Politics and Religion

Traditional Involvement.

At the beginning of the 1970s religious leaders active in politics came mostly from the Left. Mainline Protestant ministers and Roman Catholic priests opposed the war in Vietnam and supported government action to alleviate the problems of race and poverty at home. The scandal of Watergate and Richard Nixon's political disgrace tainted even the respected Billy Graham, who had openly supported his old friend's election bids and had performed religious services in the White House, as well as invited the president to his crusades and Billy Graham Day in Charlotte, North Carolina. Although Graham had distanced himself from Nixon after 1973, he insisted after the Watergate revelations that he was deeply troubled by his failure to know the darker aspects of Nixon's personality and actions. Apparently Nixon's use of foul language in private was most disturbing to Graham.

Rise of the Conservatives.

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