The man of God who counseled Presidents
HOW WELL I KNOW HIM
1955: “I disagree with those who say Mr. Nixon is not sincere. I believe him to be most sincere, and like President Eisenhower, he is a splendid church man.”
1959: “Mr. Nixon is probably the best-trained man for President in American history, and he is certainly every inch a Christian gentleman.”
1964: “I know that he is a devout person and a man of high principles, with a profound philosophy of government.”
1968: “He has a great sense of moral integrity. I have never seen any indication of, or agreed with, the label that his enemies have given him of ‘Tricky Dick.’ In the years I’ve known him, he’s never given any indication of being tricky.”
1969: “I have known him for many years and, after many conversations, I am convinced his greatest concern is that America have a moral and spiritual renewal.”
1971: “I remember once I made a suggestion to him. He looked me in the eye and said, ‘Billy, that wouldn’t be moral.’ At that moment, he was the preacher and I was the sinner.”
1972: “I know the President as well as anyone outside his immediate family. I have known him since nineteen-fifty, and I have great confidence in his personal honesty. I voted for him because I know what he’s made of. “Kennedy was no intellectual -- I mean, he was written up by the Eastern press as an intellectual because he agreed with the Eastern Establishment. But Nixon is a true intellectual. and he is a student, particularly a student of history. In that respect, he’s a DeGaulle type.”
1973: “I have known him a long time, and he has a very strong sense of integrity.”
1974: “What comes through in these tapes is not the man I have known for many years.”
1975: “He’s suffered a lot, but religiously he has grown.”
1976: “I understand how there’s a piece that’s come out about him at some dinner party not long ago, drinking and using profanity and all those things like that again. I haven’t seen it yet, but --. I don’t understand it. The last several times I’ve seen him, I thought he -- I mean, I really had the feeling he’s gotten over all that. But this thing now that’s just come out, if it’s true --.”
1977: “I wasn’t really one of his confidants, either to have a game of golf or to sit down and have a serious discussion. I didn’t really move at the level with Nixon that the press thought I did.”
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