Tape Recording of Anti-Semitic Remarks By Rev. Billy Graham Released

March 17, 2002

Source: The New York Times

On March 17, 2002, The New York Times reported that Rev. Billy Graham's "sterling reputation as a healer and bridge-builder" was shattered when the tape of a 1972 conversation with former President Nixon in the Oval Office was made public by the National Archives. "Three decades after it was recorded, the North Carolina preacher's famous drawl is tinny but unmistakable on the tape, denigrating Jews... Mr. Graham, who is now 83 and in poor health, quickly issued a four-sentence apology, but he did not acknowledge making the statements and said he had no memory of the conversation, which took place after a prayer breakfast on Feb. 1, 1972." In response to the continuing controversy, Mr. Graham's office issued a second, lengthier apology "in which Mr. Graham acknowledged making the statements, but repudiated them. 'I don't ever recall having those feelings about any group, especially the Jews, and I certainly do not have them now,' he said. 'My remarks did not reflect my love for the Jewish people'... Mr. Graham's statement yesterday expressed hope that he had grown past his words... he said his life had been a pilgrimage of growth and change."