Billy Graham and The Presidents

As America celebrated President’s Day, Billy Graham released a picture gallery illustrating his relationships with decades of U.S. Presidents. Graham has met with — or ministered to — every President since Harry Truman in 1950.

Although the policies of the Obama administration have grown increasingly hostile toward Christians, President Obama even made the trek to Graham’s North Carolina home in 2010. If you ask Alabama Governor Robert Bentley about Graham, he’ll speak with genuine awe of being granted an audience last year with the man who many Christian historians believe has shared the gospel with more people than anyone in history.

Graham made some waves in 2012 when he released the below graphic, which was one of the few times in his life that he got publicly involved in an election. Rev. Graham’s son, Franklin, also expressed concerns with President Obama’s support of gay marriage. “If we are allowed to go down this road in the path that this president wants us to go down, I think it will be to our peril and to the destruction of this nation,” he said.

On the flip side, many Christians criticized Graham’s decision to praise Mitt Romney and take warnings about Mormonism off of the Billy Graham Evangelical Association’s website.

Although he stopped short of endorsing Romney, Graham’s group published several articles encouraging Americans to cast their vote based on Biblical values. But after President Obama was re-elected, Graham released this:

“Now with the votes counted, it is important to remember that whether we are personally pleased with the outcome or not, God wants us to pray for those chosen to be our leaders—at the national, state, and local levels. The Bible urges us to do so with both respect and thanksgiving (see 1 Peter 2:17; 1 Timothy 2:1–3).

“We must also remember that no election will ever solve America’s most basic problems. That is because the trouble, at its root, is in the human heart, and the only path to true restoration—for a person or for a nation—is through repentance. The Bible says, “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19–20, ESV).

“Only the Gospel, God’s Good News, has the power to change lives, heal hearts, and restore a nation.”

Religion will continue to play a central, and sometimes controversial role in American politics, especially while Obama is in office. Rick Warren, pastor of the 20,000-member Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, tweeted last year in reference to ObamaCare’s contraception mandate that he would “rather go to jail than cave in to a government mandate that violates what God commands us to do.” Atlanta pastor Louie Giglio was pressured to withdraw from participating in Obama’s inauguration because of his stance on gay marriage and was ultimately replaced by Episcopal minister Luis Leon who supports gay marriage.

With Graham now 94 years old, he may not live to see another presidency. Who will fill the void he will leave as the country’s most well known Christian leader? And who will become the next Pastor to Presidents?