Challenge/WI: President Billy Graham

[Emperor Norton I]

I recently read that Billy Graham was a considered pick for the 1964 Republican Presidential nomination, and had considered it. The largest problem was that only 24% of people said they would vote for Graham in a hypothetical contest between he and President Kennedy, and Graham finally opted out.

The challenge is therefore to make Graham President, preferably in 1964. The WI is what that would entail and cause.

 

[Dathi THorfinnsson]

I recently read that Billy Graham was a considered pick for the 1964 Republican Presidential nomination, and had considered it. The largest problem was that only 24% of people said they would vote for Graham in a hypothetical contest between he and President Kennedy, and Graham finally opted out.

The challenge is therefore to make Graham President, preferably in 1964. The WI is what that would entail and cause.

One of the things that saved Billy Graham (OTL) was that he never got seduced by power. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the schlock Televangelists started out as full of God's grace and wisdom as Billy Graham, and then discovered 1) you can't sell subtlety on Television, and 2) boy can you sell on television.

I think Billy Graham would have been much like Carter - all the right intentions, lousy rep as a president. It would also have killed his work on behalf of God. IMO. Today, when one looks at 'evangelical' Christianity, or even 'Christianity as seen in operation', we have slimy shallow televangelists and nasty political operatives. However, one can point to Billy Graham as a man of massive integrity. iTTL, that wouldn't be so possible. (OK, so iOTL we can point to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Campolo - but who knows about him.)

It would be a sad day for Christianity if Billy Graham had run.

 

[Andrew Hudson]

The whole world in his hands

Billy Graham would have had problems with his mission in that his appeal was not purely aimed at republicans and his evangelism would have had cross party support but once he sided with a political party he would alienate some of his following. "What gaineth a man if he wins the whole wide world and them loseth hs soul?"

Could he win the primary against Goldwater or Nelson Rockerfeller possibly if he tried the moral majority line as Rockerfeller was a divorcee and Goldwater regarded the moral majority as a threat to freedom. With Kennedy no longer in the running by 1964 his alleged reason for rejecting overtures was no longer there. Graham versus LBJ? probably closer than LBJ versus Goldwater.

President Graham? Vietnam probably not much different from Johnson. In later life Billy Graham began to moderate i.e. became critical of the vast sums of money spent on weapons of mass destruction and began engagement with the communist world to the dismay of former fans such as Ian Paisley. He also claimed that catholic theologians at least believed in fundamental truths. I suspect Graham would not have been a disaster as William Jennings Bryan would have been and may like Nixon have brought about detente. He would have avoided the sleaze and dishonesty of Nixon

 

[RogueBeaver]

While a POTUS Graham might be an interesting idea, he's not a politician and would not be nominated by the GOP. If you have a much earlier (1945-6) POD that has Graham go into politics instead of the clergy, that's one thing. But that wouldn't be OTL given the butterflies. Anyways, a clergyman nominated for President would be an *interesting* interpretation of the separation of church and state.

 

[TheSevenLeggedFallyDowner]

You guys do realize that Billy Graham was a registered Democrat for his entire life, right? He always leaned to the right politically, but he never officially changed his registration. This would make it rather problematic for him to be nominated by the Republicans in 1964. Just out of curiosity, where did you read that he was considered for the nomination?

As to what he would do if he somehow became President, I know that he was very vocally anti-segregation and anti-communism. I also know that Bill Graham was very supportive of Richard Nixon, so I would assume his policy goals would generally be similar to Nixon's. However I don't think Graham, who spent his entire life in ministry, would have the political acumen that Nixon had to implement those goals. Nonetheless, Nixon himself apparently thought that Graham had political potential. After the 1960 election (during which Graham had prominently supported him), he wrote a letter to him that said:

I have often told friends that when you went into the ministry, politics lost one of its potentially greatest practitioners.

Graham apparently later regretted his brief foray into politics in support of Nixon. When he refused to join Falwell's Moral Majority in 1979 he said that

Evangelists cannot be closely identified with any particular party or person. We have to stand in the middle in order to preach to all people, right and left. I haven't been faithful to my own advice in the past. I will be in the future.

 

[Greenlanterncorps]

While a POTUS Graham might be an interesting idea, he's not a politician and would not be nominated by the GOP. If you have a much earlier (1945-6) POD that has Graham go into politics instead of the clergy, that's one thing. But that wouldn't be OTL given the butterflies. Anyways, a clergyman nominated for President would be an *interesting* interpretation of the separation of church and state.

You are correct, in order for someone like Billy Graham to be a politician, would require multiple PODs, and probably Divine intervention. He was trained as an evangelist and never tried to be anything else. He never held lower office and never tried to.

As far as the separation of church and state is concerned it is not an issue. That phrase does not appear in The Constitution. Instead the Constitution prohibits the Congress from establishing a religion, or interfering with the free exercise of religion. The religious offices or theological positions held by a candidate or office holder are not covered except by the prohibition on religious tests.

Also, it should be noted at least three clergymen have run for President since 1984: Jesse Jackson, Pat Robertson, Mike Huckabee.

 

[Emperor Norton I]

While a POTUS Graham might be an interesting idea, he's not a politician and would not be nominated by the GOP. If you have a much earlier (1945-6) POD that has Graham go into politics instead of the clergy, that's one thing. But that wouldn't be OTL given the butterflies. Anyways, a clergyman nominated for President would be an *interesting* interpretation of the separation of church and state.

We have a President Walt Disney timeline for goodness sake. Anything within the realm of logic, if on the edges of it, can be done. Heck, make it plausible, and I may do a timeline on it to round out my offbeat phase (which it seems most timeline writers go through at some point).

My thought on how to achieve it would be to have things fall apart heavily by 1964 so that an outsider and a character like Graham could actually be a contender (maybe Jack picks his buddy in Florida instead of Lyndon, still wins, dies in 1960, and things go down hill).

You guys do realize that Billy Graham was a registered Democrat for his entire life, right? He always leaned to the right politically, but he never officially changed his registration. This would make it rather problematic for him to be nominated by the Republicans in 1964. Just out of curiosity, where did you read that he was considered for the nomination?

The Preacher and The Presidents; Chapter 13; Pg. 126-roughly 128

"The notion that it was time for Billy Graham to run for president and save hte country did not arise only as a response to that gunshot in November. As far back as July 1963, Gallup was conducting national polls pitting Graham as the GOP candidate against Kennedy in 1964. (Kennedy prevailed, 61 percent to 24 percent; when asked why, 17 percent said because Graham didn't have the experience, while 19 percent said he belonged to religion and should remain there.) But the world would change after November, especially for Republicans who viewed an extended Johnson presidency with a degree of alarm matched only by their own level of fratricidal discord.

From the ashes of Nixon's 1960 defeat rose Barry Goldwater, shredding with his force of conviction the Republican reflex of caution and compromise: he offered "A Choice Not an Echo." He would make Social Security voluintary, kill farm subsidies altogether, strip labor of its power, hand control of nuclear weapons over to the commanders in the field: "let's lob one into the men's room of the Kremlin," he said. So fervid were his supporters, not among the eastern internationalist salons of the party but its western, alienated grassroots activists, that the Draft Goldwater Committee called for a rally at the Armory in Washington, buses rolled in from as far away as Chicago and Texas. The only gatherings there that had ever been bigger were the inaugurations of Eisenhower and Kennedy, and Billy Graham's crusades.
In a sense it was not so outlandish, as moderate and conservative Republicans set to tearing one another apart through the 1964 primary season, that Graham was back in play. During his Los Angeles crusade the previous fall, a high-level Republican strategy session was said to have discussed the merits of a Graham candidacy-not least that his crusade infrastructure and mailing lists would provide an excellent grassroots foundation for any White House bid-and made their case to him directly. Graham said he got telegrams from Republicans saying they would pledge their delegates to him if he ran. By that winter it had been rumored for months that he had caught the eye of the wildly rich Texas oilman H.L. Hunt, an aging billionaire curmudgeon in a clip-on bow tie. Though a longtime backer of Johnsoin's, Hunt allegedly told Grady Wilson that he would deposit as much as $6 million into Graham's personal bank account if he would agree to have his name floated for the GOP nomination.
Friends said it took about fifteen seconds for Graham to reject the idea flat out. There were various version, different amounts of money on the table, different terms discussed. "As far as I can tell," said Marvin Watson, who heard the rumors as the head of the Democratic Party in Texas before Johnson brought him to the White House, "'64 was Hunt's most active ear of trying to find people to run for office."
What is beyond dispute is that somehow the story leaked, suggesting that Graham had not just dismissed the idea. The morning headlines read, "Billy Graham Weighs Idea of Running for President," quoting a "source close to Graham.""He is giving earnest and prayerful consideration to the idea," said a story in the Houston Press,"and has spent many sleepless hours weighing it."
It was all juicy enough to make the CBS Evening New with Walter Cronkite, and inspired a snort from the Graham watchers at Christian Century. "Why should he publicly disavow so improbable a possibility....That he should feel it necessary after such reflection publicly to take himself out of the race few even dreamed he might enter indicates just how far out of touch with political reality a man who stands in front of crowds can get." The Century editors maybe didn't know that Gallup had been polling this "improbable" possibility for months.
But their hostility was nothing compared to Ruth's. She called and informed her husband, "If you run, I don't think the country will elect a divorced president." His father-in-law was next. He said 'You hold a [press] conference right now, right this minute and tell them.' I said 'It's midnight here! I can't do it.' But I did the next morning." "If nominated, I will not run," Graham declared. "If elected, I will not serve. God called me to preach." He did not, however, mention as one of the reasons the fact that he had so much confidence in the leadership of his friend in the White House..."

It also goes on to discuss Goldwater considering and consulting with Graham as a possible running mate.

 

[RogueBeaver]

Your Majesty: While Smathers might be a good idea to set up the scenario, I don't see JFK taking full leave of his senses and nominating a Dixiecrat as his running mate. "Why does a black man get off easier when he rapes a white gal" is parroting George Wallace.

 

[GreatScottMarty]

You are correct, in order for someone like Billy Graham to be a politician, would require multiple PODs, and probably Divine intervention. He was trained as an evangelist and never tried to be anything else. He never held lower office and never tried to.

As far as the separation of church and state is concerned it is not an issue. That phrase does not appear in The Constitution. Instead the Constitution prohibits the Congress from establishing a religion, or interfering with the free exercise of religion. The religious offices or theological positions held by a candidate or office holder are not covered except by the prohibition on religious tests.

Also, it should be noted at least three clergymen have run for President since 1984: Jesse Jackson, Pat Robertson, Mike Huckabee.

and the Reverend Al Sharpton

 

[Emperor Norton I]

Your Majesty: While Smathers might be a good idea to set up the scenario, I don't see JFK taking full leave of his senses and nominating a Dixiecrat as his running mate. "Why does a black man get off easier when he rapes a white gal" is parroting George Wallace.

Perhaps not totally 100%, but it is possible. The Dixiecrats weren't there for the reason to talk or be President; they were there to balance out the ticket so the South would keep loyal. Take for example how a hyper-Conservative anti-New Dealer like John Nance Garner was FDR's VP for the first two terms.

 

[RogueBeaver]

Here's a scenario: Johnson dies of a heart attack in Dec. 1962, and JFK nominates Smathers as his replacement. Kennedy is shot in Dallas as per OTL. Smathers has alcohol and libido problems, and begins neglecting his duties. Bobby moves in and tries to take command with the rest of the Cabinet. Very ugly scenes* follow, but Smathers makes it through to the convention despite having his indiscretions exposed to various sources, though not publicized. Both parties are deadlocked at their conventions: the GOP turns to Graham, the Democrats nominate Humphrey and Bobby for President and Vice President respectively. By 1964, Graham wins narrowly over HHH-RFK. Richard Nixon becomes Secretary of State.

*IOTL RFK demanded that the "enablers" (O'Donnell and Salinger mostly) stop "enabling". They didn't listen. Now that it's not his brother, he can use the resources available to him to keep tabs on Smathers.