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The exposure and stature Graham gained through Youth for Christ and such nationally publicized early crusades as those in Los Angeles, Boston, Columbia, Portland, Atlanta, and Washington in 1949-52 enabled him to become a key leader and the most prominent public figure in a young movement that called itself "The New Evangelicalism." The term, coined by Harold John Ockenga, signified a form of conservative Christianity that consciously marked itself off from old-line fundamentalism by its tolerance of minor theological differences among essentially like-minded believers, a conviction that evangelical faith could and should be set forth and defended in an intellectually rigorous manner rather than simply asserted dogmatically, and with a more positive attitude toward social reform than fundamentalists had held during the previous 25 years. The movement's formal beginning dated to the formation of the National Association of Evangelicals in 1942, before Billy Graham was widely known. But by the early 1950s, its leaders began to sense they might have some chance of regaining a kind of cultural hegemony evangelicals had not known, outside the South at least, since the Civil War.

A signal ingredient in this growing confidence was Billy Graham's ever-increasing prominence. The Hour of Decision radio broadcast, begun in 1950, quickly became the most widely heard religious broadcast in the world. A stunningly successful 12-week crusade in London in 1954, followed by triumphant tours of Europe and the Far East, firmly established Graham as the acknowledged standard-bearer for evangelical Christianity, a charismatic and catalytic figure who was able to gain the confidence and cooperation of a wide range of church leaders almost everywhere he went, often overcoming considerable initial resistance.

Perhaps even more important to evangelical hopes of shaping the culture were Graham's ties to the White House. After famously bungling an audience with Harry Truman (naively reiterating to the press all that had happened inside the Oval Office), he helped persuade Dwight Eisenhower to return from his military post in Europe and seek the Republican nomination for the presidency. Though stopping short of an outright endorsement, the evangelist did little to mask his admiration for the general, leaving little doubt as to how he intended to vote. When Eisenhower was elected, Billy Graham helped plan the inauguration, personally baptized the new President shortly after he was sworn into office, and remained in frequent touch with him throughout his two terms in office. Graham also forged a close and fateful friendship with Eisenhower's vice president, Richard Nixon.

As he came to appreciate the opportunities his reputation and influence afforded, Graham began to dream of a way to present the beliefs and concerns of the New Evangelicalism to America's pastors, who could then communicate them to their parishioners. In the service of that dream, he established CHRISTIANITY TODAY in 1956. In keeping with the irenic spirit that has characterized most of his endeavors, he announced that the new publication would eschew the theological liberalism of the World and National Councils of Churches and their allied denominations, but it would do so by attempting "to lead and love rather than vilify, criticize, and beat. Fundamentalism has failed miserably with the big stick approach; now it is time to take the big love approach."

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November 13 1995, Vol. 39, No. 13