Evangelist Billy Graham dead at 99

Evangelist preacher Billy Graham, widely celebrated as "American's Pastor" for spreading the gospel to millions, died in his North Carolina home Wednesday morning. He was 99.

Born in 1918 in Charlotte, N.C., William Franklin (Billy) Graham Jr. grew up on a dairy farm the oldest of four siblings. He was inspired to commit his life to sharing the gospel at the tender age of 16, after attending a series of revival meetings run by outspoken Evangelist Mordecai Ham.

Ordained as a Baptist minister, the famed preacher amassed a colossal following in spreading the message of Christianity. He first took to radio to preach the gospel in the 1940s and followed up with on-going television appearances. He connected with additional disciples through the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association — a media and film conglomerate.

Despite having little formal theological training, he reached more than 200 million through the association and his pioneering use of television and radio.

Graham's message, popular for being well thought out and straight forward, did not center on hot-button topics, like gay marriage or abortion. He once told reporters he did not identify with "the so-called religious right." 

He'd cultivated a personal library of more the 13,000 books, which included works on Judaism, Hinduism and African religion.

Evangelist Billy Graham, 92, is interviewed at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association headquarters in Charlotte, N.C. (NELL REDMOND/AP)

The acclaimed preacher, widely admired by the public, also caught the eye of national figures at the time. Graham enjoyed a lasting friendship with Martin Luther King Jr., who he bailed out of a Birmingham jail amid the Civil Rights protests in 1963.

He also prayed with many Presidents and was especially close with Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon.

Graham threw his weight behind Nixon during his presidential campaigns and became a frequent visitor at the White House in the years that followed. When Watergate broke, Nixon reportedly told his aides to keep Graham away from him so the pastor wouldn't be "tarred" by their close friendship.

But Graham wasn't able to escape the scandal unscathed — anti-Semitic remarks he'd made to Nixon in 1972 were revealed nearly 30 years later when the tapes the former President had secretly recorded in his home became declassified.

The right-leaning preacher was also embraced by President Obama in 2010, though by then, Graham — who also spoke fondly of President Trump and Sarah Palin  — had been battling many health issues.

Graham is shown speaking at Madison Square Garden, New York City May 15, 1957 as he opens his crusade for “A Spiritual Revolution in the City.”(ANONYMOUS/AP)

"The GREAT Billy Graham is dead," Trump tweeted Wednesday. "There was nobody like him! He will be missed by Christians and all religions. A very special man."

Graham had long been suffering from cancer, pneumonia and other health problems when he died, spokesman Mark DeMoss said.

By the time he delivered his final sermon in 2005 at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens at the age of 86, he required a walker to reach the pulpit. An estimated 60,000 people gathered to hear his final sermon called, "The Cross Billy — Graham's message to America." 

He started off with a prayer for the New York Yankees and the New York Mets ahead of the weekend's Subway Series.

"That Yanks are not doing too well, and they and the Mets both need your prayers," he said. "I always pray for New York because I love this city."

Graham walks through snow as he leaves the Presbyterian Cathedral in Glasgow, March 20, 1955, after preaching at a dedication service on the eve of his crusade in Scotland. (RJP/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Before he mostly withdrew from the public eye, Graham dazzled scores of people with his booming baritone voice and easy charisma.

"His lapel microphone, which gives added volume to his deep cavernous voice, allows him to pace the platform as he talks, rising to his toes to drive home a point, clenching his fists, stabbing his finger in the sky," Time magazine wrote of Graham in 1949.

The same year, he famously led a series of revivals in circus tents set up in a Los Angeles parking lot. His sermon lasted eight weeks.

Graham is survived by three daughters, two sons, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

- ny news