Explaining the realignment of American Southern politics is
often a favorite area of study among historians and scholars. A
region that was once dominated by yellow dog Democrats, has for
the most part continued to expand as a loyal region for the
Grand Old Party. One of the earliest and most common narratives
among liberal historians and writers is the belief that the
realignment in the South had to do with a backlash against
desegregation. Steven P. Miller in his new book Billy Graham and
the Rise of the Republican South puts considerable emphasis on
Graham’s role in desegregation, public evangelicalism, and
Graham as a spiritual and political adviser to presidents.
Miller argues that Graham played a formidable role in reshaping
the political climate of the South. Early on Miller describes
some of the dynamics of Graham’s insistence on holding
desegregated crusades in the South, and his relationship with
many fellow Southern Baptist ministers who supported
segregation. Miller labels Graham a “racial moderat