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GRAHAM, BILLY 1918-

EVANGELIST

Huge Popularity

Billy Graham entered the decade as the most famous Protestant preacher in the world. His swift movement from tent revivals to huge stadium events around the world, his effective use of radio and television, and his organization that was able to coordinate his activities as well as maintain his financial integrity made him consistently one of the most admired men in the nation. Graham continued his crusades, as he called his revivals, speaking in London, Tokyo, Yugoslavia, and Latin America, as well as in Canada and the United States. Like the Vatican, Graham had a pavilion at the New York World's Fair (1964-1965).

World Congress on Evangelism

One of his important activities was working with the World Congress on Evangelism, which met in Berlin in 1966. The congress, reminiscent of the great evangelistic conferences of the turn of the century, brought together representatives from around the world and reinvigorated the actions and growth of conservative Protestantism.

Political Influence

By the 1960s, however, Graham was such a public figure that his actions took on a political cast whether he liked it or not. He was criticized by many blacks and white liberals for his failure to speak out forcefully on the moral and religious implications of the civil rights movement in the early part of the decade. He maintained that his work with African-American evangelists and his insistence that his meetings be open to all people were a symbol of the importance of racial equality. A few months after the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, he held a nonsegregated crusade in that city. He worked vigorously behind the scenes to lower racial tension, but his public voice was muted in this crucial area.

Vietnam

His views on the American involvement in the war in Vietnam were more complicated. He had a long history of anticommunism and a close relationship with Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. Like other Americans, he strongly supported the troops actually fighting the war. In 1966, at the request of President Johnson, Graham made a Christmas trip to Vietnam. In a press conference afterward he remarked, "The stakes are much higher in Vietnam than anybody realizes.…Every American can be proud of the men in uniform. …They are paying a great price for the victory they are almost certainly winning there." An illness kept him from visiting the troops in 1967, but he returned at Christmas in 1968 even though he realized this gave an appearance of supporting the unpopular war. He remarked in early 1968, "I hope my son, who is nearing draft age, will gladly go and be willing to give his life."

Counter-Counterculture

Graham deeply disliked the challenges to authority that were characteristic of the last half of the decade. While he was able to reconcile himself to the nonviolent protests against segregation, he bitterly refused to accept the legitimacy of the antiwar protests, insisting they were threats to the nation's security and offensive to God. In regard to the ministers who were active in the antiwar movement he remarked, "Where many of these men get the 'Reverend' in the front of their names, I do not know. Certainly they don't get it from God.…God does not tolerate disorder."

Evasion of Race

While Graham attempted to evade political issues such as race and war, he continued to be deeply involved in politics. In 1960 he strongly supported his friend Richard Nixon's candidacy for the presidency, not because he was anti-Catholic but because he admired Nixon. His subsequent relations with President Kennedy were somewhat strained, but he had a close friendship with Lyndon Johnson. In 1968 he endorsed Nixon and quietly and effectively worked for his election. Graham fully supported the new president's regular White House church services and was the speaker at the first of these. He worked closely with the Nixon administration, supporting its efforts both publicly and privately, serving as if he were the president's chaplain.