Billy Graham Biography

Religious figure. Born William Franklin Graham Jr. on November 7, 1918 in Charlotte, North Carolina, to parents William and Morrow Graham. Billy Graham was the first of four children raised on the family's dairy farm in Charlotte, North Carolina. In hindsight there was little indication that Graham would one day preach the Christian gospel to as many as 215 million people in live audiences over 185 countries. Graham has been credited with preaching to more individuals than anyone else in history, not counting the additional millions he has addressed through radio, television, and the written word.

While Graham's parents were strict Calvinists, it would be an unfamiliar traveling evangelist who would set Graham on a profound spiritual path. At the age of 16, Graham attended a series of revival meetings run by evangelist Mordecai Ham. Despite the fact that Graham was a well-behaved adolescent, Ham's sermons on sin spoke to young Graham. After high school Graham moved to Tennessee to enroll in the conservative Christian school, Bob Jones College. However, he felt disconnected from the school's rigid doctrine and soon transferred to the Florida Bible Institute. While in Florida, Graham joined a Southern Baptist Convention church, where he was ordained in 1939.

After graduating from the Florida Bible Institute with a bachelor's in theology, Graham moved to Illinois and enrolled at Wheaton College for further spiritual training. Here he would meet his future wife, Ruth McCue Bell. Ruth was the daughter of a missionary, and lived with her family in China until she turned 17. After graduating with a bachelor's in anthropology, Graham and Bell were married on August 13, 1943. They would eventually raise five children together.

Graham briefly pastored the First Baptist Church in Western Springs, Illinois, before leaving to join Youth for Christ, an evangelical missionary group which spoke to returning servicemen and young people about God. In 1947 Billy Graham became president of Northwestern Schools, a group of Christian schools in Minnesota. In 1948 he resigned from Youth for Christ and focused on Northwestern Schools until 1952, when he resigned to concentrate on preaching.

It did not take long for people to identify with Billy Graham's charismatic and heartfelt gospel sermons. In 1949, a group called "Christ for Greater Los Angeles" invited Graham to preach at their L.A. revival. When radio personality Stuart Hamblen had Graham on his radio show, word of the revival spread. The publicity filled Graham's tents and extended the revival for an additional five weeks. At the urging of newspaper magnate William Hurst, papers around the nation covered Graham's revival meetings closely.

As a consequence, Graham became a Christian superstar. Sociologically it is believed that Graham's success was directly related to the cultural climate of post-WWII America. Graham spoke out against the evils of Communism—one of the biggest fears threatening the American consciousness. In a 1954 interview Graham stated, "Either communism must die, or Christianity must die, because it is actually a battle between Christ and anti-Christ." With the advent of nuclear weapons and the demonstrated fragility of life, people turned to spirituality for comfort, and Graham illuminated their path.