Billy Graham, Part Two

Although not much of a television watcher, my great-grandmother watched The Billy Graham Crusades religiously, usually on a Saturday night. Even though she did not come from a conservative Christian background (first Reformed, then Lutheran and finally Roman Catholic), Graham’s charisma, his preaching and the music pleased her, so she watched.

Graham’s story is also intriguing, particularly his combination of fundamentalism and compassion. This drew audiences all around the world. Over a period of 50-plus years beginning in 1957 and via the growing medium of television, he drew millions of viewers and followers.

Rev. Billy Graham not only beamed into people’s homes, but would also broadcast his show live to packed auditoriums and stadiums, where audiences would behave as if he was right there in the room with them. Once satellite transmission became possible, he went international: 1) in 1989, he preached from London to more than 800,000 people gathered at 247 "live-link" centers throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, as well as 16,000 sites in 13 nations of Africa; 2) in 1990, from Hong Kong he preached to an estimated 100 million people at 70,000 locations in 26 Asian countries; and 3) in 1991, a Buenos Aires satellite mission reached 5 million people at 850 locations in 20 countries.

By the 1960s, Graham was a world-famous celebrity. He created his own pavilion for the 1964 World’s Fair in New York and appeared as a guest on a 1969 Woody Allen television special. During the Cold War, he was the first evangelist of note to speak behind the Iron Curtain by addressing large crowds in countries throughout Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union. An opponent of Apartheid, Graham refused to visit South Africa until its government allowed attending audiences to sit desegregated. Then when it agreed in 1973, he openly denounced the segregated political system.

A true evangelical, Graham was interested in fostering Christianity around the world. In 1983, 1986 and 2000 he sponsored, organized and paid for massive training conferences for Christian evangelists from everywhere, the largest representations of nations ever held until that time. In 2000, over 157 nations gathered in Amsterdam. At a revival in Seoul, South Korea, he preached to more than one million people at a single service. He appeared in China in 1988.

Still, Graham remained devoted to his followers and would-be followers in the United States. On September 22, 1991 Graham held the largest event he ever led in North America on the Great Lawn of New York’s Central Park. City officials estimated over 250,000 in attendance. In 1998, Graham connected with scientists and philosophers when he spoke at a TED conference.

He was a featured speaker at memorials and services after American catastrophes, such as the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995, the September 14, 2011 prayer and remembrance service at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, and a special "Festival of Hope" in New Orleans with his son and successor Franklin, which was held on the weekend of March 11–12, 2006, after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

On June 24–26, 2005, Billy Graham began what he has said would be his last North American crusade, three days at Flushing Meadows in Queens, New York.

However, like a true celebrity, Graham has never really retired, merely cut back to making specific personal appearances, including meeting with President Obama in 2010.  President Obama was the tenth U.S. president to have conversed with Rev. Graham, dating back to Harry Truman.

One final note: As a guard against even the appearance of wrongdoing, Graham had a policy that he would never be alone with a woman other than his wife Ruth. This has come to be known as the Billy Graham Rule. “There’s a man dedicated to his wife,” Grandma Eckman used to say with a tinge of scorn in her voice.