Billy Graham and Gov. George Timmerman

One was a crusading evangelist, and the other was a strict segregationist who happened to be South Carolina’s governor.

The paths of South Carolina Gov. George Bell Timmerman and the Rev. Billy Graham crossed in 1958 when Timmerman successfully canceled Graham’s planned rally on the State House steps.

Graham was seen as an “integrationist” who allowed black people to participate in his rallies and openly believed that all people are alike in God’s eyes.

Timmerman protested Graham’s crusade on the basis of separation of church and state.

“There is, in fact, no reason to select the State House unless the real purpose is to capitalize, for propaganda, purposes, on the appearance of a widely known advocate of desegregation,” Timmerman was quoted as saying. “It is Graham’s endorsement of desegregation that has brought him front-page acclaim.”

Graham instead held the rally at Fort Jackson, a federal property, at the invite of Brig. Gen. Christian H. Clarke. The one-day rally drew a racially mixed crowd of up to 60,000 people, described at the time as the largest turnout for a non-sporting event in state history.

Graham preached from John 3:16 at the rally but said little about the controversy.

"Some have been so unbalanced on the whole issue that segregation or integration has become their one Gospel,” Graham said in a news conference before the rally. “God pity us if we let our differences about this prevent us from presenting Christ to a lost world,” Graham said in a news conference before the rally.

This story was originally published December 23, 2015 at 10:34 AM with the headline "Billy Graham and Gov. George Timmerman."