William Franklin (Billy) Graham Jr. (7 November 1918 - 21 February 2018), was an American Southern Baptist minister, spiritual advisor to countless people including many American presidents, all the way back to Harry Truman. His lifetime audience was in the billions, in person, on the radio, and on television.

Graham was born in a farmhouse near Charlotte, North Carolina, and was raised on the family dairy farm. With the help and council of evangelist Mordecai Ham, he was converted to Christ at the age of 16, during a series of revival meetings.

From the beginning of his ministry in 1947, he conducted over 400 spiritual "crusades" in 185 countries and territories on 6 continents. One such, in London, lasted for 12 weeks, and another, in New York, for 16 weeks. The New York crusade featured Martin Luther King Jr., whom Graham had first met at the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955.

It was during a 1953 revival in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that his maturing racial views became public, as he tore down the ropes that the organizers had erected to segregate the audience, and announced that either the barriers went or he would leave. Later he would tell a white audience that "we were going to stumble into hell because of our (racial) pride".

Graham appeared on the Gallup Poll's list of most admired men and women 60 times, more than anyone else in the world.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org