No one man or woman has ever been in a position to see the presidents, and the presidency, so intimately, over so many years. They called him in for photo ops. They called for comfort. They asked about death and salvation; about sin and forgiveness. They asked how the world would end. At a time when the nation is increasingly split over the place of religion in public life, The Preacher and the Presidents reveals how the world's most powerful men---from Harry Truman to George W. Bush---and the world's most famous evangelist, Billy Graham, knit faith and politics together for the last five decades. In addition to multiple interviews with Billy Graham, award-winning Time magazine writers Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy have met with past presidents, their families, and top aides from many administrations, including Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Ford, and Reagan. All have been generous with their memories of Graham and his presidential influence. Information gathered from presidential libraries and other sources make this a truly unprecedented chronicling of Billy Graham and his relationship with the White House. |
