Something I found interesting

[FreedomAngel82]

I don't know if you guys knew this. But on this Christian board I frequent they were talking about what Rush Limbuagh said recently about democrats fearing Christians. Someone posted about Billy Graham being a registered democrat. Does anybody know about that? I know that he was a friend of Clinton's and visited the white house often when he was president. Sorry I don't have a link.

he Rev. Billy Graham, seen with President-elect George W. Bush last November, had hoped to deliver an inaugural invocation.


Billy Graham's inauguration record
Billy Graham has participated in eight inaugurations since 1965, a record his staff says is surpassed only by Chief Justice John Marshall, who swore presidents in nine times in the early 19th century.
-- 1965 -- Johnson inauguration -- preached at inaugural service.
-- 1969 -- Nixon inauguration -- gave prayer at inaugural ceremony, after joining Johnson in the White House for his last night as president.
-- 1973 -- Second Nixon inauguration -- preached a special worship service at the White House.
-- 1981 -- Reagan inauguration -- gave a prayer and a homily at private inaugural service.
-- 1985 -- Second Reagan inauguration -- preached at inaugural prayer service.
-- 1989 -- Bush inauguration -- gave invocation and benediction.
-- 1993 -- Clinton inauguration -- gave invocation and benediction at inaugural ceremony, after joining Bush in the White House for his last night as president.
1997 -- Second Clinton inauguration -- gave invocation.
Graham also attended the 1953 Eisenhower inauguration, although he did not participate. He missed President Carter's 1977 inauguration, but attended a prayer breakfast a few days later and spent a night at the White House.
By Ron Kampeas / Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON -- Professing admiration for both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush -- two men who lose little love between them -- Billy Graham had hoped his inaugural invocation would help heal the wounds of a divisive election. Instead, fragile health has forced America's top minister to pull out.
Graham, 82 and frail with Parkinson's disease and a brain condition, announced Friday that he would not participate in the Jan. 20 Bush inauguration.
"I consider it a great privilege to have been invited by President-elect Bush to participate in his inaugural ceremony," Graham said a statement from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. "I love and respect his entire family very much, and regret that I am not able to join them for this special occasion."
Doctors advised Graham to skip the ceremony after medical tests revealed that a shunt -- a small, thin catheter designed to drain fluid from his brain -- is not working properly.
The shunt was implanted this summer at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minn., and readjusted last month. Doctors at a hospital in Asheville, N.C., where Graham lives, consulted with doctors at the Mayo clinic, and will operate to remove the shunt in the next few days.
Earlier this week, his spokesman, Larry Ross, said that Graham had agreed to participate in his ninth inauguration -- despite his ill health -- because the divisive election campaign left him concerned about festering wounds.
"Some things do transcend politics, transcend party, transcend race," Ross said. "He wants to speak to the nation at a critical moment in its history."
Graham was especially troubled about the Clinton-Bush acrimony, Ross said.
During the campaign, Clinton mocked Bush for claiming the office because "my daddy was president." Bush has pledged to "uphold the dignity" of the presidency, a dig at the scandals that dogged Clinton's administrations.
"In a way, he wants to appear as a spiritual patriarch addressing the nation," Ross said.
Graham has been close to the Bushes since the 1950s, when he befriended George W. Bush's grandfather, Connecticut Sen. Prescott Bush. He has vacationed with them at their Kennebunkport, Maine, home annually since 1962.
In his autobiography, Bush says that it was at such a retreat in 1985 that Graham "planted a mustard seed in my soul" leading him to reaffirm his faith in Christ and culminating in his decision the following year to stop drinking.
Graham participated in Bush's swearing-in as Texas governor in 1995, and Bush returned the favor, appearing at a Graham crusade in south Texas in 1997.
"Speaking of my great family, Dr. Billy Graham has meant a lot to all of us," Bush said. "He helped change my own life in a very personal and profound way."
Graham is also close to the Clintons -- for a number of years, Clinton tithed a 10th of his earnings to Graham's ministry. In 1998 Graham suggested that Clinton's misdeeds were over-reported and told NBC's "Today" show that "he has such a tremendous personality that I think the ladies just go wild over him."
However, Ross hinted that Graham was pleased with Bush's election, suggesting that the sexual scandals of the Clinton years unnerved the minister.
"Mr. Graham has talked recently a great deal about moral authority and leadership, consistency in personal and professional life has been a discussion point in recent years," he said. He also said Graham supports Bush's efforts to involve religious groups in administering welfare programs.
The Clintons and the Bushes attend Methodist services, and Graham is a Baptist, but Ross described Graham's approach as "nonsectarian."
a registered democrat , Graham has become almost unique in modern times for his closeness to a succession of presidents from both parties.
Ross says the invocation -- Graham's ninth -- would have matched the record set for participating in inaugurations by Chief Justice John Marshall, who swore presidents in nine times in the first half of the 19th century.
Graham's association with commanders in chief began with President Eisenhower, whom he had urged to run in 1951. Graham baptized Eisenhower at the White House in 1953.
He flirted with an anti-Catholic group during the 1960 campaign, but afterward grew close to the Kennedys. Of the Johnson years, he has said "I almost used the White House as a hotel." He deeply admired President Nixon, endorsing him in the 1972 campaign -- a first -- and expressed his shock and disappointment at the Watergate revelations.
He was close to Presidents Ford and Carter, but one of his closest friendships was with the Reagans. Nancy Reagan called Graham immediately after the president was shot in 1981, and Graham rushed to his side.

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