Billy Graham*

Born in 1918 and reared on a dairy farm in Charlotte, North Carolina, William "Billy" Graham Jr. grew up during the Great Depression and learned the value of hard work, but he also spent many hours in the hayloft reading books on a variety of subjects. When he was 16, he made a personal commitment to Christ through the ministry of a traveling evangelist who was visiting Charlotte for a series of revival meetings.

Graham was ordained in 1939 by a church in the Southern Baptist Convention and received his divinity degree from the Florida Bible Institute (later Trinity College). He cut lawns, trimmed hedges, and washed dishes to help pay his bills. In 1943, he graduated from Wheaton College in Illinois and married fellow student Ruth McCue Bell, the daughter of a missionary surgeon.

Graham became the minister of First Baptist Church in Western Springs, Illinois, and then joined Youth for Christ, an organization founded during World War II. Following the war, he preached throughout the United States and in Europe in the immediate post-war era, emerging as a rising young evangelist. The 1949 Los Angeles crusade gave Graham international prominence. Scheduled for three weeks, the meetings were extended to more than eight weeks, with overflow crowds filling a tent erected downtown each night. A year later, Graham took his message to millions through his Sunday radio show, Hour of Decision. By the mid-1950s, his syndicated newspaper column, "My Answer," was one of the most popular in the nation.

Billy Graham and his ministry are known around the globe. He has preached in remote African villages, throughout Eastern Europe as well as the former Soviet Union, and in the heart of New York City. Graham has written 27 books, many of which have become best sellers. His 1997 autobiography Just As I Am topped three best-seller lists in one week.

In 1996, Graham received the Congressional Gold Medal, and in 2000, he received the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Freedom Award for contributions to the cause of freedom. In 2001, he was knighted by the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II for his international contributions to civic and religious life.

Regularly listed by Gallup as one of the world's 10 most admired men, Graham has appeared on the covers of Time, Newsweek, Life, U.S. News & World Report, Parade, and many other magazines. Graham once said, "My one purpose in life is to help people find a personal relationship with God, which, I believe, comes through knowing Christ."