Bars in South End,” Boston Globe, September 20, 1964.
316.BG meets Cardinal Cushing. “Secret of Billy Graham’s Voice? It’s the Tepid Water in That Pitcher,” Boston Globe, October 5, 1964; “Cardinal Has Praise for Graham Crusade,” Boston Herald, September 16, 1964; “Cardinal Lauds Graham, Then Flies to Rome,” Boston Globe, September 16, 1964; “Graham Visits Bars in South End,” Boston Globe, September 20, 1964 (re Cushing’s efforts on behalf of Jews); Pollock, Authorized Biography, pp. 263–64, in which BG’s official biographer indicates that the evangelist requested the meeting with Cushing; Robert Ferm (who disagrees with that interpretation), interview, March 28, 1987; Allan Emery, oral history; interview, July 19, 1986. “From a Cardinal: Praise for a Protestant Crusader,” U.S. News & World Report, October 19, 1964, p. 24; “Go Hear Graham: Cardinal Cushing,” Boston Globe, October 7, 1964; Kenneth L. Woodward, “Crusader and Cardinal,” Newsweek, October 19, 1964, p. 71; “New England Revisited,” Christianity Today, November 6, 1964, pp. 53–54; L. David Otte, “Graham Predicts Second Coming,” Boston Globe, October 12, 1964; Leonard Marks, USIA, interview with Billy Graham, September 20, 1965, Folder EX ND 19/CO 312, September 1965, Box 217, LBJLA.
317.BG doubts he can preach in Houston. Carloss Morris, interview, May 5, 1987. Morris tells essentially the same story in his oral history.
317.LBJ attends Astrodome crusade. UPI, November 19, 1965, CN 17, Box 8, Folder 18 (Clippings, Houston 1965), BGCA.
317.BG warns against communism. Speech to North Carolina Press Association, reported by AP, in Charlotte Observer, July 31, 1965.
317.The “mess in Southeast Asia.” “Billy Graham Asks Prayers for Johnson in Viet Crisis,” San Juan, Puerto Rico, Star, February 15, 1965. CN 360, MF Reel 50 (Clippings, Misc. Foreign Countries, 1/1960–12/1965), BGCA.
318.“I have no sympathy . . . stopped in Vietnam.” Rocky Mountain News, August 25, 1965.
318.BG: “95 percent of the Congress . . . know the facts.” “Billy Graham on War, Religion (interview with Max Goldberg),” Boston Globe, December 12, 1965.
318.“my support of the President’s Vietnam policy.” Letter, BG to Moyers, October 19, 1965, Box 56, HU 2, LBJLA.
318.“God will judge us.” Quoted without citation in Flint, Billy Graham Speaks! p. 129.
318.Birmingham Easter Rally. Birmingham News, March 5, 30, 1964; Birmingham World, March 28, 1964; the New York Times, March 30, 1964; Chicago Sun-Times, March 30, 1964. These newspapers are cited in Jerry Berl Hopkins, “Billy Graham and the Race Problem,” 1949–1969, (Ph.D. diss., University of Kentucky, 1986), pp. 117–21. For correspondence confirming prior apprehensions, see CN 1 (Haymaker Papers), Box 6, Folder 8, BGCA, cited in Hopkins, Race Problem.
319.“The Great Reconciliation” sermon. “The Issue in Alabama,” Decision, June 1964, pp. 1–3.
319.Speech to NAE, April 7, 1964, Religious News Service.
319.G. W. Carver Award. Letter, Howard Jones to Robert Ferm, July 14, 1968, CN 19 (Ferm Papers), Box 10, Folder 2 (1/68–3/71), BGCA.
319.CT does not endorse civil rights act. Carl F. H. Henry, Confessions of a Theologian: An Autobiography (Waco, Tex.: Word Books, 1986), p. 227.
319.NAE adoption of pro-civil-rights resolution. Chicago Daily News, April 7, 1964; Chicago’s American, April 8, 1964; quoted in Hopkins, Race Problem, pp. 121–22.
319.Black columnist attacks BG. Chuck Stone, Chicago Defender, April 18–24, 1964, quoted in Hopkins, Race Problem, pp. 123–24.
319.Ferm reports on Chicago situation. Ferm, letter and “Preliminary Report,” August 25, 1964, CN 1 (Haymaker Papers), Box 8, Folder 18, BGCA. Cited in Hopkins, Race Problem, pp. 124–27.
320.“I haven’t been to jail yet.” Religious News Service, March 3, 1965, quoted in Lowell D. Streiker and Gerald S. Strober, Religion and the New Majority: Billy Graham, Middle America, and the Politics of the 70’s (New York: Association Press, 1972), p. 53.
320.“I never felt . . . conscience of the world.” The New York Times, April 17, 1965, p. 8.
320.BG’s observations re Alabama. Montgomery Advertiser, April 19, 23, 24, 1965, and unidentified clippings, 1965 Clippings Box, April Folder, BGCA, cited and quoted in Hopkins, Race Problem, pp. 128–30.
320.“BG in Montgomery: A Stride Toward Reconciliation,” Christianity Today, July 2, 1965, pp. 31–32.
320.Johnson commends BG. Letter, LBJ to BG, April 13, 1965.
321.“if the Klan would quiet down.” See, for example, AP, June 21, 1965; “Graham Crusade Draws 100,000 in Montgomery,” Crusade Information Service, quoted in Charlotte News, June 23, 1965.
321.BG responds to Watts riot: rioters being exploited. The New York Times, August 18, 1965; AP, in Charlotte Observer, August 15, 18, 1965.
321.BG urges Martin Luther King, Jr., to call for a moratorium. Charlotte News, August 17, 1965; Also, the New York Times, August 10, 1965, p. 18; “Does Anyone Really Care?” Christian Century, September 22, 1965, pp. 1148–49; Leonard Marks, US1A, interview with Graham.
321.Assessments of BG’s comments on Watts riot. “Be Specific, Mr. Graham,” Christian Century, September 1, 1965, p. 1053; editorial, Charlotte News, August 17, 1965.
321.Identify rioters, get rid of ghettos. Charlotte Observer, June 25, 1966; “Graham Asks LBJ to Act on Race Riots,” Boston Herald, July 19, 1966. Also, “Billy Graham’s Plea to President Johnson,” U.S. News & World Report, August 7, 1967, p. 92.
322.“You see some guy on every campus.” Houston crusade, 1965, quoted in Bill Adler, The Wit and Wisdom of Billy Graham (New York: Random House, 1967).
322.“Ours indeed is a sick generation.” Sermon, Hour of Decision, 1966.
322.“frug-dancing mothers.” Quoted in Lewis F. Brabham, A New Song in the South: The Story of the Billy Graham Greenville, S.C., Crusade (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1966), p. 62.
322.“one out of twelve college students.” Letter, Robert Ferm to William G. Kelley, November 1, 1962, CN 19 (Ferm Papers), Box 4, Folder 25 (General Correspondence), BGCA. Kelley had asked for the source of BG’s assertion that “one out of seven college students” was in psychiatric care. Ferm replied that BG had claimed only one in twelve and conceded that the charge was “undocumented” but “believed correct.”
322.“When it comes to specific moral issues . . . our duty is clear.” CN 74, VT-NBC, BGCA.
322.“I see no other hope.” Quoted in Adler, Wit and Wisdom. A similar statement was reported by L. David Otte, “Graham Predicts Second Coming,” Boston Globe, October 12, 1964.
Chapter 20: Second Comings
323.Bob Jones criticizes BG. AP, in Atlanta Journal, March 4, 1966; Charlotte Observer, March 4, 1966; “Graham in Greenville,” Christianity Today, April 1, 1966; “Boycotting Billy,” Time, March 18, 1966, p. 103; Lexington, North Carolina, Dispatch, March 14, 1966; Letter, Bob Jones, Jr., to editor of London Christian, May 6, 1966, CN 83–108, MF Reel 10 (Clippings, England 1/66–6/66), BGCA. Note: There is some inconsistency in the newspaper clippings. It is possible that Bob Jones, Jr., was responsible for some of these statements, particularly the charge regarding “alliance with infidelity and Romanism.”
324.Greenville statistics. BGEA records.
324.Rowlandson finds a sponsor for crusade. Maurice Rowlandson, interview, July 10, 1986; UPI, June 5, 1956. BGEA-authorized stories of the crusade tell of t
he Evangelical Alliance sponsorship, but not of their reservations. Curtis Mitchell, The Billy Graham London Crusade (Minneapolis: World Wide Publications, 1966), p. 5; John Pollock, Crusade ’66 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1966), p. 8. Church of England declines to sponsor. “London and Conversion,” America, June 18, 1966, p. 114.
324.Stott: “the church is not cutting any ice.” Quoted in Mitchell, London Crusade, p. 11.
325.Ferm and Adams visit with clergy. Robert Ferm, interview, March 28,1987; Lane Adams, interview, February 9, 1987; Memo, The Reverend A. W. Goodwin-Hudson to the Reverend Harold G. Owen, secretary of Berks Spiritual Preparation Committee, August 25, 1965, CN 19 (Ferm Papers), Box 11, Folder 2 (1/65–1/66), BGCA.
325.BG’s prayer for Great Britain. Lane Adams, oral history, May 9, 1978, CN 141, Box 2, Folder 4, BGCA. In the first conversation I had with Adams, prior to a formal interview, he repeated this story in much the same form. More than twenty years after the incident, he remained impressed.
325.Ferm’s encounter with customs officer. Ferm, interview.
326.“a simple message for simple people.” Cecil Northcott, “The Graham Crusade: Abdication of Evangelism,” Christian Century, May 25, 1966, pp. 673–75.
326.“We don’t specially like . . . mental habits.” “Choose ye . . . Sham!” Baptist Times, January 10, 1966.
326.“only the second best does for religion.” David Lazell, “Objections to Evangelism,” The Christian, July 15, 1966, p. 11.
326.“Billy Graham’s real offense . . .” David Orrock, “The Memorable Crusade,” The Christian, March 25, 1966; CN 83–108, MF Reel 10 (Clippings, England, 1/66–6/66), BGCA.
326.“may be the biggest disaster.” BG, quoted in Pollock, Crusade ’66, p. 13.
327.BG and team answer questions. Mitchell, London Crusade, pp. 15, 33, 21, 43.
327.BG on Vietnam at church assembly. Pollock, Crusade ’66, p. 80.
327.Twenty-four Hours. Pollock, Crusade ’66, pp. 18–19; Mitchell, London Crusade, p. 14. Target’s book was Evangelism, Inc. (London: Penguin Press, 1968). A transcript of the Twenty-four Hours with Kenneth Harris was printed in The Christian and Christianity Today, May 27, 1966. (The Christian, a long-established religious newspaper, was purchased by BGEA and for a time had a collaborative arrangement with CT. In 1966 the publication was bearing the double title and printed some of the same material that appeared in the American version of CT. I used these materials in BGEA’s London office. They are now housed in the BGCA.)
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