full name William Franklin Graham (1918–    ), American evangelist, who has been the leading figure in U.S. evangelicalism since World War II. Graham was born in Charlotte, N.C., and educated at Bob Jones University, the Florida Bible Institute, and Wheaton College. He was ordained in the Southern Baptist Convention in 1939, became pastor of the First Baptist Church of Western Springs, Ill., in 1943, and took a leading part in the American “Youth for Christ” movement. Graham turned to large-scale evangelism in 1949, and embarked on a series of “crusades,” or preaching tours, in most U.S. cities and in Europe; in the 1980s he was allowed to preach in China and in Eastern European Communist countries, including the Soviet Union. He is a forceful, eloquent, and charismatic preacher who has attracted audiences that total in the millions to his meetings. The Minneapolis-based Billy Graham Evangelical Association, founded in the early 1950s, publishes the magazine Decision, and produces programs for radio (The Hour of Decision), television, and the movie screen. The organization also coordinates world charity programs. A syndicated columnist and a cofounder of the magazine Christianity Today, Graham's numerous writings include Peace with God (1953), Secret of Happiness (1955), World Aflame (1965), How to Be Born Again (1977), A Biblical Standard for Evangelists (1984), and Hope for the Troubled Heart (1991). His autobiography, Just as I Am, was published in 1997. Since 1949, he has been a friend and confidante of several U.S. presidents.

In 2001 Graham received an honorary knighthood from the United Kingdom in recognition of “his huge and truly international contribution to civic and religious life over 60 years.”