World Biography: Reverend Billy Graham

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The History Guy
The Reverend Billy Graham
(b. 1918)

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William "Billy" Franklin Graham- (November 7, 1918-Present)

--Famous and influential American Evangelical Christian minister and media personality, the Reverend Billy Graham played a significant part of the growth of evangelical Christianity in the United States and in the world in the mid- and late-Twentieth Century. His "Crusades," huge gatherings of believing Christians, drew thousands of the faithful to hear his message, as millions more audience members participated through the medium of the television. He is considered one of the best known Protestant Fundamentalist preachers in America, with a significant following, and the unofficial title of Minister to America's Presidents. He has served as a spiritual advisor to every U.S. President since Dwight Eisenhower.

He became a minister in the Southern Baptist Church in 1939, entered Wheaton College in Illinois and began preaching in Chicago in the early 1940s. While in Chicago, he began a radio program in order to reach more people with his message. Throughout his career, he deftly used the media to enlarge the range of his voice and his message. In 1949, he gained national attention with a preaching campaign he called a "crusade," in Los Angeles. The nationwide focus of his newfound publicity was aided by the desire of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, who increased his newspaper's coverage of Graham because of the strong anti-Communist fervor the young preacher showed in his sermons and his messages.

After a three-month long crusade in New York City in 1957, Billy Graham became one of the leaders of the national Protestant Fundamentalist movement. His ability to speak to the common man, hearkening back to his roots in the hills of North Carolina, enabled him to connect with millions of ordinary Americans in his long and influential career.

Ruth Graham, Billy Graham's closest friend and confidant and his wife of 64 years, died on June 14, 2007.

A new book was released in the summer of 2007, The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House, detailing Reverend Graham's relationships with American presidents and politicians from the 1940s through the administration of George W. Bush.

He is the author of over 24 best-selling books. (See below)

Education:

--Florida Bible Institute (Trinity College)-1940 with a Bachelors in Theology.
--Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL, --1943 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology.

Accomplishments:

--He is one of the founders of the journal Christianity Today.
--Founded the Billy Graham Evangelical Association in the 1950s. Billy Graham retired in 2000, and turned the organization over to his son and successor, the Reverend Franklin Graham.

Copyright © 1998-2007 Roger A. Lee; Last Modified: 08.12.07

Citation

Lee, R. "World Biography: The Reverend Billy Graham "

http://www.worldbiography.net/graham_billy.html

Family

William Franklin Graham ( d. 1962)--Father

Morrow Coffey Graham ( d. 1981) --Mother

Ruth McCue Bell (June 10, 1920 – June 14, 2007)--Wife

Children

Virginia Graham- (b. 1945)
Anne Morrow Graham - (b. 1948)

Ruth Bell Graham - (b. 1950)

William Franklin Graham, III- (b. 1952)

Nelson Edman Graham - (b. 1958)

Associates, Colleagues, & Connections

President Dwight Eisenhower

William Randolph Hearst

President Richard Nixon

Links and Resources on the Reverend Billy Graham

BillyGraham.org--The latest news and schedules for Reverend Graham's ministry

Hour of Decision Online--Reverend Graham's weekly radio broadcast, with archives of past shows

From Pulpit to Politics, a World-Famous Evangelist--NPR radio interview with author Michael Duffy about his new book on Reverend Graham's relationship with many American presidents.

Foner, Eric, and John A. Garraty, ed. The Reader's Companion to American History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1991.

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