The Preacher and The Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House
By: Nancy Gibbs & Michael Duffy
The Pastor’s Monthly Book Selection – August, 2017
Two veteran TIME writers, Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy have written a fascinating book about a peculiar aspect of the ministry of Billy Graham. When being interviewed for this piece, Reverend Graham made the stipulation that the authors present the bad as well as the good. Following that wise counsel enabled Gibbs and Duffy to write a work that offers great insight for those wishing to understand the interaction between religion and politics in America.
Throughout his many years as an evangelist, Dr. Graham was also known as the President’s Pastor. This was not due to any official position but to the friendships he had developed with a number of these men as well as his influence in the evangelical world. From the presidency of Harry Truman to that of George W. Bush, Billy Graham was either seeking to influence the executive branch of government or was being sought after for his spiritual guidance. The Preacher and the Presidents demonstrates the danger to a gospel ministry that can happen when politics and religion become bedfellows, as well as the opportunity that a man of character can have in the spiritual lives of world leaders. After describing the early years when Billy Graham was naive and hungry for political influence, Gibbs and Duffy take the reader through the years of disillusionment and deception during the Nixon administration, and on into the later era of his life when worldly influence lost its luster but the gospel continued to shine. Reading this work, I was struck by the wisdom of the separation between church and state and for the godly character of Billy Graham. The former helps to mitigate against the danger of politicizing the message of the gospel while the latter is a reminder that God will carry on His work in spite of the imperfections of His servants. I highly recommend this book for its historical value as well as the lessons it teaches concerning the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of man.
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