Graham

"Billy Graham." //Newsmakers//. Detroit: Gale, 1992. //Gale Biography In Context//. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.
 * American Evangelist
 * wrote books:
 * Peace With God, 1953.
 * Angels: God's Secret Agents, 1975.
 * How to be Born Again, 1977.
 * Approaching Hoofbeats, 1985.
 * Answers to Life's Problems, 1988.
 * Just As I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham, 1997

//St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture//. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 1. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. [iii]. //Gale Virtual Reference Library//. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. Wilson, John Scott. "Billy Graham." //American Decades//. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Detroit: Gale, 2003. //Gale Biography In Context//. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. "Billy Graham." //The Christian Century// 127.5 (2010): 19. //Gale Biography In Context//. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. "Graham, William Franklin, Jr. (1918-)." //Encyclopedia of World Biography//. Detroit: Gale, 1998. //Gale Biography In Context//. Web. 16 Feb. 2012. "Billy Graham." //Religious Leaders of America//. Gale, 1999. //Gale Biography In Context//. Web. 16 Feb. 2012.
 * awarded the Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion in 1982
 * preached to more people than any other Christian in history; few places not preached
 * shows no signs of slowing down in his seventh decade
 * more than 2.5 million say they have found Jesus Christ in their lives because of Graham's message
 * credited with bringing the 'born-again' religious movement into American mainstream
 * regularly voted one of the "Ten Most Admired Men in the World" and has been the advisor to presidents and government leaders although he has never run for political office
 * from age 16, dedicated his life to spreading the Word of the Bible
 * launched his worldwide ministry with his first overseas tour in 1954 to Great Britain
 * jam-packed churches and meeting with government and religious leaders wherever he travels.
 * maintained an untouchable integrity
 * He has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a non-fatal nervous system disorder. He plans to build a conference center near his Montreat, North Carolina, homestead, which would serve as a retreat and training center for religious evangelists.(even past 70, not slowing down)
 * When Billy Graham was awarded the Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion in 1982, the London-based organization claimed that Graham had preached to more people than any other Christian in history.
 * Graham remarked to Christianity Today: "It seems to me that the whole world, regardless of culture and religious tradition, is searching for something spiritual."
 * "And then the greatest peace, the greatest assurance came over me," he told Maynard Good Stoddard of the Saturday Evening Post. "My mind was completely made up. I have never known a moment's doubt since then. This decision [to continue preaching] gave a power and authority to my preaching that has never left me. The gospel in my hands became a hammer and a flame."
 * William Franklin Graham, Jr.; born November 7, 1918, in Charlotte, NC; son of William Franklin (a farmer) and Morrow (Coffey) Graham; married Ruth McCue Bell, August 13, 1943; children: Virginia Leftwich, Anne Morrow, Ruth Bell, William Franklin, and Nelson Edman. Education: Florida Bible Institute (now Trinity College), Tampa, THb, 1940; Wheaton College (IL), A.B., 1943. Addresses: Home---Montreat, NC
 * For five decades Americans have named him to the Gallup Poll's lists of the "Ten Most Admired Men in the World."
 * Considered one of the most successful evangelists in the history of Christianity, he is admired even by many who do not share his religious beliefs.
 * During his years at the Florida Bible Institute, young Graham preached in small churches, in mission services, and on street corners.
 * met privately with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and invited King to be a platform guest.
 * been presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, and a star on Hollywood Boulevard.
 * "Although I had been converted, I did not have much of a concept of my life coming under some kind of divine plan…. I had no inkling of what my life work would be."~ Billy Graham
 * Like the Vatican, Graham had a pavilion at the New York World's Fair (1964-1965).
 * One of his important activities was working with the World Congress on Evangelism, which met in Berlin in 1966. The congress, reminiscent of the great evangelistic conferences of the turn of the century, brought together representatives from around the world and reinvigorated the actions and growth of conservative Protestantism.
 * Evangelist Billy Graham, 91, was cited by 21 percent of Protestant pastors as among the most influential figures in their lives in a survey taken of 1,000 pastors in November by LifeWay Research. Graham was named three times more often than the runner-up in the telephone survey, author-pastor-radio personality Charles Swindoll. Charles Stanley of Atlanta, Rick Warren of Lake Forest, California, and John MacArthur of Sun Valley, California, also registered high on the list.
 * Graham has received numerous awards from various institutions and organizations, including honorary doctorates from Baylor University, the Citadel, and William Jewell College. He received the Barnard Baruch Award in 1955; Humane Order of African Redemption, 1960; gold award of the George Washington Carver Memorial Institute, 1963; Horatio Alger Award, 1965; Franciscans International Award, 1972; Man of the South Award, 1974; Liberty Bell Award, 1975; Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, 1982; and the William Booth Award of the Salvation Army, 1989.
 * Graham is the most respectable symbol of American evangelicalism.
 * Ruth and Billy have three daughters, two sons, 19 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
 * leading spokesman for Fundamentalism when he initiated a series of tours of the United States and Europe that led to large-scale evangelism.
 * It was changed into a commitment to an evangelical career by a religious conversion experience when he was 16. Graham was ordained a Southern Baptist minister in 1939
 * traveling "tent evangelist," the calling which in a few years brought him to national prominence.
 * Graham launched his worldwide ministry with his first overseas tour in 1954 to Great Britain. Crowds of more than two million people attended his rallies. He even met with Queen Elizabeth II. At a 16-week rally in New York City three years later, more than two million packed Madison Square Gardens to hear the young preacher. Graham has preached the Gospel to more people in live audiences than anyone else in history totaling more than 210 million people in more than 185 countries and territories.
 * Graham's message has remained the same and is based on traditional Biblical study. It is simply this: "Choose Christ as I did. Mankind is sinful, but through Christ those sins are forgiven and people can live in peace." In other words, this is a message of love and hope.
 * Although basically a fundamentalist in his theology, individualistic in his religious and ethical approach, and traditional in his appeal, he always sought and obtained a broad base of ecumenical support for his evangelistic campaigns. Graham brought evangelism to a new level of sophistication in organization, techniques, support, and prestige.
 * alive, but has health problems including Parkinson's Disease
 * born into a strict Presbyterian family in North Carolina. Converted under the preaching of evangelist Mordecai Ham in 1934
 * The scheduled two weeks of revival services became two months, and he had numerous calls for further engagements
 * **Born:** November 07, 1918 in North Carolina, Charlotte, United States
 * **Nationality:** American
 * **Occupation:** Evangelist
 * Religion: Baptist.

Miller, Lisa. "The fight over Billy Graham's legacy." //Newsweek// 30 May 2011: 38. //Gale Biography In Context//. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. "Billy Graham." //Contemporary Heroes and Heroines//. Vol. 1. Gale, 1990. //Gale Biography In Context//. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.
 * "The president said afterward that he was deeply moved by Graham's personal warmth and the grace he extended," a White House staffer says. Franklin is less effusive: "The president prayed a nice, sweet prayer, and Daddy prayed for the president."
 * made such an impact as to have a library named after him... Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, N.C.
 * He most recently expressed support for the quixotic presidential candidacy of Donald Trump, telling Christiane Amanpour, "The more you listen to him, the more you say to yourself, you know, maybe the guy is right."
 * In 1963 Texas Governor John Connally spoke of Graham: "Billy Graham is more than a preacher, more than an evangelist, more than a Christian leader. In a greater sense he has become our conscience."