Born November 7, 1918, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Oldest of 2 sisters, 2 brothers. Father: dairy farmer. Parents both lived into his adulthood. Raised Presbyterian. Schooled through college. Childhood distinctions: gregarious, energetic. 1934 answered altar call from revivalist Mordecai Ham. 1937 began Florida Bible Institute. 1938 committed to Christ on Florida golf course. 1939 ordained Baptist minister. 1940 began Wheaton College. 1943 graduated Wheaton, married Ruth Bell (with whom he had three daughters, two sons), began pastoring Hinsdale, Illinois. 1944 began 'Songs in the Night' radio program, preached at Youth for Christ rallies of Torrey Johnson. 1946 in England with Youth for Christ. 1948 formed his 'team' (Grady Wilson, Cliff Barrows and Bev Shea), brainstormed Crusade principals in 'Modesto Manifesto'. 1949 national figure during Los Angeles rally. 1950 launched 'Hour of Decision' radio program, bungled meeting with President Truman, incorporated Billy Graham Evangelical Association. 1951 began World Wide Pictures film studio. 1953 with Eisenhower began friendships with American presidents. 1953 Peace with God (first of his many books). 1954 triumphant England Crusade. 1956 launched Christianity Today magazine. 1957 notable New York Crusade. 1977 crusaded behind Iron Curtain (Hungary). 1982 preached in Russia. 1984 full-fledged Russian crusade. 1990 began vast satellite network Mission World to reach 100 million. 1995 Global Mission reached one billion!

          Go to anecdotes on Billy Graham's...                               
                                                                Humanity
                                                                Wart (or flaw)
                                                                Failure
                                                                Defining Moment

         Go to this page to learn five values that made him a hero of history.

         Go to this page to find links to other websites about this hero.

         Go to this page to give your opinion of this hero.

BY BILLY GRAHAM (many revised periodically and occasionally re-titled)
America's Hour of Decision. Van Kampen Press, 1951.
Angels: God's Secret Agents.  Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1975.                    HC      PB
Answers to Life's Problems (original title: My Answer). Garden City, NY:                                      PB
     Doubleday & Company, 1960.
Approaching Hoofbeats: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Waco:                              HC      PB
     Word, Inc., 1983.
A Biblical Standard for Evangelists.  Minneapolis: World Wide Publications, 1984.                  PB
Billy Graham Talks to Teenagers.  Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing, 1958.                  PB
Calling Youth to Christ.  Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing, 1947.
The Challenge: Sermons from Madison Square Garden.  Garden City, NY:                                    PB
     Doubleday & Company, 1969.
Facing Death and the Life After.  Waco: Word Books, 1987.                                                                  PB
Freedom from the Seven Deadly Sins. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1955.
The Holy Spirit: Activating God's Power in Your Life.  Waco: Word Books, 1978.            HC      PB
Hope for the Troubled Heart. Dallas: Word, Inc., 1991.                                                                          PB
How to Be Born Again.  Waco: Word Books, 1977.                                                                                    PB
Just As I Am. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1997.                                                                        HC      PB
The Jesus Generation.  Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing, 1971.
Peace with God.  Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1953.                                            HC      PB
The Secret of Happiness.  Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1955.                                      HC
Storm Warning. Dallas: Word Publishing, 1992.                                                                            HC      PB
Till Armageddon: A Perspective on Suffering. Waco: Word Books, 1981.                                        PB
Unto the Hills. Waco: Word Books, 1986.                                                                                                    HC
World Aflame. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1965.                                                            PB

ABOUT BILLY GRAHAM (and his friends and/or his ministry)
Adler, Bill, ed., The Wit and Wisdom of Billy Graham. New York: Random
     House, 1967.
Bishop, Mary, Billy Graham: The Man and The Ministry. New York: Grosset &                          PB
     Dunlap, 1978.
Brown, Joan Winmill, editor, Day-by-Day with Billy Graham: A Devotional Book.                  PB
     Minneapolis: World Wide Publications, 1976.
Cornwell, Patricia Daniels, A Time For Remembering: The Ruth Bell Graham Story.                PB
     San Francisco: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1983. 
Deckard, Bill (with Billy Graham), Breakfast with Billy Graham: 120 Daily Readings.                PB
     Ann Arbor, MI: Vine Books, 1996.
Eisenhower, Julie Nixon, Special People. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1977.                          PB
Flint, Cort R. and others, editors, The Quotable Billy Graham. Anderson, NC:                            HC
     Droke House Publishers, 1966.
Frost, David (with Billy Graham), Billy Graham: Personal Thoughts of a Public                        PB
     Man. Colorado Springs: Chariot Victor, 1997.
Graham, Franklin, Rebel With a Cause. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1995.                            PB
Graham, Morrow Coffey, They Call Me Mother Graham. Old Tappan, N.J.: Fleming                  PB
     Revell, 1977.
Graham, Ruth, It's My Turn. Old Tappan, N.J.: Fleming Revell, 1982.                                              PB
Lockard, W. David, The Unheard Billy Graham. Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1971. 
Lowe, Janet C. (with Billy Graham), Billy Graham Speaks: Wisdom from the World's             HC
     Greatest Preacher. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1999.
Martin, William, A Prophet With Honor: The Billy Graham Story. New York:                              PB
     William Morrow and Company, 1991.
Pollock, John, Billy Graham: The Authorized Biography. New York: McGraw-Hill                    PB
     Book Company, 1966. 
Pollock, John, Billy Graham: Evangelist to the World. San Francisco: Harper &                        PB
     Row, 1979. 
Pollock, John, To All The Nations: The Billy Graham Story. San Francisco: Harper &              PB
     Row, 1985. 
Streiker, Lowell D. and Strober, Gerald S., Religion and the New Majority: Billy                       PB
     Graham, Middle America, and the Politics of the 70s. New York: Association
     Press, 1972. 
Strober, Gerald S., Graham: A Day In Billy's Life. Garden City, New York:                                    PB
     Doubleday & Company, 1976.
Ward, Charles G., editor, The Billy Graham Christian Worker's Handbook.                                PB
     Minneapolis: World Wide Publications, 1984.
Wellman, Sam, Billy Graham. Uhrichville, Ohio: Barbour Publishing , 1997.                    HC      PB
Wilson, Grady, Count It All Joy. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1984.                                                  HC
Wirt, Sherwood Eliot, Billy: A Peronal Look at the World's Best-Loved Evangelist.                    HC
     Wheaton, Ill.:Crossway, 1997.