Presidential Papers, Doc#282 Personal To William Franklin Graham, 9 August 1957. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
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Document #282; August 9, 1957
To William Franklin Graham
Series: EM, AWF, DDE Diaries Series ; Category: Personal
The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XVIII - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace
Part II: Civil Rights; June 1957 to September 1957
Chapter 4: "Logic and reason must operate gradually"

 

Dear Billy:1 The pressures toward the end of a Congressional session are such that I really don't feel that I should try to make a trip to New York.2 I cannot yet tell when Congress will adjourn and currently I am attempting to spend parts of each evening at the hospital with Mrs. Eisenhower, who has had an operation.3

Immediately following adjournment, I shall have quite a hectic period either here or at Newport in clearing up the signing of bills and all the other administrative work that follows upon the closing of a Congressional session.4

So unless some unexpected relief should come from some corner, I have regretfully to decline your nice invitation to be with you on one of your evenings at Madison Square Garden. Of course I am highly delighted that you have experienced such a successful crusade. I have always agreed with you that human beings--especially Americans--do have an underlying spiritual hunger which from time to time manifests itself markedly. I believe that we are now experiencing such a period. This and your own inspirational qualities have, in my opinion, brought about the remarkable results you have achieved in this series of meetings.5

With warm regard, Sincerely

1 Graham was an evangelist who had developed a wide following through his "Hour of Decision" radio and television programs and, more recently, through his revival campaigns (see Galambos, NATO and the Campaign of 1952, no. 475, and Galambos and van Ee, The Middle Way, no. 1802). Graham's latest evangelical revival had begun on May 15. Meetings were held in Madison Square Garden, in Yankee Stadium, and on Wall Street in New York City. The rally was expected to last through September 1 (New York Times, May 16, Aug. 9, 1957).

2 See no. 302 for Eisenhower's description of the legislative and governmental pressures at that time. On August 2 Graham had written to urge the President to spend an evening at Madison Square Garden (WHCF/PPF 1-EE). "I am asking you to come," he wrote, "because of what it would symbolize to a confused, bewildered and perplexed world."

3 The first session of the Eighty-fifth Congress would adjourn on August 30. The First Lady had undergone gynecological surgery on August 6 (see no. 291).

4 The Eisenhowers would vacation in Newport, Rhode Island, September 4 - 30.

5 Graham had told the President that his "evangelistic crusade" had broken attendance records at Madison Square Garden and Yankee Stadium: "I am convinced that there is a spirit of religious revival in every borough of New York. It has been beyond all our expectations." See also New York Times, May 16 - September 2, 1957; and John Pollock, Billy Graham, Evangelist to the World: An Authorized Biography of the Decisive Years (New York, 1979), p. 28.

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. Personal To William Franklin Graham, 9 August 1957. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 282. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/second-term/documents/282.cfm

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