So, how come the widely revered Billy Graham never got the heat Jeremiah Wright’s getting?
May 2nd, 2008 at 07:09am Pat Cunningham
In 1972, Richard Nixon’s infamous White House taping system captured the voice of the Rev. Billy Graham saying this:
“A lot of the Jews are great friends of mine. They swarm around me and are friendly to me…But they don’t know how I really feel about what they’re doing to this country.”
That remark came in a conversation Graham had with Nixon about supposed Jewish control of the media.
Graham said the Jewish “stranglehold (on the media) has got to be broken or the country’s going down the drain.”
Replied Nixon: “You believe that?”
“Yes, sir,” said Graham.
“Oh, boy,” responded Nixon. “I can’t ever say that, but I believe it.”
“No, but if you get elected a second time,” suggested Graham, “then we might be able to do something.”
Graham apologized for these comments when the tape of them was made public in 2002. The ensuing scandal didn’t amount to much and quickly faded.
Graham has never been subjected to the reprobation the Rev. Jeremiah Wright has faced in recent weeks and months for his controversial statements. Nor were any of Graham’s close friends and admirers said to be guilty by association with him.
I raise this issue because it came up last night on “The Daily Show,” as we see HERE.
Entry Filed under: Billy Graham, Jeremiah Wright, Richard Nixon
10 Comments Add your own
1. Mike Carroll | May 2nd, 2008 at 8:09 am
I would imagine it has something to do with standards of acceptability evolving over 3 1/2 decades. Bear with me on this anecdote.
At dinner one night when I was home from college (1968 or thereabouts), my father asked me “how is your colored roommate doing?”. I promptly lectured him on the use of that word and how the acceptable word was now “black”. He in turn let me know that he had used that term all of his life when those around him were using the N word. His subtle way of letting me know that I was a pompous little twit. On the other hand, I never heard him use “colored”again.
I guess that is a long way of saying that what Graham said in 1972 was far more offensive in 2002 when it was revealed.
I don’t think the Wright situation equates.
2. Pat Cunningham | May 2nd, 2008 at 8:16 am
Yeah, but Nixon’s and Graham’s remarks were sufficiently offensive, even then, that both of them knew they couldn’t make them publicly.
3. Menlo Bob | May 2nd, 2008 at 8:43 am
Billy Graham also thought AIDS was invented to kill black people? Then I guess we’ll have to take away his honorary degrees too!!!
4. Kaus | May 2nd, 2008 at 9:00 am
Of course, Henry Kissinger was Nixon’s secretary of state and his right hand man. He was also Jewish. Nixon’s memoirs…do they mention anything about Billy Graham impacting his life….was there any anti-Jewish sentiment?
5. equalityrkfd= | May 2nd, 2008 at 10:06 am
Well, duh, cuz he is…now wait for it…here it comes…cuz he is what? Yeah, White! Also his preaching style isn’t as upfront, it is so much more subtle and we like subtle racism.
6. Kaus | May 2nd, 2008 at 10:15 am
Post 5 - In this day and age….Don Imus comes to mind, refutes your silly argument.
7. equalityrkfd= | May 2nd, 2008 at 10:22 am
Huh? He wasn’t very subtle, was he? He also wasn’t a presidential spiritual adviser.
8. Kaus | May 2nd, 2008 at 10:34 am
Imus was white….and it was subtle….
Blatant would be someone that said white brains are different than black brains….
9. Pat Cunningham | May 2nd, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Hey, equaliltyrkfd: You’re kidding about Billy Graham not being a “presidential spiritual adviser,” right? Of course, he was. The media frequently called him “spiritual adviser” to Nixon (as well as other presidents), and neither Graham nor the White House ever disputed the characterization. It would appear that Billy also was a bit of a liar. When Nixon aide H.R. Haldeman wrote in 1994 about the aforementioned conversation between Graham and Nixon, Graham said he had NEVER discussed the “Jewish people” with Nixon, either publicly or privately. He seems not to have figured that the conversation was recorded. When the tapes were released in 2002, Graham said he still didn’t remember the conversation, but he also apologized.
10. equalityrkfd= | May 2nd, 2008 at 4:12 pm
No, I meant that Don Imus wasn’t a presidential spiritual adviser.
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