Did you think we were going to let the late Billy Graham go to his heavenly reward without a Palm Beach anecdote?

We’re not.

And, of course, it’s a golf story, related by a Graham biographer.

After John F. Kennedy defeated Graham’s pal Richard Nixon in the 1960 election, he invited the preacher-to-presidents down to Palm Beach for a round or two.

Round meaning golf, not alcohol.

During the game at the Palm Beach Country Club, Graham missed a putt.

“Kennedy said, jokingly, ‘Well, I thought you were a good golfer,’” wrote biographer Professor Grant Wacker of Duke Divinity School. “Graham rolled with it, replying, ‘I am when I’m not playing with the president of the United States.’”

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Atlanta art and antiques appraiser and auctioneer Allan Baitcher (right) takes bids during a 2020 auction. Baitcher and his company, Peachtree Antiques, are being sued by a Florida multimillionaire who says he paid them $20 million for fakes. (AJC 2020)

Credit: Phil Skinner / Staff