As a spiritual adviser to U. He was especially close to Dwight D. Bill Clinton turned to him after his much publicized sex scandal, and George W. Bush credited Graham with helping him to quit drinking alcohol. When asked how his life would be different if it were not for Billy Graham, George W.
Bush said simply, "I wouldn't be president. Donald and Melania Trump met Graham at the preacher's 95th birthday party in , but they never met after Trump took office as president. The evangelist brought his "Billy Graham Crusades" around the world, preaching to more than million people in countries and territories.
His largest such gathering drew 1 million people in Seoul, South Korea, in the s. Full Coverage: Billy Graham. As Graham prepared at age 86 for what he called his final U.
I look forward to death with great anticipation. I'm looking forward to seeing God face to face, and that could happen any day. Graham was met with criticism in February , when audiotapes released by the National Archives revealed a conversation with Nixon at the White House in which Graham said Jewish people had a "stranglehold" on the media.
Billy Graham had been admitted numerous times in recent years to Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, for a pulmonary condition. Upon being admitted Nov. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in He also suffered from prostate cancer and hydrocephalus , or fluid on the brain, according to The Associated Press.
In January , he fell and fractured his left hip, and afterward used a walker to move about. Graham was born Nov. The eldest of four children in a strict Presbyterian family, he was known as "Billy Frank" in his teenage years. Throughout his life, Billy Graham preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to some million people who attended one of his more than Crusades, simulcasts and evangelistic rallies in more than countries and territories.
He reached millions more through TV, video, film, the internet and 34 books. Born Nov. In , he comforted his country and the world when he spoke at the National Cathedral in Washington, following the Sept.
At three global conferences held in Amsterdam , , , Graham gathered some 23, evangelists from countries and territories to train them to carry the message of Jesus Christ around the world. During the week of his 95th birthday in , Graham delivered his final message via more than television stations across the U. Graham, a country boy turned world evangelist, who prayed with every U.
Truman to Barack Obama, was raised on a dairy farm in Charlotte. But in , that changed. At a revival led by traveling evangelist Mordecai Fowler Ham, year-old Graham committed his life to serving Jesus Christ. No one was more surprised than Graham himself. The couple graduated and married in the summer of Graham was the first of four children raised on the family's dairy farm in Charlotte. In hindsight, there was little indication that Graham would one day preach the Christian gospel to as many as million people in live audiences over countries.
Graham has been credited with preaching to more individuals than anyone else in history, not counting the additional millions he has addressed through radio, television and the written word. While Graham's parents were strict Calvinists, it would be an unfamiliar traveling evangelist who would set Graham on a profound spiritual path. At the age of 16, Graham attended a series of revival meetings run by evangelist Mordecai Ham. Despite the fact that Graham was a well-behaved adolescent, Ham's sermons on sin spoke to young Graham.
However, he felt disconnected from the school's rigid doctrine and soon transferred to the Florida Bible Institute. After graduating from the Florida Bible Institute with a bachelor's in theology, Graham moved to Illinois and enrolled at Wheaton College for further spiritual training. He also met his future wife, Ruth McCue Bell, at this time. Bell was the daughter of a missionary and lived with her family in China until she turned After graduating with a bachelor's in anthropology, Graham and Bell were married on August 13, They would eventually raise five children together.
Graham briefly pastored the First Baptist Church in Western Springs, Illinois, before leaving to join Youth for Christ, an evangelical missionary group that spoke to returning servicemen and young people about God.
In , he resigned from Youth for Christ and focused on Northwestern Schools until , when he resigned to concentrate on preaching. It did not take long for people to identify with Graham's charismatic and heartfelt gospel sermons.
When radio personality Stuart Hamblen had Graham on his radio show, word of the revival spread. The publicity filled Graham's tents and extended the revival for an additional five weeks. At the urging of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst , papers around the nation covered Graham's revival meetings closely.
As a consequence, Graham became a Christian superstar. Sociologically it is believed that Graham's success was directly related to the cultural climate of post-WWII America. Graham spoke out against the evils of Communism—one of the biggest fears threatening the American consciousness.
In a interview, Graham stated, "Either communism must die, or Christianity must die, because it is actually a battle between Christ and anti-Christ. Thus, Graham helped bind together a vulnerable nation through a religious revival. By glazing over the finer details of Christianity and focusing on more moderate doctrines, Graham made evangelism enticing, non-threatening, even easy — and the media made his messages accessible to the masses. Graham began broadcasting his sermons over the radio during a Christian show called Songs in the Night.
Once a week he also hosted a program called The Hour of Decision , a program ABC initially transmitted to stations before reaching its peak of 1, stations across America.
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