Tuesday, July 12, 2011

"The Preacher and the Presidents" by Nancy Gibbs & Michael Duffy

After owning it for some time now, I finally started reading The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House by Nancy Gibbs & Michael Duffy.



I was interested both because of Gibbs as a writer I enjoy and the subject of Graham, but found myself not wanting to continue now that I've reached about the halfway point. The writing is certainly good enough, but at least through his younger years and into the Johnson administration, I found the story of Graham not terribly compelling.

Someone with a relationship with so many different Presidents is interesting to me, but Gibbs and Duffy reference Graham being much more into Presidential policy making (at least through this first half of the book) than I would have expected... or thought would be the case with someone of Graham's reputation as a preacher, not politician.

It could well be that the second half of the book shows a Graham with acquired wisdom and focus on simply advising Presidents in spiritual matters, but I simply find myself wanting to now read other stuff more.