After King’s death, Billy continued his efforts for racial justice.
For instance, when in the late 1960s he met with black leaders in
New York and heard of their difficulties with the Nixon adminis-
tration, he arranged for several of them
to meet with President Nixon in the
White House. As a result, significant
funds were reinstated for impoverished
black neighborhoods.
The Reverend John Williams, a pas-
tor from Kansas City and NAACP leader
who would later become a member of
Billy’s board, told Nixon that the construction of a hospital near
his church had been stalled. Two days later, the funds began flow-
ing as a $1 million federal grant enabled workers to complete the
Martin Luther King Hospital.
Billy has always shown respect for others who have wished
to better the world but see priorities and solutions differently. He
insists that if asked to give the invocation at the Republican
National Convention, he also would do so at the Democratic Con-
vention, and vice versa. It is no fluke that when Congress voted
to give the Congressional Gold Medal to Billy and Ruth, the vote
was unanimous.
In a world increasingly polarized and bitter, Billy Graham has
shown how one can maintain integrity, continue to grow per-
sonally, and to carefully communicate the fruit of that growth to
others’ growing edge.
At times we may be tempted to use the pit-bull tactics so
prevalent around us. But Billy shows how respect for those he
leads and respect for those with whom he disagrees can result in
growth and great progress in fulfilling a mission.
Expanding the Growing EdgeThere is a spirit and a need
and a man at the beginning of
every great human advance.
Each of these must be right
for that particular moment of
history or nothing happens.
CORETTA SCOTT KING