Billy Graham

The Reverend Billy Graham
Graham in 1966
Orders
Ordination	1939
Personal details
Born	William Franklin Graham Jr. (1918-11-07)November 7, 1918 Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	February 21, 2018(2018-02-21) (aged 99) Montreat, North Carolina, U.S.
Denomination	Baptist (Southern Baptist Convention)
Spouse	Ruth Bell ​ ​ (m. 1943; died 2007)​
Children	Gigi, Anne, Ruth, Franklin and Nelson
Profession	Evangelist
Education	Florida Bible Institute Wheaton College
Signature
President of Northwestern College
In office 1948–1952
Preceded by	William Bell Riley
Succeeded by	Richard Elvee
President of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
In office 1950–2001
Preceded by	Post established
Succeeded by	Franklin Graham

William Franklin Graham Jr. (/ˈɡreɪəm/; November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, and a civil rights advocate^[1][2] whose broadcast and live sermons became well known internationally in the mid-to-late 20th century. During a career spanning six decades, Graham was a prominent evangelical Christian figure in the United States.

According to a biographer, Graham was considered "among the most influential Christian leaders" of the 20th century.^[3] Graham held large indoor and outdoor rallies with sermons that were broadcast on radio and television, with some still being re-broadcast into the 21st century.^[4] In his six decades on television, Graham hosted annual crusades, evangelistic campaigns that ran from 1947 until his retirement in 2005. He also hosted the radio show Hour of Decision from 1950 to 1954. He repudiated racial segregation^[5] and insisted on racial integration for his revivals and crusades, starting in 1953. He later invited Martin Luther King Jr. to preach jointly at a 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 preached to live audiences of 210 million people in more than 185 countries and territories through various meetings, including BMS World Mission and Global Mission event.^[6]

Graham was particularly close to Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson (one of Graham's closest friends),^[7] and Richard Nixon.^[8] He was also lifelong friends with Robert Schuller, another televangelist and the founding pastor of the Crystal Cathedral, whom Graham talked into starting his own television ministry.^[9] Graham's evangelism was appreciated by mainline Protestant denominations, as he encouraged those mainline Protestants who were converted to his evangelical message to remain within or return to their mainline churches.^[10][11] Despite his early suspicions and apprehension, common among contemporaneous evangelical Protestants towards Catholicism, Graham eventually developed amicable ties with many American Catholic Church figures and later encouraged 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 "accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior".

Graham's estimated lifetime audience, including radio and television broadcasts, topped billions of people.^[14] As a result of his crusades, Graham preached the gospel to more people in person than anyone in the history of Christianity.^[13] Graham was on Gallup's list of most admired men and women a record 61 times.^[15] Grant Wacker writes that by the mid-1960s, he had become the "Great Legitimator": "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]