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01
He delivered a prayer at the inauguration of every U.S. president from Harry S. Truman onward, but missed George W. Bush’s first inauguration in 2001 due to illness.
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02
Graham and Johnny Cash were close friends.
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03
As a boy, his father made him drink an entire bottle of beer to cure his curiosity, and then told him to say he had tried it and didn’t like it if anyone offered.
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04
He was awarded an honorary knighthood by the British government in the New Years Honours List of 2002.
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05
Among his friends were 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.
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06
He never allowed himself to be seen in public with any woman other than his wife Ruth, including his daughters, without her present.
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07
He developed a close friendship with Martin Luther King and was one of the few people who called King by his nickname Mike.
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08
Harry S. Truman called him a counterfeit and publicity seeker, while Pat Boone called him the greatest man since Jesus.
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09
He met his wife Ruth Graham during seminary training at Wheaton College.
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10
He suffered from Parkinson’s disease, prostate cancer, fluid on the brain, and used a walker after a pelvic fracture in 2004, and also had pneumonia that damaged his lungs.
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11
He and his wife were jointly awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Bill Clinton in 1996.
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12
When he was briefly hospitalized in late 1976, President Gerald Ford, former President Richard Nixon, and President-elect Jimmy Carter all visited him.
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13
He was offered a five-year, $1 million contract from NBC to appear on television opposite Arthur Godfrey but turned it down to continue his touring revivals due to prearranged commitments.
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14
His hobbies included golfing, fishing, praying, traveling, spending time with family, reading, origami, sewing, photography, philanthropy, magic tricks, and playing games.
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15
He expressed a belief that William Friedkin’s film The Exorcist was infused with evil.
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16
He was the father of Franklin, Ned, Bunny, Gigi, and Anne Graham Lotz.
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17
He served as president of Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota, from 1946 to 1949, making him the youngest person in U.S. history to serve as a sitting president of any college or university.
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18
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Radio at 6901 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
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19
He lived in Montreat, North Carolina, in the same house for over 50 years, and was turning over his ministry to his son Franklin Graham.
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20
He was of Scottish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, and English descent.
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21
His wife Ruth Bell Graham died on June 14, 2007, just four days after her 87th birthday.
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22
He became a minister at age 19.
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23
He preached to over 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories.
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24
During apartheid, he refused to visit South Africa until integrated seating was allowed, and during his first crusade there in 1973 he openly denounced apartheid; he also corresponded with imprisoned Nelson Mandela.
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25
He was the first non-musician and the oldest televangelist ever inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
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26
He apologized for his statements about Jews and the news media recorded during conversations with President Richard Nixon at the White House circa 1972, reported on March 3, 2002.
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27
According to the biography The Presidents and the Preacher, Cecil B. DeMille offered him the role of Samson in Samson and Delilah, but Graham turned it down, saying he had no ambitions beyond preaching the Gospel.
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28
He was a registered Democrat, though considered politically conservative and a close friend of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
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29
He was idolized by many including Joni Lamb, Gladys Knight, Naomi Judd, T.D. Jakes, Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, Phil McGraw, Laura Schlessinger, and others.
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30
At his 65th birthday on November 7, 1983, his best friend Robert H. Schuller sat in the front row.
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31
He was one of the most well-known Christian evangelists of the 20th century.
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32
He attended Bob Jones University for one year, then transferred to Florida Bible Institute.
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33
He worked as a Fuller Brush salesman to pay his way through college.
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34
He recounted conversations with Mickey Cohen from the 1949 Los Angeles crusade in his autobiography.
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35
His autobiography Just As I Am was released.
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36
He was a lifelong friend of Robert H. Schuller for 69 years, from 1946 until Schuller’s death in 2015.
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37
He was born and raised on a dairy farm in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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38
Longevity runs in his family.
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39
He graduated from Sharon High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1936.
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40
He was born four days before the armistice of World War I and one year to the day after the Bolshevik Revolution.
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41
His grandmother Lucinda Coffey and her sister died when he was in elementary school.
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42
His first evangelistic crusade took place in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
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43
Between 1948 and 1987, he was the speaker at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s Urbana Student Missions Conference in St. Louis, Missouri.
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44
He retired as presenter of The Billy Graham Crusades in 2005 at age 86.
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45
He worked for Mr. Corwin as a preacher and speaker in Tampa, Florida, before becoming successful.
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46
During the Cold War, he became the first evangelist to speak behind the Iron Curtain, addressing crowds in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union calling for peace.
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47
He was uncle to John and Cathie.
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48
After falling ill with mumps, he recuperated in Florida, where friend Torrey Johnson asked him to take a leading role in Youth for Christ International.
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49
He briefly worked as pastor of First Baptist Church in Western Springs, Illinois.
