Billy Graham

Birthplace Marker for Billy Graham near 4601 Park Rd, Charlotte, NC

William Franklin Graham Jr. was born on November 7, 1918, in the downstairs bedroom of a farmhouse near Charlotte, North Carolina.[15] He was of Scots-Irish descent and was the eldest of four children born to Morrow (née Coffey) and William Franklin Graham Sr., a dairy farmer.[15] Graham was raised on a family dairy farm with his two younger sisters, Catherine Morrow and Jean and a younger brother, Melvin Thomas.[16] 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 home.[17][15] He was raised by his parents in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.[15][18] Graham attended the Sharon Grammar School.[19] He started to read books from an early age and loved to read novels for boys, especially Tarzan.[15] Like Tarzan, he would hang on the trees and gave the popular Tarzan yell. According to his father, that yelling led him to become a minister.[20] Graham was 15 when Prohibition ended in December 1933, and his father forced him and his sister Katherine to drink beer until they became sick. This created such an aversion that Graham and his sister avoided alcohol and drugs for the rest of their lives.[21]

Graham was turned down for membership in a local youth group for being "too worldly".[21] Albert McMakin, who worked on the Graham farm, persuaded him to go and see the evangelist Mordecai Ham.[12] According to his autobiography, Graham was 16 when he was converted during a series of revival meetings that Ham led in Charlotte in 1934.[22][23]

After graduating from Sharon High School in May 1936, Graham attended Bob Jones College. After one semester, he found that the coursework and rules were too legalistic.[21] At this time he was influenced and inspired by Pastor Charley Young from Eastport Bible Church. He was almost expelled, but Bob 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."[21]

In 1937, Graham transferred to the Florida Bible Institute in Temple Terrace, Florida.[24] While still a student, Graham preached his first sermon at Bostwick Baptist Church near Palatka, Florida.[25] 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 the Hillsborough 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 in Palatka, Florida.[26] In 1940, he graduated with a Bachelor of Theology degree.[27][28]

Graham then enrolled in Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. During his time there, he decided to accept the Bible as the infallible word of God. Henrietta Mears of the First 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 the Big Bear Lake area in southern California.[29][30] 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 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 become the pastor of their church.[31]

In June 1943, Graham graduated from Wheaton College[32] with a degree in anthropology.[33] 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 called Songs in the Night, Graham recruited the bass-baritone George Beverly Shea as his director of radio ministry.

In 1948, in a Modesto, California, hotel room, Graham and his evangelistic team established the Modesto Manifesto – a code of ethics for life and work to protect against accusations of financial, sexual, and power abuse.[34] 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").[35][36]

Graham was 29 when he became president of Northwestern Bible College in Minneapolis 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.[37] Graham initially intended to become a chaplain in the Armed Forces, but he contracted mumps shortly after applying for a commission. After a period of recuperation in Florida, he was hired as the first full-time evangelist of the new Youth for Christ (YFC), co-founded by Torrey Johnson and the Canadian evangelist Charles Templeton. Graham traveled throughout both the United States and Europe as a YFCI evangelist. Templeton applied to Princeton Theological Seminary for an advanced theological degree and urged Graham to do so as well, but he declined as he was already serving as the president of Northwestern Bible College.[38]

In 1949, Graham scheduled a series of revival meetings in Los Angeles, for which he erected circus tents in a parking lot.[12] He attracted national media coverage, especially in the conservative Hearst chain of newspapers, although Hearst and Graham never met.[39] The crusade event ran for eight weeks – five weeks longer than planned. Graham became a national figure with heavy coverage from the wire services and national magazines.[40] Pianist Rudy 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".[41]

Crusades

Graham speaking at a Crusade in Düsseldorf, Germany on June 21, 1954.

From the time his ministry began in 1947, Graham conducted more than 400 crusades in 185 countries and territories on six continents. The first Billy Graham Crusade, held September 13–21, 1947 at the Civic Auditorium in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was attended by 6,000 people. Graham was 28 years old and would rent a large venue, such as a stadium, park, or street. As the sessions became larger, he arranged a group of up to 5,000 people to sing in a choir. He would preach the gospel and invite people to come forward (a practice begun by Dwight 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 the Gospel of John or a Bible study booklet. At a 1973 rally attended by 100,000 in Durban, South Africa, that was the first large mixed-race event in apartheid South Africa, he stated that "apartheid is a sin".[42][43] In Moscow in 1992, one-quarter of the 155,000 people in Graham's audience went forward at his call.[21] During his crusades, he frequently used the altar call song, "Just As I Am".[44]

Graham was offered a five-year, $1 million contract from NBC to appear on television opposite Arthur Godfrey, but he had prior commitments. He turned down the offer in order to continue his touring revivals.[45] Graham had crusades in London (which lasted 12 weeks), and a New York City crusade in Madison Square Garden in 1957, which ran nightly for 16 weeks.

Graham with his son, Franklin, at Cleveland Stadium, June 1994

Graham played multiple roles that reinforced each other. 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 and Pope John Paul II.[79]

Graham deliberately reached into the secular world as a bridge builder. For example, as an entrepreneur he built his own pavilion for the 1964 New York World's Fair.[80] He appeared as a guest on a 1969 Woody Allen television special, in which he joined the comedian in a witty exchange on theological matters.[81] During the Cold War, Graham became the first evangelist of note to speak behind the Iron Curtain, addressing large crowds in countries throughout Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union, calling for peace.[82] During the apartheid 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 denounced apartheid.[83] Graham also corresponded with imprisoned South African leader Nelson Mandela during the latter's 27-year imprisonment.[84]

In 1984, he led a series of summer meetings—Mission England—in the United Kingdom, and he used outdoor football (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 the RAI Convention Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. At one revival in Seoul, South Korea, Graham attracted more than one million people to a single service.[45] 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.[73]

On October 15, 1989, Graham received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was the only person functioning as a minister who received a star in that capacity.[85]

On September 22, 1991, Graham held his largest event in North America on the Great Lawn of Manhattan's Central Park. City officials estimated that more than 250,000 were in attendance. In 1998, Graham spoke to a crowd of scientists and philosophers at the Technology, Entertainment, Design Conference.

On September 14, 2001 (only three days after the World Trade Center attacks), Graham was invited to lead a service at Washington National Cathedral; the service was attended by President George W. Bush and past and present leaders. He also spoke at the memorial service following the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.[73] On June 24–26, 2005, Graham began what he said would be his last North American crusade: three days at Flushing 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 in New Orleans, which was recovering from Hurricane 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.[86]

Graham said that his planned retirement was a result of his failing health; he had suffered from hydrocephalus from 1992 on.[87] In August 2005, Graham appeared at the groundbreaking for his library in Charlotte, North Carolina. Then 86, he used a walker during the ceremony. On July 9, 2006, he spoke at the Metro Maryland Franklin Graham Festival, held in Baltimore, Maryland, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

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 renovated Billy Graham Library.[88]

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 near Asheville, North Carolina, where she had lived for many years; Ned supported his mother's choice.[89][90] Novelist Patricia 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.[89] When Ruth Graham died, it was announced that they would be buried at the library site.[90]

After his close relationships with Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard 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."[91]

Graham was a lifelong registered member of the Democratic Party.[92] In 1960, he opposed the candidacy of John 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.[93] During the 1960 campaign, Graham met with a conference of Protestant ministers in Montreux, Switzerland, to discuss their mobilization of congregations to defeat Kennedy.[94] According to the PBS Frontline 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 by Norman Vincent Peale.[93] This was shortly before Kennedy's speech in Houston, 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 in Palm Beach, Florida, after which Graham acknowledged Kennedy's election as an opportunity for Catholics and Protestants to come closer together.[95][96] After they had discussed Jesus Christ at that meeting, the two remained in touch, meeting for the last time at a National Day of Prayer meeting in February 1963.[96] In his autobiography, Graham claimed to have felt an "inner foreboding" in the week before Kennedy's assassination, and to have tried to contact him to say, "Don't go to Texas!"[97]

Graham opposed the large majority of abortions, but supported it as a legal option in a very narrow range of circumstances: rape, incest, and the life of the mother.[98] The Billy 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."[99]

Graham leaned toward the Republicans during the presidency of Richard Nixon, whom he had met and befriended as vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower.[100] He did not completely ally himself with the later religious right, saying that Jesus did not have a political party.[21] He gave his support to various political candidates over the years.[100]

In 2007, Graham explained his refusal to join Jerry Falwell's Moral 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 the Panama Canal or superiority of armaments. Evangelists cannot be closely identified with any particular party or person. We have to stand in the middle in order 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."[101]

According to a 2006 Newsweek interview, "For Graham, politics is a secondary to the Gospel ... When Newsweek 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.'"[102]

In 2012, Graham endorsed the Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney.[103] Shortly after, apparently in order to accommodate Romney, who is a Mormon, 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.[104][105] Observers have questioned whether the support of Republican and religious right politics on issues such as same-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.[106] In 2016, according to his son Franklin, Graham voted for Donald Trump.[107]

Pastor to presidents

President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan greet Graham at the National Prayer Breakfast of 1981

Graham had a personal audience with many sitting US presidents, from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama – 12 consecutive presidents. After meeting with Truman in 1950, Graham told the press he had urged the president to counter communism in North Korea. Truman disliked him and did not speak with him for years after that meeting.[21] Later he always treated his conversations with presidents as confidential.[100]

Truman was not fond of Graham. He wrote about Graham in his 1974 autobiography Plain 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."[108]

Graham in 1966

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 the Little Rock Nine to gain admission of black students to public schools.[21] House Speaker Sam Rayburn persuaded Congress to allow Graham to conduct the first religious service on the steps of the Capitol building in 1952.[21][109] Eisenhower asked for Graham while on his deathbed.[110]

Graham met and became a close friend of Vice President Richard Nixon,[100][111] and supported Nixon, a Quaker, for the 1960 presidential election.[21] He convened an August strategy session of evangelical leaders in Montreaux, Switzerland, to plan how best to oppose Nixon's Roman Catholic opponent, Senator John F. Kennedy.[112] 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.[113] Thus, he was more sympathetic to Republican administrations.[100][114]

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."[63]

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."[63] In addition to his White House visits, Graham visited Johnson at Camp David and occasionally met with the President when he retreated to his private ranch in Stonewall, Texas. Johnson was also the first sitting president to attend one of Graham's crusades, in Houston, Texas, in 1965.[63]

During the 1964 United States presidential election, supporters of Republican nominee Barry Goldwater sent an estimated 2 million telegrams to Graham's hometown of Montreat, 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.[63] Graham's biographer David Aikman acknowledged that the preacher was closer to Johnson than any other president he had ever known.[113]

He spent the last night of Johnson's presidency in the White House, and he stayed for the first night of Nixon's.[110] After Nixon's victorious 1968 presidential campaign, Graham became an adviser, regularly visiting the White House and leading the president's private worship services.[100] In a meeting they had with Golda Meir, Nixon offered Graham the ambassadorship to Israel, but he declined the offer.[21]

President Barack Obama and Graham meet at Graham's home in Montreat, North Carolina, April 2010

In 1970, Nixon appeared at a Graham revival in East Tennessee, which they thought safe politically. It drew one of the largest crowds in Tennessee of protesters against the Vietnam War. Nixon was the first president to give a speech from an evangelist's platform.[100] Their friendship became strained in 1973 when Graham rebuked Nixon for his post-Watergate behavior and the profanity heard on the Watergate tapes.[115] They eventually reconciled after Nixon's resignation.[100]

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 Lady Pat Nixon in 1993,[21] and the death and state funeral of Richard Nixon in 1994.[116] During the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Graham asserted that he believed President Bill Clinton to be "a spiritual person". He was unable to attend the state funeral of Ronald Reagan on June 11, 2004, as he was recovering from hip replacement surgery.[117] This was mentioned by George W. Bush in his eulogy.

On April 25, 2010, President Barack Obama visited Graham at his home in Montreat, North Carolina, where they "had a private prayer".[118]

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.[45] He appeared most frequently on Gallup's list of most admired people.[155] 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.[13]

In 1967, he was the first Protestant to receive an honorary degree from Belmont Abbey College, a Roman Catholic school.[156] In 1983, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by US President Ronald Reagan.[157]

Graham received the Big Brother of the Year Award for his work on behalf of children. He was cited by the George Washington Carver Memorial Institute for his contributions to race relations. He received the Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion and the Sylvanus 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.[158]

In 1999, the Gospel Music Association inducted Graham into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame to recognize his contributions to Christian music artists such as Michael W. Smith, dc Talk, Amy Grant, Jars of Clay, and others who performed at the Billy Graham Crusades.[159] Graham was the first non-musician inducted,[160] and had also helped to revitalize interest in hymns and create new favorite songs.[161] Singer Michael W. Smith was active in Billy Graham Crusades as well as Samaritan's Purse.[162] Smith sang "Just As I Am" in a tribute to Graham at the 44th GMA Dove Awards.[163] He also sang it at the memorial service honoring Graham at the United States Capitol rotunda on February 28, 2018.[164][165]

In 2000, former First Lady Nancy Reagan presented the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award to Graham. Graham was a friend of the Reagans for years.[166]

In 2001, Queen Elizabeth II awarded him an honorary knighthood. The honor was presented to him by Sir Christopher Meyer, British Ambassador to the US at the British Embassy in Washington DC on December 6, 2001.[167]

A professorial chair is named after him at the Alabama Baptist-affiliated Samford University, the Billy Graham Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth.[125] His alma mater, Wheaton College, has an archive of his papers at the Billy Graham Center.[12] The Southern 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.[45] In San Francisco, California, the Bill 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 promoter Bill Graham.[168]

On May 31, 2007, the $27 million Billy Graham Library was officially dedicated in Charlotte. Former presidents Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton appeared to celebrate with Graham.[169] A highway in Charlotte bears Graham's name,[89] as does I-240 near Graham's home in Asheville.

As Graham's final crusade approached in 2005, his friend Pat Boone chose to create a song in honor of Graham,[170] which he co-wrote and produced with David Pack and Billy Dean,[171] who digitally combined studio recordings of various artists into what has been called a "'We Are the World'-type" production.[172] Titled "Thank You Billy Graham", the song's video[173] was introduced by Bono,[172] and included Faith Hill, MxPx,[170] John Ford Coley, John Elefante, Mike Herrera, Michael McDonald, Jeffrey Osborne, LeAnn Rimes, Kenny Rogers, Connie Smith, Michael Tait, and other singers, with brief narration by Larry King.[174] It was directed by Brian Lockwood[175] as a tribute album.[176] In 2013, the album My Hope: Songs Inspired by the Message and Mission of Billy Graham was recorded by Amy Grant, Kari Jobe, Newsboys, Matthew West, tobyMac, and other music artists with new songs to honor Graham during his My Hope America with Billy Graham outreach and the publication of his book The Reason for My Hope: Salvation.[177] Other songs written to honor Graham include "Hero of the Faith" written by Eddie Carswell of NewSong, which became a hit,[178] "Billy, You're My Hero" by Greg Hitchcock,[179] "Billy Graham" by The Swirling Eddies, "Billy Graham's Bible" by Joe Nichols, "Billy Frank" by Randy Stonehill, and an original song titled "Just as I Am" by Fernando Ortega.[170]

The movie Billy: The Early Years officially premiered in theaters on October 10, 2008, less than one month before Graham's 90th birthday.[180] 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".[181] Graham's eldest daughter, Gigi, praised the film and was hired as a consultant to help promote it.[182]

Other honors

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).

• The Salvation Army's Distinguished Service Medal[183]
• Who's Who in America listing annually since 1954[184]
• Freedoms Foundation Distinguished Persons Award (several years)[185][186]
• Gold Medal Award, National Institute of Social Science, New York, 1957[186]
• Annual Gutenberg Award of the Chicago Bible Society, 1962[187]
• Gold Award of the George Washington Carver Memorial Institute, 1964, for contribution to race relations, presented by Senator Javits (NY)[188]
• Speaker of the Year Award, awarded by Delta Sigma Rho-Tau Kappa Alpha, 1965[189]
• The American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award, 1965[190]
• Horatio Alger Award, 1965[188]
• National Citizenship Award by the Military Chaplains Association of the United States of America, 1965[183]
• Wisdom Award of Honor, 1965[191]
• The Torch of Liberty Plaque by the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, 1969[189]
• George Washington Honor Medal from Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, for his sermon "The Violent Society", 1969 (also in 1974)[183]
• Honored by Morality in Media for "fostering the principles of truth, taste, inspiration and love in media", 1969[183]
• International Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, 1971[192]
• Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Broadcasters, 1972[193]
• Franciscan International Award, 1972[188]
• 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[186]
• Direct Selling Association's Salesman of the Decade award, 1975[189]
• Philip Award from the Association of United Methodist Evangelists, 1976[194]
• American Jewish Committee's First National Interreligious Award, 1977[195]
• Southern Baptist Radio and Television Commission's Distinguished Communications Medal, 1977[183]
• Jabotinsky Centennial Medal presented by The Jabotinsky Foundation, 1980[186]
• Religious Broadcasting Hall of Fame award, 1981[196]
• Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion award, 1982[188]
• Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, 1983[196]
• National Religious Broadcasters Award of Merit, 1986[196]
• North Carolina Award in Public Service, 1986[197]
• Good Housekeeping Most Admired Men Poll,[197] 1997, No. 1 for five years in a row and 16th time in top 10[184]
• Congressional Gold Medal (along with wife Ruth), highest honor Congress can bestow on a private citizen, 1996[198]
• Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Freedom Award, for monumental and lasting contributions to the cause of freedom, 2000[199]
• Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE)[196] for his international contribution to civic and religious life over 60 years, 2001[200]
• Many honorary degrees including University of Northwestern – St. Paul, Minnesota, where Graham was once president, named its newest campus building the Billy Graham Community Life Commons.[201] He also received honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees.[202][203]

• Unbroken: Path to Redemption (2018): Played by his grandson Will Graham.
• The Crown (2016 – present): Netflix series, Season 2 Episode 6. Played by actor Paul Sparks.[204]
• Billy: The Early Years (2008): Played by actor Armie Hammer.[205]
• Man in the 5th Dimension (1964): short biographical film featuring Graham.

Graham's My Answer advice column appeared in newspapers for more than 60 years as of 2017.[206]

Billy Graham and his wife in Oslo, Norway, 1955.

On August 13, 1943, Graham married Wheaton classmate Ruth Bell, whose parents were Presbyterian missionaries in China.[210] Her father, L. Nelson Bell, was a general surgeon.[45] Ruth died on June 14, 2007, at the age of 87.[211] The couple were married for almost 64 years.[212]

Graham and his wife had five children together.[213] Virginia Leftwich (Gigi) Graham (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 the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and president and CEO of international relief organization Samaritan's Purse; and Nelson Edman Graham (b. 1958), a pastor who runs East Gates Ministries International,[214] 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 (including Will Graham and Tullian Tchividjian), 41 great-grandchildren, and 6 great-great-grandchildren.[215]

Ceremony to the Reverend Billy Graham at the Capitol Rotunda, February 28, 2018.

Graham died of natural causes on February 21, 2018, at his home in Montreat, North Carolina, at the age of 99.[216][217]

External video
Capitol Visitation for Billy Graham, February 28, 2018, C-SPAN
Funeral Service, Billy Graham Library, Charlotte, North Carolina, March 2, 2018, C-SPAN

On February 28 and March 1, 2018, Graham became the fourth private citizen in United States history to lie in honor at the United States Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C.[218][219] He is the first religious leader to be so honored. At the ceremony, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan called Graham "America's pastor". President Donald Trump said Graham was "an ambassador for Christ".[165] In addition, Televangelist Jim Bakker paid respect to Graham, stating he was the greatest preacher since Jesus. He also said that Graham visited him in prison.[220][221]

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.[222] Graham's pine plywood casket was handcrafted in 2006 by convicted murderers at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, and topped with a wooden cross that was nailed to it by the prisoners.[223][224]

He is honored with a commemoration on the liturgical calendar of the Anglican Church in North America on February 21.[225]

• Aikman, David (2007). Billy Graham: His Life and Influence. Nashville: Thomas Nelson. ASIN B008JM5FE2. short biography
  • Aikman, David (2010). "Lyndon B. Johnson". Billy Graham: His Life and Influence. ISBN 978-1-4185-8432-0. 2010 edition
• Long, Michael G., ed. (2008). The Legacy of Billy Graham: Critical Reflections on America's Greatest Evangelist. ASIN B002LE87N0. scholarly essays
• Miller, Steven P. (2009). Billy Graham and the Rise of the Republican South. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-4151-8.
• Schier, H. Edward (2013). "Civil Rights Movement". The Battle of the Three Wills: As It Relates to Good & Evil. ISBN 978-1-4817-5876-5.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Billy Graham.

• Official website
• Billy Graham Papers, Billy Graham Center Archives, Wheaton College.
• 1957 event in Times Square Archived November 5, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, streaming video clip
• Monroe Billington, Oral History Interview with Billy Graham, October 12, 1983, transcript, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library
• Billy Graham at TED
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• The New York Times obituary
• Reuters obituary