- Born
- Died
- Birth nameWilliam Franklin Graham Jr.
- Height6′ 3″ (1.91 m)
- Billy Graham was arguably the most successful Christian evangelist in the world. He was born William Franklin Graham, Jr., on Thursday, November 7th, 1918 on a dairy farm near Charlotte, North Carolina, to Morrow (Coffey) and William Franklin Graham, who were dairy farmers. Billy was an unofficial pontifex maximus to the American Republic, from the Truman Administration to the Obama years. Graham served as a spiritual adviser to several American presidents, though he is most widely associated with Richard Nixon. He gave a prayer at every Presidential inauguration from 1948 to 1996, and was presented with a Congressional Gold Medal by his fellow Southern Baptist, Bill Clinton, in 1996.
As a radio and TV evangelist, Graham touched the lives of an estimated two billion people. He personally oversaw the spiritual rebirth of over 2.5 million people, who accepted Jesus as their personal savior at his revival meetings. The Gallup Poll listed him as number seven on its list of the most admired people of the 20th century.
Graham was a moderate and temperate preacher with a high level of tolerance. His split with Bob Jones, Sr. circa 1950 was the watershed moment of the divergence of evangelicals, like Graham, from fundamentalists, like Jones.
Billy Graham died at the age of 99 on February 21, 2018, in Montreat, North Carolina.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Jon C. Hopwood
- SpouseRuth Bell Graham(August 13, 1943 - June 14, 2007) (her death, 5 children)
- Children
- ParentsWilliam Franklin Graham Sr.Morrow Coffey Graham
- RelativesAram Tchividjian(Grandchild)Basyle 'Boz' Jonathan Tchividjian(Grandchild)Jerushah Armfield(Grandchild)Jane 'Cissie' Graham Lynch(Grandchild)
- Long lectures about Jesus Christ
- North Carolina accent
- Sometimes wears glasses
- Holds evangelic revival meetings, known as Crusades
- Sermons on salvation and God's love
- Has given prayer at inauguration of every U. S. President since Harry S. Truman. However, due to ill health he was unable to attend George W. Bush's first inauguration in 2001.
- He was a close friend of Johnny Cash.
- Awarded an honorary knighthood by the British government in the New Years Honours List of 2002.
- Friends with: Robert H. Schuller, George Beverly Shea, Oral Roberts, Jim Bakker, Tammy Faye Bakker, Rex Humbard, Jimmy Swaggart, Kenneth Copeland, Pat Robertson, Charles Stanley, Charles Swindoll, James Dobson, James Robison, Jack Van Impe, Joyce Meyer, Marilyn Hickey, Morris Cerullo, John Osteen, Roger Williams, Frank Sinatra, Amy Grant, Sandi Patty, Donald Trump, Ronald Reagan, Gene Autry, Evel Knievel, Phil McGraw, Mickey Rooney, Ruta Lee, Andy Williams, Chuck Norris and Della Reese.
- When he was a young boy, his father cured him of drinking alcohol by bringing home a bottle of beer and making him drink every drop. His father then told him, "If anyone ever tries to make you drink, tell them you've already tried it and you didn't like it!"
- [1993] Is AIDS a judgment of God? I could not say for sure, but I think so.
- [on church] Churchgoers are like coals of fire. When they cling together, they keep the flame aglow; when they separate, they die out.
- [on forgiveness] If His conditions are met, God is bound by His Word to forgive any man or any woman of any sin because of Christ.
- [9/11 sermon] The dead are in paradise and would not return to us if they could.
- We sometimes forget that some of the loneliest people in the world are those who are constantly in the public eye. They have spiritual needs like everyone else.
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