McCain Meets With Billy and Franklin Graham
John McCain traveled to Montreat, North Carolina, today to meet with the prominent evangelist Franklin Graham and his father, Billy Graham. The meeting was requested by McCain and the three men met privately for about 45 minutes.
"My father and I were pleased to have an opportunity to meet and visit with Sen. John McCain today," Franklin Graham said in a statement. "The senator and I both have sons currently serving in the military, and also have a common interest in aviation. I was impressed by his personal faith and his moral clarity on important social issues facing America today."
Neither Graham endorses presidential candidates, but Billy Graham has been a spiritual counselor to every president since Harry Truman. "They're great leaders of this nation," McCain said. "I appreciate the opportunity to visit with them and I am very grateful for the time they spent with me."
Today was not the first time the Graham and McCain families have met. The elder Graham met with McCain's father, Admiral John S. McCain, Jr., years ago when McCain was a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam. "He visited my parents in Hawaii twice, and he and my father and mother prayed together for me," McCain said. "I expressed my appreciation for that a long time ago."