WASHINGTON (BP) — Less than two weeks after Billy Graham said in a nationally televised interview President Clinton “has such a tremendous personality that I think the ladies just go wild over him,” the renowned evangelist reaffirmed in a New York Times opinion piece leaders should be held to a higher standard of personal behavior.
Graham’s March 17 commentary in The Times contrasted somewhat with an earlier interview he did for NBC’s “Today” show. That appearance, in which Graham lamented the president’s temptations and pressures, brought a sharp rebuke of the world’s leading evangelist for the last half-century from columnist Cal Thomas, an evangelical Christian.
In his commentary for The Times, Graham, 79, wrote people “entrusted with leadership — whatever their field — bear a special responsibility to uphold the highest standards of moral and ethical conduct, both publicly and privately.”
Should personal character be ignored as long as a leader is doing his job? No, Graham said, “because the stakes are too high and the impact on society too far-reaching.
“A leader’s moral character, first of all, influences the way he or she does his or her job. There simply is no such thing as an impenetrable fire wall between what we do privately and what we do publicly,” Graham wrote. “Can someone who consistently lies or deceives or cheats in his personal life be trusted in a business deal or a courtroom or a political agreement? — Of course not.
“A leader’s moral character also influences those who look up to him or her — particularly young people. The moral meltdown in our country in part results from a failure of leadership.”
Saying Clinton and he had been personal friends for many years, Graham wrote, “I hope and pray, for his sake, the sake of his family and the sake of our nation, that he is not guilty of the things he is alleged to have done.
“We need to pray fervently for him, for everyone involved in this controversy and for our country. The Scripture says, ‘Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people’ (Proverbs 14:34).”
In a March 5 interview with Katie Couric on “Today,” Graham said he would forgive Clinton if he is guilty of the accusations made against him.
While Graham never specified what charges he was discussing, Clinton has been alleged to have had sexual relations with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and with committing perjury to cover up the relationship. Since Graham’s “Today” appearance, White House aide Kathleen Willey has repeated her sworn testimony in an interview for CBS’ “60 Minutes” that Clinton made an unwelcome sexual advance toward her just outside the Oval Office.
“I forgive him,” Graham told Couric,” because I know the frailty of human nature, and I know how hard it is — and especially a strong, vigorous young man like he is. And he has such a tremendous personality that I think the ladies just go wild over him.
“And he’s had a lot of temptations thrown his way and a lot of pressure on him,” Graham said of Clinton. “And I wouldn’t ever want to be president myself. The pressure on a president today is unbelievable.”
A president “should attempt, with God’s help, to have a higher moral standard than, perhaps, the average public has,” said Graham, who also said he forgave former President Nixon. “But … we’re living in a whole different world today, and the pressure on anybody today is very difficult.”
Of that comment, Thomas said in his March 11 column in The Washington Times, “Try this line on your wife if she catches you in a compromising position with another woman: ‘Honey, you know what difficult times we live in. Even Billy Graham says so.'”
Graham “used to decry cultural decline in sermons that reminded people of the consequences of sin,” Thomas wrote.
“In the biblical story of the woman taken in adultery, Jesus tells her to ‘go and sin no more.’ Mr. Clinton could take Mr. Graham’s forgiveness (which is really absolution) and see it as permission to go and sin some more.”
What specifically is Graham forgiving Clinton for, Thomas asked before listing some of the allegations made against the president while in the White House. “At what point would Mr. Graham point his finger and, like the prophet Nathan, say, ‘Thou art the man?'” Thomas wrote, referring to the man of God who confronted King David for his sin with Bathsheba.
In the 1980s, Thomas said, many preachers “were compromised because they preferred access to accountability” in relation to the White House.
“I’ve known Billy Graham for nearly 30 years and have written of his supreme integrity,” Thomas said. “Now that he is in the twilight of his life, at age 79, and suffering from Parkinson’s disease, perhaps he and all preachers should impose a moratorium on schmoozing with presidents and focus solely on building the kingdom of God, which is not of this world.”
