then Vice President Bush invited Billy Graham to be their week-
end guest in Kennebunkport, Maine. He preached at the small
church, St. Ann’s by the Sea, that the Bush clan attends.
Afterward, back at the house, George H. W. Bush gathered the
younger Bushes around the fireplace with Billy and suggested
they should talk about spiritual issues and ask questions. The
younger George Bush had been struggling with his drinking prob-
lem, which was lowering his energy and competing for his “time
and affection.” His being together with Billy was to have a pro-
found effect.
“What he said sparked a change in my heart,” George W. Bush
has explained. “I don’t remember the exact words. It was more the
power of his example. The Lord was so clearly reflected in his gen-
tle and loving demeanor. The next day we walked and talked at
Walker’s Point, and I knew I was in the presence of a great man.
He was like a magnet; I felt drawn to seek something different. He
didn’t lecture or admonish; he shared warmth and concern. Billy
Graham didn’t make you feel guilty; he made you feel loved.”
During that conversation Billy turned to Bush and said, “Are
you right with God?”
“No,” Bush replied, “but I want to be.”
That encounter, while not producing instantaneous change,
did nevertheless have a lingering effect.
“Over the course of that weekend,” said Bush, “Billy Graham
planted a mustard seed in my soul, a seed that grew over the next
year. He led me to the path, and I began walking. It was the begin-
ning of a change in my life. I had always been a ‘religious’ person,
had regularly attended church, but that weekend my faith took on
a new meaning. It was the beginning of a new walk where I
would commit my heart to Jesus Christ.”
Over the next year he began reading the Bible regularly, using
a one-year Bible that his friend Don Evans gave him, and he tried
to stop drinking—but without success.
Then came his fortieth birthday party in Colorado Springs. The
morning after, as Bush went jogging around the scenic Broad-
moor Hotel, the view was spectacular, but he was feeling miser-
The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham