William Franklin Graham Jr. (/ˈɡreɪəm/; November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an Americanevangelist, ordainedSouthern Baptist minister, andcivil rights advocate,[1][2] whose broadcasts and world tours featuring livesermons became well known in the mid-to-late 20th century. Throughout his career, spanning over six decades, Graham rose to prominence as anevangelical Christian figure in theUnited States and abroad.
According to a biographer, Graham was considered "among the most influential Christian leaders" of the 20th century.[3] Beginning in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Graham became known for filling stadiums and other massive venues around the world where he preached live sermons; these were often broadcast via radio and television with some continuing to be seen into the 21st century.[4] During his six decades on television, Graham hosted hisannual "crusades", evangelistic live-campaigns, from 1947 until his retirement in 2005. He also hosted the radio showHour of Decision from 1950 to 1954. He repudiatedracial segregation,[5] at a time of intenseracial strife in the United States, insisting onracial integration for all of his revivals and crusades, as early as 1953. He also later invitedMartin Luther King Jr. to preach jointly ata revival in New York City in 1957. In addition to his religious aims, he helped shape the worldview of a huge number of people who came from different backgrounds, leading them to find a relationship between the Bible and contemporary secular viewpoints. According to his website, Graham spoke to live audiences consisting of at least 210 million people, in more than 185 countries and territories, through various meetings, includingBMS World Mission and Global Mission event.[6]
Graham was close to US presidentsDwight D. Eisenhower,Lyndon B. Johnson (one of his closest friends),[7] andRichard Nixon.[8] He was also lifelong friends withRobert Schuller, anothertelevangelist and the founding pastor of theCrystal Cathedral, whom Graham talked into starting his own television ministry.[9] Graham's evangelism was appreciated bymainline Protestant denominations, as he encouraged mainline Protestants, who wereconverted to his evangelical message, to remain within or return to their mainline churches.[10][11] Despite early suspicions and apprehension on his part towardsCatholicism—common among contemporaneous evangelical Protestants—Graham eventually developed amicable ties with manyAmerican Catholic Church figures, later encouraging unity between Catholics and Protestants.[12]
Graham operated a variety of media and publishing outlets;[13] according to his staff, more than 3.2 million people have responded to the invitation at Billy Graham Crusades to "acceptJesus Christ as theirpersonal savior". Graham's lifetime audience, including radio and television broadcasts, likely surpassed billions of people.[14] As a result of his crusades, Graham preached the gospel to more people, live and in-person, than anyone in the history of Christianity.[13] Graham was onGallup's list of most admired men and women a record-61 times.[15]Grant Wacker wrote that, by the mid-1960s, he had become the "Great Legitimator", saying: "By then his presence conferred status on presidents, acceptability on wars, shame on racial prejudice, desirability on decency, dishonor on indecency, and prestige on civic events."[16]
Early life
Birthplace marker for Graham near 4601 Park Rd, Charlotte, North Carolina
William Franklin Graham Jr. was born on November 7, 1918, in the downstairs bedroom of a farmhouse nearCharlotte, North Carolina.[17] OfScots-Irish descent, he was the eldest of four children born to Morrow (née Coffey) and dairy farmer William Franklin Graham Sr.[17] Graham was raised on the family dairy farm with his two younger sisters Catherine Morrow and Jean and younger brother Melvin Thomas.[18] When he was nine years old, the family moved about 75 yards (69 m) from their white frame house to a newly built red brick house.[19][17] He was raised by his parents in theAssociate Reformed Presbyterian Church.[17][20] Graham attended the Sharon Grammar School.[21] He started to read books from an early age and loved to read novels for boys, especiallyTarzan.[17] Like Tarzan, he would hang on the trees and gave the popularTarzan yell. According to his father, that yelling led him to become a minister.[22] Graham was 15 whenProhibition ended in December 1933, and his father forced him and his sister Catherine to drink beer until they became sick. This created such an aversion that the two siblings avoided alcohol and drugs for the rest of their lives.[23]
Graham was turned down for membership in a local youth group for being "too worldly".[23] Albert McMakin, who worked on the Graham farm, persuaded him to go see evangelistMordecai Ham.[13] According to his autobiography, Graham was 16 when he wasconverted during a series of revival meetings that Ham led in Charlotte in 1934.[24][25]
After graduating from Sharon High School in May 1936, Graham attendedBob Jones College. After one semester, he found that the coursework and rules were too legalistic.[23] He was almost expelled, butBob Jones Sr. warned him not to throw his life away: "At best, all you could amount to would be a poor country Baptist preacher somewhere out in the sticks... You have a voice that pulls. God can use that voice of yours. He can use it mightily."[23]
In 1937, Graham transferred to theFlorida Bible Institute inTemple Terrace, Florida.[26] While still a student, Graham preached his first sermon at Bostwick Baptist Church nearPalatka, Florida.[27] In his autobiography, Graham wrote of receiving his calling on the 18th green of the Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club, which was adjacent to the institute's campus. Reverend Billy Graham Memorial Park was later established on theHillsborough River, directly east of the 18th green and across from where Graham often paddled a canoe to a small island in the river, where he would practice preaching to the birds, alligators, and cypress stumps. In 1939, Graham was ordained by a group of Southern Baptist clergy at Peniel Baptist Church inPalatka, Florida.[28][29] In 1940, he graduated with aBachelor of Theology degree.[30][31]
Graham then enrolled inWheaton College inWheaton, Illinois. During his time there, he decided to accept the Bible as theinfallible word of God.Henrietta Mears of theFirst Presbyterian Church of Hollywood in California was instrumental in helping Graham wrestle with the issue. He settled it at Forest Home Christian Camp (now called Forest Home Ministries) southeast of theBig Bear Lake area insouthern California.[32][33] While attending Wheaton, Graham was invited to preach one Sunday in 1941 at the United Gospel Tabernacle church. After that, the congregation repeatedly asked Graham to preach at their church and later asked him to become the pastor of their church. After Graham prayed and sought advice from his friend Dr. Edman, Graham became their church's pastor.[34]
In June 1943, Graham graduated from Wheaton College[35] with a degree inanthropology.[36] That same year,Robert Van Kampen, treasurer of the National Gideon Association, invited Graham to preach at Western Springs Baptist Church, and Graham accepted the opportunity on the spot. While there, his friend Torrey Johnson, pastor of the Midwest Bible Church in Chicago, told Graham that his radio program,Songs in the Night, was about to be canceled due to lack of funding. Consulting with the members of his church in Western Springs, Graham decided to take over Johnson's program with financial support from his congregation. Launching the new radio program on January 2, 1944, still calledSongs in the Night, Graham recruited thebass-baritoneGeorge Beverly Shea as his director of radio ministry.
WithWorld War II underway, Graham applied to become a chaplain in theUnited States Army. After he was initially turned down for being underweight, Graham was awarded a commission as a Second Lieutenant, but came down with a severe case ofmumps in October 1944 before he could begin chaplain training atHarvard Divinity School and was bedridden for six weeks. Due to his illness and the fact that the war was expected to end soon, he was discharged from the army.[37][38] After a period of recuperation in Florida, he was hired as the first full-timeevangelist of the newYouth for Christ (YFC), co-founded byTorrey Johnson and the Canadian evangelistCharles Templeton. In his first year as a YFC evangelist, Graham spoke in 47 US states. He traveled extensively as an evangelist in the United States and Europe in the immediate post-war era, making his first overseas trip in 1946.[39]
In 1948, in aModesto, California hotel room, Graham and his evangelistic team established theModesto Manifesto: a code of ethics for life and work to protect against accusations of financial, sexual, and power abuse.[40] The code includes rules for collecting offerings in churches, working only with churches supportive of cooperative evangelism, using official crowd estimates at outdoor events, and a commitment to never be alone with a woman other than his wife (which become known as the "Billy Graham rule").[41][42]
Graham was 29 when he became president ofNorthwestern Bible College inMinneapolis in 1948. He was the youngest president of a college or university in the country, and held the position for four years before he resigned in 1952.[43] While serving in this position, Charles Templeton urged him to apply toPrinceton Theological Seminary for an advanced theological degree after he himself had done so, but Graham declined and continued in his position as president of Northwestern Bible College.[44]
Graham speaking at a Crusade inDüsseldorf, West Germany, on June 21, 1954.
The first Billy Graham Crusade was held on September 13–21, 1947, at theCivic Auditorium inGrand Rapids, Michigan, and was attended by 6,000 people.[45] Graham was 28 years old then, and would rent a large venue (such as a stadium, park, or even a street); as the crowds became larger, he arranged for a group of up to 5,000 people to sing in a choir. He would preach thegospel and invite individuals to come forward (a practice begun byDwight L. Moody); such people were called "inquirers" and were given the chance to speak one-on-one with a counselor to clarify questions and pray together. The inquirers were often given a copy of theGospel of John or a Bible study booklet.
In 1949, Graham scheduled a series ofrevival meetings inLos Angeles, for which he erected circus tents in a parking lot.[13][46] He attracted national media coverage, especially in the conservativeHearst chain of newspapers, although Hearst and Graham never met.[47] The crusade event ran for eight weeks–five weeks longer than originally planned. Graham became a national figure, with heavy coverage from the wire services and national magazines.[48] PianistRudy Atwood, who played for the tent meetings, wrote that they "rocketed Billy Graham into national prominence, and resulted in the conversion of a number of show-business personalities".[49]
In 1953, Graham was offered a five-year, $1 million contract fromNBC to appear on television oppositeArthur Godfrey, but he had prior commitments and turned-down the offer to continue his live touring revivals.[50] Graham held crusades in London that lasted 12 weeks, and aNew York City crusade atMadison Square Garden, in 1957, ran nightly for 16 weeks. At a 1973 rally, attended by 100,000 people, inDurban, South Africa—the first large mixed-race event inapartheid South Africa—Graham openly declared that "apartheid is a sin".[51][52] InMoscow, Russia, in 1992, one-quarter of the 155,000 people in Graham's audience went-forward at his call.[23] During his crusades, he frequently used thealtar call song, "Just As I Am".[53] In 1995, during the Global Mission event, he preached a sermon atEstadio Hiram Bithorn inSan Juan,Puerto Rico, that was transmitted by satellite to 185 countries and translated into 116 languages.[54]
Countries in which Billy Graham preached are colored in blue.
By the time of his last crusade in 2005 in New York City, he had preached 417 live crusades, including 226 in the US and 195 abroad.[55][56][57]
Student ministry
Graham spoke at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship'sUrbana Student Missions Conference at least nine times – in 1948, 1957, 1961, 1964, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1984, and 1987.[58]
At each Urbana conference, he challenged the thousands of attendees to make a commitment to follow Jesus Christ for the rest of their lives. He often quoted a six-word phrase that was reportedly written in the Bible ofWilliam Whiting Borden, the son of a wealthy silver magnate: "No reserves, no retreat, no regrets".[59] Borden had died in Egypt on his way to the mission field.[60]
Graham also held evangelistic meetings on a number of college campuses: at the University of Minnesota during InterVarsity's "Year of Evangelism" in 1950–51, a 4-day mission at Yale University in 1957, and a week-long series of meetings at the University of North Carolina's Carmichael Auditorium in September 1982.[61]
In 1955, he was invited by Cambridge University students to lead the mission at the university; the mission was arranged by theCambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union, with London pastor-theologianJohn Stott serving as Graham's chief assistant. This invitation was greeted with much disapproval in the correspondence columns ofThe Times.[62]
In April 2013, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association started "My Hope With Billy Graham", the largest outreach in its history. It encouraged church members to spread the gospel in small group meetings, after showing a video message by Graham. "The idea is for Christians to follow the example of the discipleMatthew in the New Testament and spread the gospel in their own homes."[71] "The Cross" video is the main program in the My Hope America series, and was also broadcast the week of Graham's 95th birthday.[72]
Civil rights movement
Graham's early crusades weresegregated, but he began adjusting his approach in the 1950s.[73] During a 1953 rally in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Graham tore down the ropes that organizers had erected to segregate the audience into racial sections. In his memoirs, he recounted that he told two ushers to leave the barriers down "or you can go on and have the revival without me."[74] During a sermon held atVanderbilt University inNashville on August 23, 1954, he warned a white audience, "Three-fifths of the world is not white. They are rising all over the world. We have been proud and thought we were better than any other race, any other people. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to tell you that we are going to stumble into hell because of our pride."[75][74]
In 1957, Graham's stance towards integration became more publicly shown when he allowed black ministers Thomas Kilgore andGardner C. Taylor to serve as members of his New York Crusade's executive committee.[76] He also invitedMartin Luther King Jr., whom he first met during theMontgomery bus boycott in 1955,[76] to join him in the pulpit at his 16-week revival in New York City, where 2.3 million gathered atMadison Square Garden,Yankee Stadium, andTimes Square to hear them.[13] Graham recalled in his autobiography that during this time, he and King developed a close friendship and that he was eventually one of the few people who referred to King as "Mike", a nickname which King asked only his closest friends to call him.[77] Following King's assassination in 1968, Graham mourned that the US had lost "a social leader and a prophet".[76] In private, Graham advised King and other members of theSouthern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).[78]
Despite their friendship, tensions between Graham and King emerged in 1958, when the sponsoring committee of a crusade that took place inSan Antonio, Texas, on July 25 arranged for Graham to be introduced by that state's segregationist governor,Price Daniel.[76] On July 23, King sent a letter to Graham and informed him that allowing Daniel to speak at a crusade which occurred the night before the state's Democratic Primary "can well be interpreted as your endorsement of racial segregation and discrimination."[79] Graham's advisor, Grady Wilson, replied to King that "even though we do not see eye to eye with him on every issue, we still love him in Christ."[80] Though Graham's appearance with Daniel dashed King's hopes of holding joint crusades with Graham in the Deep South,[78] the two remained friends; the next year King told a Canadian television audience that Graham had taken a "very strong stance against segregation."[78] Graham and King would also come to differ on theVietnam War.[76] After King's "Beyond Vietnam" speech denouncing US intervention in Vietnam, Graham castigated him and others for their criticism of US foreign policy.[76]
By the middle of 1960, King and Graham traveled together to the Tenth Baptist World Congress of theBaptist World Alliance.[76] In 1963, Graham posted bail for King to be released from jail during theBirmingham (Alabama) campaign, according to Michael Long,[81] and the King Center acknowledged that Graham had bailed King out of jail during theAlbany Movement,[82] although historian Steven Miller told CNN he could not find any proof of the incident.[83] Graham held integrated crusades in Birmingham on Easter of 1964, in the aftermath of thebombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, and toured Alabama again in the wake of the violence that accompanied the firstSelma to Montgomery march in 1965.[76]
Following Graham's death, former SCLC official and future Atlanta politicianAndrew Young (who spoke alongsideCoretta Scott King at Graham's 1994 crusade in Atlanta),[84] acknowledged his friendship with Graham and stated that Graham did in fact travel with King to the 1965 European Baptist Convention.[85] Young also claimed that Graham had often invited King to his crusades in the Northern states.[86] FormerStudent Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) leader and future United States CongressmanJohn Lewis also credited Graham as a major inspiration for his activism.[87] Lewis described Graham as a "saint" and someone who "taught us how to live and who taught us how to die".[87]
Graham's faith prompted his maturing view of race and segregation. He told a member of theKu Klux Klan that integration was necessary, primarily for religious reasons. "There is no scriptural basis for segregation," Graham argued. "The ground at the foot of the cross is level, and it touches my heart when I see whites standing shoulder to shoulder with blacks at the cross."[88]
The friendship between Graham and John Stott led to a further partnership in theLausanne Movement, of which Graham was a founder. It built on Graham's 1966 World Congress on Evangelism inBerlin.[clarification needed] In collaboration withChristianity Today, Graham convened whatTime magazine described as "a formidable forum, possibly the widest–ranging meeting of Christians ever held"[89] with 2,700 participants from 150 nations gathering for theInternational Congress on World Evangelization. Women were represented byMillie Dienert, who chaired the prayer committee.[90] This took place inLausanne, Switzerland (July 16–25, 1974), and the movement which ensued took its name from the host city. Its purpose was to strengthen the global church for world evangelization, and to engage ideological and sociological trends which bore on this.[91] Graham invited Stott to be chief architect of theLausanne Covenant, which issued from the Congress and which, according to Graham: "helped challenge and unite evangelical Christians in the great task of world evangelization."[92] The movement remains a significant fruit of Graham's legacy, with a presence in nearly every nation.[93]
Graham played multiple roles that reinforced each other.[94] Grant Wacker identified eight major roles that he played: preacher, icon, Southerner, entrepreneur, architect (bridge builder), pilgrim, pastor, and his widely recognized status as America's Protestant patriarch, which was on a par with Martin Luther King andPope John Paul II.[95]
He served as a trustee of theInternational Mission Board in the late 1950s and trustee of the SBC's Radio and Television Commission in the late 1960s.[96]
Graham deliberately reached into the secular world as a bridge builder. For example, as an entrepreneur he built his own pavilion for the1964 New York World's Fair.[97] He appeared as a guest on a 1969Woody Allen television special, in which he joined the comedian in a witty exchange on theological matters.[98] During theCold War, Graham became the first evangelist of note to speak behind theIron Curtain, addressing large crowds in countries throughout Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union, calling for peace.[99] During theapartheid era, Graham consistently refused to visit South Africa until its government allowed integrated seating for audiences. During his first crusade there in 1973, he openly denouncedapartheid.[100] Graham also corresponded with imprisoned South African leaderNelson Mandela during the latter's 27-year imprisonment.[101]
Graham at the Feyenoord-stadion in Rotterdam, the Netherlands (June 30, 1955)
In 1984, he led a series of summer meetings—Mission England—in the United Kingdom, and he used outdoorfootball (soccer) fields for his venues.
Graham was interested in fostering evangelism around the world. In 1983, 1986 and 2000 he sponsored, organized and paid for massive training conferences for Christian evangelists; this was, at the time, the largest representation of nations ever held. Over 157 nations were gathered in 2000 at theRAI Convention Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. At one revival inSeoul, South Korea, Graham attracted more than one million people to a single service.[50] He appeared in China in 1988; for his wife, Ruth, this was a homecoming, since she had been born in China to missionary parents. He appeared in North Korea in 1992.[88]
On October 15, 1989, Graham received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame. He was the only person functioning as a minister who received a star in that capacity.[102]
On September 22, 1991, Graham held his largest event in North America onthe Great Lawn of Manhattan'sCentral Park. City officials estimated that more than 250,000 were in attendance. In 1998, Graham spoke to a crowd of scientists and philosophers at theTechnology, Entertainment, Design Conference.
On September 14, 2001 (only three days after theWorld Trade Center attacks), Graham was invited to lead a service atWashington National Cathedral; the service was attended by PresidentGeorge W. Bush and past and present leaders. He also spoke at the memorial service following theOklahoma City bombing in 1995.[88] On June 24–26, 2005, Graham began what he said would be his last North American crusade: three days atFlushing Meadows–Corona Park in the borough of Queens, New York City. On the weekend of March 11–12, 2006, Graham held the "Festival of Hope" with his son,Franklin Graham. The festival was held inNew Orleans, which was recovering fromHurricane Katrina.
Graham prepared one last sermon, "My Hope America", which was released on DVD and played around America and possibly worldwide between November 7–10, 2013. November 7 was Graham's 95th birthday, and he hoped to cause a revival.[103]
In April 2010, Graham was 91 and experiencing substantial vision, hearing, and balance loss when he made a rare public appearance at the re-dedication of the renovatedBilly Graham Library.[105]
There was controversy within his family over Graham's proposed burial place. He announced in June 2007 that he and his wife would be buried alongside each other at the Billy Graham Library in his hometown of Charlotte. Graham's younger son Ned argued with older son Franklin about whether burial at a library would be appropriate. Ruth Graham had said that she wanted to be buried in the mountains at the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove nearAsheville, North Carolina, where she had lived for many years; Ned supported his mother's choice.[106][107] NovelistPatricia Cornwell, a family friend, also opposed burial at the library, calling it a tourist attraction. Franklin wanted his parents to be buried at the library site.[106] When Ruth Graham died, it was announced that they would be buried at the library site.[107]
In 2011, when asked if he would have done things differently, he said he would have spent more time at home with his family, studied more, and preached less.[108] Additionally, he said he would have participated in fewer conferences. He also said he had a habit of advising evangelists to save their time and avoid having too many commitments.
Politics
After his close relationships withLyndon B. Johnson andRichard Nixon, Graham tried to avoid explicit partisanship. Bailey says: "He declined to sign or endorse political statements, and he distanced himself from the Christian right ... His early years of fierce opposition to communism gave way to pleas for military disarmament and attention to AIDS, poverty and environmental threats."[109]
Graham was a lifelong registered member of theDemocratic Party.[110] In 1960, he opposed the candidacy ofJohn F. Kennedy, fearing that Kennedy, as a Catholic, would be bound to follow the Pope. Graham worked "behind the scenes" to encourage influential Protestant ministers to speak out against Kennedy.[111] During the 1960 campaign, Graham met with a conference of Protestant ministers inMontreux, Switzerland, to discuss their mobilization of congregations to defeat Kennedy.[112] According to thePBSFrontline program,God in America, Graham organized a meeting of hundreds of Protestant ministers in Washington, D.C., in September 1960 for this purpose; the meeting was led byNorman Vincent Peale.[111] This was shortly before Kennedy's speech inHouston, Texas, on the separation of church and state; the speech was considered to be successful in meeting the concerns of many voters. After his election, Kennedy invited Graham to play golf inPalm Beach, Florida, after which Graham acknowledged Kennedy's election as an opportunity for Catholics and Protestants to come closer together.[113][114] After they had discussed Jesus Christ at that meeting, the two remained in touch, meeting for the last time at aNational Day of Prayer meeting in February 1963.[114] In his autobiography, Graham claimed to have felt an "inner foreboding" in the week beforeKennedy's assassination, and to have tried to contact him to say, "Don't go to Texas!"[115]
Graham opposed the large majority of abortions, but supported it as a legal option in a very narrow range of circumstances: rape,incest, and thelife of the mother.[116] TheBilly Graham Evangelistic Association states that "Life is sacred, and we must seek to protect all human life: the unborn, the child, the adult, and the aged."[117]
Graham leaned toward theRepublicans during the presidency of Richard Nixon, whom he had met and befriended as vice president underDwight D. Eisenhower.[118] He did not completely ally himself with the laterreligious right, saying that Jesus did not have a political party.[23] He gave his support to various political candidates over the years.[118]
In 2007, Graham explained his refusal to joinJerry Falwell'sMoral Majority in 1979, saying: "I'm for morality, but morality goes beyond sex to human freedom and social justice. We as clergy know so very little to speak with authority on thePanama Canal or superiority of armaments. Evangelists cannot be closely identified with any particular party or person. We have to stand in the middle to preach to all people, right and left. I haven't been faithful to my own advice in the past. I will be in the future."[119]
According to a 2006Newsweek interview, "For Graham, politics is a secondary to the Gospel ... WhenNewsweek asked Graham whether ministers – whether they think of themselves as evangelists, pastors or a bit of both – should spend time engaged with politics, he replied: 'You know, I think in a way that has to be up to the individual as he feels led of the Lord. A lot of things that I commented on years ago would not have been of the Lord, I'm sure, but I think you have some – like communism, or segregation, on which I think you have a responsibility to speak out.'"[120]
In 2011, although grateful to have met politicians who have spiritual needs like everyone else, he said he sometimes crossed the line and would have preferred to avoid politics.[108]
In 2012, Graham endorsed theRepublican presidential candidate,Mitt Romney.[121] Shortly after, apparently to accommodate Romney, who is aMormon, references to Mormonism as a religious cult ("A cult is any group which teaches doctrines or beliefs that deviate from the biblical message of the Christian faith.") were removed from Graham's website.[122][123] Observers have questioned whether the support of Republican and religious right politics on issues such assame-sex marriage coming from Graham – who stopped speaking in public or to reporters – in fact reflects the views of his son,Franklin, head of the BGEA. Franklin denied this, and said that he would continue to act as his father's spokesperson rather than allowing press conferences.[124] In 2016, according to his son Franklin, Graham voted for Donald Trump.[125] This statement has been disputed by other children and grandchildren of Billy Graham, who argue that he was too ill to vote (even absentee), and who reiterated that Billy Graham's stated greatest regret in life was becoming involved in partisan politics.[126]
Graham had a personal audience with many sitting US presidents, fromHarry S. Truman toBarack Obama – 12 consecutive presidents. After meeting with Truman in 1950, Graham told the press he had urged the president to countercommunism in North Korea. Truman disliked him and did not speak with him for years after that meeting.[23] Later he always treated his conversations with presidents as confidential.[118]
Truman made his contempt for Graham public. He wrote about Graham in his 1974 autobiographyPlain Speaking: "But now we've got just this one evangelist, this Billy Graham, and he's gone off the beam. He's ... well, I hadn't ought to say this, but he's one of those counterfeits I was telling you about. He claims he's a friend of all the presidents, but he was never a friend of mine when I was President. I just don't go for people like that. All he's interested in is getting his name in the paper."[127]
Graham became a regular visitor during the tenure of Dwight D. Eisenhower. He purportedly urged him to intervene with federal troops in the case of theLittle Rock Nine to gain admission of black students to public schools.[23] House SpeakerSam Rayburn persuaded Congress to allow Graham to conduct the firstreligious service on the steps of theCapitol building in 1952.[23][128] Eisenhower asked for Graham while on his deathbed.[129]
Graham met and became a close friend of Vice President Richard Nixon,[118][130] and supported Nixon, aQuaker, for the1960 presidential election.[23] He convened an August strategy session of evangelical leaders inMontreux, Switzerland, to plan how best to oppose Nixon'sRoman Catholic opponent, SenatorJohn F. Kennedy.[131] Though a registered Democrat, Graham also maintained firm support of aggression against the foreign threat of communism and strongly sympathized with Nixon's views regarding American foreign policy.[132] Thus, he was more sympathetic to Republican administrations.[118][133]
On December 16, 1963, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was impressed by the way Graham had praised the work of his great-grandfather,George Washington Baines, invited Graham to the White House to receive spiritual counseling. After this visit, Johnson frequently called on Graham for more spiritual counseling as well as companionship. As Graham recalled to his biographer Frady, "I almost used the White House as a hotel when Johnson was President. He was always trying to keep me there. He just never wanted me to leave."[78]
In contrast with his more limited access with Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy, Graham would not only visit the White House private quarters but would also at times kneel at Johnson's bedside and pray with him whenever the President requested him to do so. Graham once recalled "I have never had many people do that."[78] In addition to his White House visits, Graham visited Johnson atCamp David and occasionally met with the President when he retreated to his private ranch inStonewall, Texas. Johnson was also the first sitting president to attend one of Graham's crusades, in Houston, Texas, in 1965.[78]
During the 1964 United States presidential election, supporters of Republican nomineeBarry Goldwater sent an estimated 2 million telegrams to Graham's hometown ofMontreat, North Carolina, and sought the preacher's endorsement. Supportive of Johnson's domestic policies, and hoping to preserve his friendship with the president, Graham resisted pressure to endorse Goldwater and stayed neutral in the election. Following Johnson's election victory, Graham's role as the main White House pastor was solidified. At one point, Johnson even considered making Graham a member of his cabinet and grooming him to be his successor, though Graham insisted he had no political ambitions and wished to remain a preacher.[78] Graham's biographer David Aikman acknowledged that the preacher was closer to Johnson than any other president he had ever known.[132] In February 2025, the BGEA stated that Graham was in fact "probably closer to Johnson than to any other president."[134]
He spent the last night of Johnson's presidency in the White House, and he stayed for the first night of Nixon's.[129] After Nixon's victorious1968 presidential campaign, Graham became an adviser, regularly visiting the White House and leading the president's private worship services.[118] In a meeting they had withGolda Meir, Nixon offered Graham the ambassadorship to Israel, but he declined the offer.[23]
In 1970, Nixon appeared at a Graham revival inEast Tennessee, which they thought safe politically. It drew one of the largest crowds in Tennessee of protesters against theVietnam War. Nixon was the first president to give a speech from an evangelist's platform.[118] Their friendship became strained in 1973 when Graham rebuked Nixon for his post-Watergate behavior and the profanity heard on theWatergate tapes.[135] They eventually reconciled after Nixon's resignation.[118]
Graham officiated at one presidential burial and one presidential funeral. He presided over the graveside services of President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973 and took part in eulogizing the former president. Graham officiated at the funeral services of former First LadyPat Nixon in 1993,[23] and thedeath and state funeral of Richard Nixon in 1994.[136] During the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Graham asserted that he believed President Bill Clinton to be "a spiritual person".[citation needed] He was unable to attend the state funeral ofRonald Reagan on June 11, 2004, as he was recovering from hip replacement surgery.[137] This was mentioned byGeorge W. Bush in his[whose?] eulogy.[citation needed]
On April 25, 2010, PresidentBarack Obama visited Graham at his home in Montreat, North Carolina, where they "had a private prayer".[138]
Relationship with Queen Elizabeth II
Graham had a friendly relationship withQueen Elizabeth II and was frequently invited by the Royal Family to special events.[139][140] They first met in 1955, and Graham preached atWindsor Chapel at the Queen's invitation during the following year. Their friendly relationship may have been because they shared a traditional approach to the practical aspects of the Christian faith.[141]
Foreign policy views
Graham was outspoken againstcommunism and supported the AmericanCold War policy, including theVietnam War. In a secret letter from April 15, 1969, made public twenty years later, Graham encouraged Nixon to bomb the dikes in North Vietnam if the peace talks in Paris should fail. This action would "destroy the economy of North Vietnam" and, by Nixon's estimate, would have killed a million people.[142]
In 1982, Graham preached in the Soviet Union and attended a wreath-laying ceremony to honor the war dead ofWorld War II, when the Soviets were American allies in the fight againstNazism. He voiced fear of a second holocaust, not against Jews, but "anuclear holocaust" and advised that "our greatest contribution to world peace is to live with Christ every day."[143]
In a 1999 speech, Graham discussed his relationship with the late North Korean leaderKim Il Sung, praising him as a "different kind of communist" and "one of the great fighters for freedom in his country against theJapanese". Graham went on to note that although he had never met Kim's son and then-current North KoreanleaderKim Jong Il, he had "exchanged gifts with him".[144]
Controversial views
Discussion of Jews with President Nixon
During the Watergate affair, there were suggestions that Graham had expressedantisemitic opinions in private discussions with Richard Nixon; he denied this, stressing his efforts to build bridges to the Jewish community. In 2002, the controversy was renewed when declassified "Richard Nixon tapes" confirmed remarks made by Graham to Nixon three decades earlier.[145] Captured on the tapes, Graham agreed with Nixon thatJews control theAmerican media, calling it a "stranglehold" during a 1972 conversation with Nixon, and suggesting that if Nixon wasre-elected that they might be able to do something about it.[146]
When the tapes were made public, Graham apologized[147][148] and said, "Although I have no memory of the occasion, I deeply regret comments I apparently made in an Oval Office conversation with President Nixon ... some 30 years ago. ... They do not reflect my views and I sincerely apologize for any offense caused by the remarks."[149] According toNewsweek magazine, "[T]he shock of the revelation was magnified because of Graham's longtime support of Israel and his refusal to join in calls forconversion of the Jews."[148]
In 2009, more Nixon tapes were released, in which Graham is heard in a 1973 conversation with Nixon referring to a group of Jewish journalists as "thesynagogue of Satan". A spokesman for Graham said that Graham has never been an antisemite and that the comparison (in accord with the context of the quotation in theBook of Revelation[150]) was directed specifically at those claiming to be Jews, but not holding to traditional Jewish values.[151]
Graham expressedinclusivist views, suggesting that people without explicit faith in Jesus can be saved. In a 1997 interview withRobert Schuller, Graham said:
I think that everybody that loves or knows Christ, whether they are conscious of it or not, they are members of the body of Christ ... [God] is calling people out of the world for his name, whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world or the non-believing world, they are members of the Body of Christ because they have been called by God. They may not know the name of Jesus but they know in their hearts that they need something they do not have, and they turn to the only light they have, and I think that they are saved and they are going to be with us in heaven.[153]
Iain Murray, writing from a conservative Protestant standpoint, argues that "Graham's concessions are sad words from one who once spoke on the basis of biblical certainties."[154]
In 1970, Graham stated thatfeminism was "an echo of our overall philosophy of permissiveness" and that women did not want to be "competitive juggernauts pitted against male chauvinists".[155][156] He further stated that the role of wife, mother, and homemaker was the destiny of "real womanhood" according to theJudeo-Christian ethic. Graham's assertions, published in theLadies' Home Journal, elicited letters of protest, and were offered as rebuttal to the establishment of "The New Feminism" section of the publication that had been added following a sit-in protest at theJournal offices demanding female representation on the staff of the publication.[157][158][159][160]
Graham's daughter Bunny recounted her father denying her and her sisters higher education. As reported inThe Washington Post:[161]
Bunny remembers being groomed for the life of wife, homemaker, and mother. "There was never an idea of a career for us", she said. "I wanted to go to nursing school – Wheaton had a five-year program – but Daddy said no. No reason, no explanation, just 'No.' It wasn't confrontational and he wasn't angry, but when he decided, that was the end of it." She added, "He has forgotten that. Mother has not."
Graham's daughterAnne is a Christian minister, leading a Christian ministry organization known as AnGeL Ministries.[162]
Graham talked his future wife, Ruth, into abandoning her ambition to evangelize inTibet in favor of staying in the United States to marry him – and that to do otherwise would be "to thwart God's obvious will".[161] After Ruth agreed to marry him, Graham cited the Bible for claiming authority over her, saying, "then I'll do the leading and you do the following".[161] According to her obituary, Ruth was active in Christian ministry after they married, often teachingSunday School.[163] Her obituary states that in addition to his two sons, all three of Graham's daughters would become Christian ministers as well.[164]
Views on homosexuality
Graham regarded homosexuality as a sin, and in 1974 described it as "a sinister form of perversion".[165][166] In 1993, he said that he thoughtAIDS might be a "judgment" from God, but two weeks later he retracted the remark, saying: "I don't believe that, and I don't know why I said it."[167] Graham opposedsame-sex marriage, stating that "I believe the home and marriage is the foundation of our society and must be protected."[168][169] Graham's obituary noted that his stated position was that he did not want to talk about homosexuality as a political issue.[167] Corky Siemaszko, writing forNBC News, noted that after the 1993 incident, Graham "largely steered clear of the subject".[170] However, Graham appeared to take a more tolerant approach to the issue of homosexuality when he appeared on the May 2, 1997, episode of20/20, stating "I think that the Bible teaches that homosexuality is a sin, but the Bible also teaches that pride is a sin, jealously is a sin, and hate is a sin, evil thoughts are a sin, and so I don't think that homosexuality should be chosen as the overwhelming sin that we are doing today."[171]
In 2012, Graham and his son,Franklin, publicly endorsedNorth Carolina Amendment 1, a measure to ban same-sex marriage in the state. They both condemned President Obama's public declaration of support for same-sex marriage later that year.[172][173]
Awards and honors
Graham was frequently honored by surveys, including "Greatest Living American", and consistently ranked among the most admired persons in the United States and the world.[50] He appeared most frequently onGallup's list of most admired people.[174] On the day of his death, Graham had been on Gallup's Top 10 "Most Admired Man" list 61 times, and held the highest rank of any person since the list began in 1948.[15]
Graham received the Big Brother of the Year Award for his work on behalf of children. He was cited by theGeorge Washington Carver Memorial Institute for his contributions to race relations. He received theTempleton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion and theSylvanus Thayer Award for his commitment to "Duty, Honor, Country". The "Billy Graham Children's Health Center" in Asheville is named after and funded by Graham.[177]
In 2001,Queen Elizabeth II awarded him an honoraryknighthood. The honor was presented to him by SirChristopher Meyer, British Ambassador to the US at the British Embassy in Washington DC on December 6, 2001.[186]
A professorial chair is named after him at theAlabama Baptist-affiliatedSamford University, the Billy Graham Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth.[145] Hisalma mater, Wheaton College, has an archive of his papers at the Billy Graham Center.[13] TheSouthern Baptist Theological Seminary has the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Ministry. Graham received 20 honorary degrees and refused at least that many more.[50] In San Francisco, California, theBill Graham Civic Auditorium is sometimes erroneously called the "Billy Graham Civic Auditorium" and incorrectly considered to be named in his honor, but it is actually named after the rock and roll promoterBill Graham.[187]
The movieBilly: The Early Years officially premiered in theaters on October 10, 2008, less than one month before Graham's 90th birthday.[199] Graham did not comment on the film, but his son Franklin released a critical statement on August 18, 2008, noting that the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association "has not collaborated with nor does it endorse the movie".[200] Graham's eldest daughter, Gigi, praised the film and was hired as a consultant to help promote it.[201]
1996 Congressional Gold Medal shows Ruth and Billy Graham in profile (obverse); the Ruth and Billy Graham Children's Health Center in Asheville, North Carolina (reverse).
Sylvanus Thayer Award from United States Military Academy Association of Graduates at West Point (The most prestigious award the United States Military Academy gives to a US citizen), 1972[206]
Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Freedom Award, for monumental and lasting contributions to the cause of freedom, 2000[219]
Honorary Knight Commander of theOrder of the British Empire (KBE)[216] for his international contribution to civic and religious life over 60 years, 2001[220]
Many honorary degrees includingUniversity of Northwestern – St. Paul, Minnesota, where Graham was once president, named its newest campus building the Billy Graham Community Life Commons.[221]
On August 13, 1943, Graham marriedWheaton classmateRuth Bell, whose parents werePresbyterian missionaries in China.[222] Her father,L. Nelson Bell, was a general surgeon.[50] Ruth died on June 14, 2007, at age 87.[223] The couple were married for almost 64 years.[224]
Graham and his wife had five children together.[225]Virginia (Gigi) Leftwich Graham Tchividjian (b. 1945), an inspirational speaker and author;Anne Graham Lotz (b. 1948), leader of AnGeL ministries; Ruth Graham (b. 1950), founder and president of Ruth Graham & Friends and leader of conferences throughout the US and Canada;Franklin Graham (b. 1952), president and CEO of theBilly Graham Evangelistic Association and president and CEO of international relief organizationSamaritan's Purse; and Nelson Edman Graham (b. 1958), a pastor who runs East Gates Ministries International,[226] which distributes Christian literature in China.
At the time of his death at age 99 in 2018, Graham was survived by 5 children, 19 grandchildren (includingTullian Tchividjian andWill Graham), 41 great-grandchildren, and 6 great-great-grandchildren.[227]
On February 28 and March 1, 2018, Graham became the fourth private citizen in United States history tolie in honor at theUnited States Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C.[232][233] He is the first religious leader to be so honored. At the ceremony, Senate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell and Speaker of the HousePaul Ryan called Graham "America's pastor". PresidentDonald Trump said Graham was "an ambassador for Christ".[184] In addition, televangelistJim Bakker paid respect to Graham, stating he was the greatest preacher since Jesus. He also said that Graham visited him in prison.[234][235]
A private funeral service was held on March 2, 2018. Graham was buried beside his wife at the foot of the cross-shaped brick walkway in the Prayer Garden, on the northeast side of the Billy Graham Library inCharlotte, North Carolina.[236] Graham's pineplywood casket was handcrafted in 2006 by convicted murderers at theLouisiana State Penitentiary, and topped with a wooden cross that was nailed to it by the prisoners.[237][238]
Graham'sMy Answer advice column appeared in newspapers for more than 60 years as of 2017.[244]
Books
Graham authored the following books,[245] many of which have become bestsellers. In the 1970s,The Jesus Generation sold 200,000 copies in the first two weeks after its publication.Angels: God's Secret Agents had sales of a million copies within 90 days after release;How to Be Born Again was said to have made publishing history with its first printing of 800,000 copies.[50]
Calling Youth to Christ (1947)
America's Hour of Decision (1951)
I Saw Your Sons at War (1953)
Peace with God (1953, 1984)
Freedom from the Seven Deadly Sins (1955)
The Secret of Happiness (1955, 1985)
Billy Graham Talks to Teenagers (1958)
My Answer (1960)
Billy Graham Answers Your Questions (1960)
World Aflame (1965)
The Challenge (1969)
The Jesus Generation (1971)
Angels: God's Secret Agents (1975, 1985)
How to Be Born Again (1977)
The Holy Spirit (1978)
Evangelist to the World (1979)
Till Armageddon (1981)
Approaching Hoofbeats (1983)
A Biblical Standard for Evangelists (1984)
Unto the Hills (1986)
Facing Death and the Life After (1987)
Answers to Life's Problems (1988)
Hope for the Troubled Heart (1991)
Storm Warning (1992)
Just As I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham (1997, 2007)
Hope for Each Day (2002)
The Key to Personal Peace (2003)
Living in God's Love: The New York Crusade (2005)
The Journey: How to Live by Faith in an Uncertain World (2006)
Wisdom for Each Day (2008)
Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well (2011)
^Billy Graham: American Pilgrim. Oxford University Press. June 26, 2017.ISBN978-0-19-068352-8. RetrievedFebruary 21, 2018.Billy Graham stands among the most influential Christian leaders of the twentieth century.
^Killen, Patricia O'Connell; Silk, Mark.Religion and Public Life in the Pacific Northwest: The None Zone. Rowman Altamira. p. 84.In the 1957 revival in New York City Graham partnered with mainline Protestant denominations and insisted that those who were converted at the revivals return to their mainline churches.
^Sweeney, Jon M. (February 21, 2018)."How Billy Graham shaped American Catholicism".America. RetrievedApril 2, 2018.A few years later, in 1964, Cardinal Richard Cushing of Boston (who, as archbishop, had even endorsed a Graham crusade in Boston in 1950) met with Mr. Graham upon returning from Rome and the Second Vatican Council, declaring before a national television audience that Mr. Graham's message was good for Catholics.
^abcdefHorstmann, Barry M. (June 27, 2002)."Man with a mission".Cincinnati Post. Archived fromthe original on December 3, 2008. RetrievedAugust 18, 2007.
^Molly Worthen (February 4, 2015)."Evangelical Boilerplate".The Nation. Retrieved April 2, 2023. "[...] during his sixty years of full-time evangelism, 215 million people heard him preach in person, and another 2 billion tuned in to telecasts. His radio (and later television) show Hour of Decision reached 20 million homes in the 1950s..."
^King, Randall E. (1997). "When Worlds Collide: Politics, Religion, and Media at the 1970 East Tennessee Billy Graham Crusade".Journal of Church and State.39 (2):273–95.doi:10.1093/jcs/39.2.273.JSTOR23919865.
^William Martin, "The Riptide of Revival",Christian History and Biography (2006), Issue 92, pp. 24–29, online
^Atwood, Rudy (1970).The Rudy Atwood Story. Old Tappan, New Jersey: Revell. p. 113.OCLC90745.
^For Christ and the University: The Story of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship of the USA – 1940–1990 by Keith Hunt and Gladys Hunt, InterVarsity Press, 1991.[page needed]
^abcdefgh"Graham, William Franklin".Martin Luther King Jr. And The Global Freedom Struggle. Stanford University. May 8, 2017. RetrievedDecember 4, 2019.
^Graham, Billy (July 16, 1974).Why Lausanne? (Audio recording). Lausanne, Switzerland: Billy Graham Center Archives. Archived fromthe original on December 14, 2013. RetrievedDecember 14, 2013.
^Stott, John (1997). "Foreword by Billy Graham".Making Christ known: historic mission documents from the Lausanne Movement, 1974–1989. US: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.ISBN0-8028-4315-8.
^"God in America: 'The Soul of a Nation'". PBS. October 11, 2010. RetrievedOctober 13, 2012.Billy Graham convenes a meeting of American Protestant ministers in Montreux, Switzerland, for the purpose of discussing how they could ensure that John Kennedy would not be elected in November
^"Singing to save".Billy Graham: American Pilgrim. 2017. Edited by Andrew Finstuen, Grant Wacker & Anne Blue Wills. Oxford University Press. pp.75–76. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
^"Gospel".All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music. 2001. Edited by Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra & Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Hal Leonard Corp. p. 610. Retrieved March 3, 2018.ISBN978-0-87930-627-4.
Hummel, Daniel G. (2023).The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism: How the Evangelical Battle over the End Times Shaped a Nation. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.ISBN978-0-802-87922-6.
King, Randall E. (1997). "When Worlds Collide: Politics, Religion, and Media at the 1970 East Tennessee Billy Graham Crusade".Journal of Church and State.39 (2):273–95.doi:10.1093/jcs/39.2.273.
Martin, William (2007).A Prophet with Honor: The Billy Graham Story. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.ISBN978-0-310-24198-0. scholarly biography, updated from 1991 edition published by William Morrow.
Martin, William (2013).Prophet with Honor: The Billy Graham Story. Grand Rapids: Zonderkidz.ASINB004HOV0CW. Middle-school version.
Sherwood, Timothy H. (2013).The Rhetorical Leadership of Fulton J. Sheen, Norman Vincent Peale, and Billy Graham in the Age of Extremes. Lexington Books. pp. 1–158.ASINB00E1CYKCC.
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