Trivia

Has given prayer at inauguration of every U. S. President since Harry S. Truman. However, due to ill health he was unable to attend George W. Bush's first inauguration in 2001.

He was a close friend of Johnny Cash.

Awarded an honorary knighthood by the British government in the New Years Honours List of 2002.

Friends with: Robert H. Schuller, George Beverly Shea, Oral Roberts, Jim Bakker, Tammy Faye Bakker, Rex Humbard, Jimmy Swaggart, Kenneth Copeland, Pat Robertson, Charles Stanley, Charles Swindoll, James Dobson, James Robison, Jack Van Impe, Joyce Meyer, Marilyn Hickey, Morris Cerullo, John Osteen, Roger Williams, Frank Sinatra, Amy Grant, Sandi Patty, Donald Trump, Ronald Reagan, Gene Autry, Evel Knievel, Phil McGraw, Mickey Rooney, Ruta Lee, Andy Williams, Chuck Norris and Della Reese.

When he was a young boy, his father cured him of drinking alcohol by bringing home a bottle of beer and making him drink every drop. His father then told him, "If anyone ever tries to make you drink, tell them you've already tried it and you didn't like it!"

Has never allowed himself to be seen in public with any other woman, including his daughters, without wife Ruth Graham present.

Had developed a close friendship with Martin Luther King, and that he was eventually one of the few people who referred to King as "Mike," a nickname which King asked only his closest friends to call him.

Harry S. Truman called him a "counterfeit" and publicity seeker. Singer Pat Boone considers him "the greatest man since Jesus".

Met his wife, Ruth Graham, during seminary training at Wheaton College.

Has Parkinson's disease, prostate cancer, fluid on the brain and uses a walker due to a pelvic fracture in 2004. He has also been hospitalized with pneumonia, which has damaged his lungs.

He and his wife were jointly awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Bill Clinton in 1996.

When briefly hospitalized late in 1976, President Gerald Ford, former President Richard Nixon and President-elect Jimmy Carter all visited him.

Was offered a five-year, $1 million contract from NBC to appear on television opposite Arthur Godfrey, but he turned it down in favor of continuing his touring revivals because of his prearranged commitments.

His hobbies are: golfing, fishing, praying, traveling, spending time with his family, reading, origami, sewing, photography, philanthropy, magic tricks and playing games.

Expressed a belief that William Friedkin's film "The Exorcist" was infused with evil.

Father of: Franklin Graham, Ned, Bunny, Gigi and Anne Graham Lotz.

Served as president of Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota, from 1946 to 1949. To this day, he is the youngest person in U.S. history to serve as a sitting president of any U.S. college or university.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Radio at 6901 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

Lives in Montreat, North Carolina, in the same house he and his wife have lived in for over 50 years. Currently in the process of turning over his ministry to his son, Rev. Franklin Graham. (2006)

Of Scottish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, and English descent.

His wife, Ruth Bell Graham, died on June 14, 2007, just 4 days after her 87th Birthday.

Became a minister since he was 19.

Has preached to over 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories.

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. Graham also corresponded with imprisoned South African leader Nelson Mandela during the latter's 27-year sentence.

The first non-musician and the oldest televangelist ever to be inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

Apologized for his statements on Jews and the news media, recorded on tape during conversations with President Richard Nixon at the White House circa 1972. (3 March 2002).

According to the biography "The Presidents and the Preacher," legendary producer Cecil D. DeMille originally offered the role of Samson in the epic Biblical classic Samson and Delilah to a young Billy Graham, then experiencing his first national fame as an evangelist. Graham turned the offer down flat, telling DeMille that he had no ambitions beyond his calling to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The director told Graham that he'd been certain that the young evangelist would refuse the offer, but that in actually doing so Graham had restored DeMille's faith.

Is a registered Democrat, although he was considered politically conservative and was a close friend of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

Was idolized by: Joni Lamb, Gladys Knight, Naomi Judd, T.D. Jakes, Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, Phil McGraw, Laura Schlessinger, Lisa Bevere, Michele Pillar, Michael O'Brien, Amy Grant, Twila Paris, Jesse Duplantis, Gordon Robertson, Joyce Meyer, James Robison, Kimberly Jones-Pothier, his best friend's (Robert H. Schuller)'s son Robert A. Schuller, his 1st understudy and real-life son Franklin Graham and his 2nd understudy and real-life grandson Will Graham.

At his 65th birthday, one of his guests was his best friend, Robert H. Schuller, who after being invited, sat in the front row of distinguished guests. [7 November 1983].

One of the most well-known Christian evangelists of the 20th century.

Attended Bob Jones University in South Carolina for one year, then transferred to Florida Bible Institute.

Before he was a successful televangelist, he used to worked as a Fuller Brush salesman to pay his way through college.

Revealed in his autobiography the conversations he had with Mickey Cohen during the 1949 Graham crusade in Los Angeles. Cohen was a notorious Los Angeles-based racketeer who died of natural causes in 1976. At the time of the JFK assassination in 1963, Cohen was the boyfriend of a Texas-based stripper named Juanita Sahakian who knew Jack Ruby.

Release of his book, "Just As I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham". (1997)

Lifelong friend of Robert H. Schuller for 69 years, from 1946 until his comrade's death in 2015. Despite being eight years Graham's junior, Schuller met him, when Graham came as a preacher from Minnesota, to deliver an evangelistic message at the Hope College Chapel in Holland, Michigan.

Born on and raised on a dairy farm in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Long lives run in his family.

Graduated from Sharon High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1936.

Was born only 4 days before the armistice of World War I, and one year to the day after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.

Had lost his grandmother, Lucinda Coffey, when Graham was in elementary school, along with her sister. At that time, they were both called out of school.

His very first evangelistic crusade took place in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Between 1948 and 1987, Graham was the speaker at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's Urbana Student Missions Conference in St. Louis, Missouri.

Retired as the presenter of The Billy Graham Crusades, in 2005, at age 86.

Before he was a successful televangelist, he used to work for Mr. Corwin, as a preacher and a speaker in Tampa, Florida.

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.

Uncle of John and Cathie.

He came down very sick with mumps and went to Florida to recuperate. While there, his friend Torrey Johnson told him that he wanted to create Youth for Christ International, and wanted Graham to take a leading role. The Village Church accepted his resignation. He began preaching extensively, apparently mostly in the eastern half of the United States.

His lifelong best friend's, Robert H. Schuller's son, Robert A. Schuller, attended Billy's 95th Birthday, at Graham's Evangelist Association, in Charlotte, North Carolina. [7 November 2013].

Before he was a successful televangelist, he worked briefly as a pastor of First Baptist Church in Western Springs, Illinois.