Reverent Billy

...In his long ministry, Graham was no stranger to controversy: He was slow to publicly oppose segregation and refused, early in his career, to preach to Jews...

...During the Cold War he was the fi rst evangelist to preach to large audiences throughout Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union, and held revivals in North and South Korea, China, and Africa...

...he was a stalwart supporter of Ronald Reagan’s Cold War strategy...

...Nearing 90, Graham no longer leads crusades or is active in his ministry...

...In Florida he cofounded Youth for Christ, with evangelist Charles Templeton, and by 1949 had risen to national prominence after leading a series of crusades in Los Angeles...

...At the age of 16 he made a “personal commitment to follow Christ” after attending revival meetings in Charlotte led by Mordecai Ham...

...He later majored in anthropology and entered the seminary at Illinois’s Wheaton College...

...Graham’s role as pastor to presidents came at a price, however, damaging his credibility as a faithful minister devoted to the Gospel...

...Loredana Vuoto is a writer in Washington...

...As Aikman shows, Billy Graham had a unique gift for captivating millions of Americans—as well as befriending presidents...

...Aikman outlines Graham’s transformation from North Carolina farm boy to high-profi le evangelist...

...His closeness to Richard Nixon backfi red on him during Watergate, and his reputation was tarnished when declassifi ed tapes, released in 2002, revealed Graham humoring Nixon on the subject of Jewish infl uence in the media...

...He has often been criticized for watering down the Christian faith...

...George Bush the elder once called Graham “America’s pastor,” and in the course of fi ve decades, Graham became spiritual counselor to successive presidents, offering advice on key policy issues as well...

...he encouraged Dwight Eisenhower to send in federal troops to Little Rock...

...On homosexuality, Graham chose to remain evasive whenever asked about it, claiming that “God loves all people...

...He urged Harry Truman to fi ght communism in Korea...

...In 1991, when asked in a television interview to explain the Christian position on abortion, Graham replied that he was “not prepared to say what it is...

...He has passed the torch to his son Franklin, who is president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and his international relief organization, Samaritan’s Purse...

...In 1939 Graham began his career as a Southern Baptist minister...

...Some believe this springs from what Aikman calls a “strong desire throughout his life to be liked...

...He was not a perfect human being—“I am a sinner like everyone else”—but as Aikman concludes, Christ’s true followers are known by their fruits, and Billy Graham bore a great deal...

...In his time, Graham preached to more people around the world than anyone else, and his simple message of repentance had an “electric” effect: More than three million people who attended his crusades are said to have become Christians, and it is estimated that Graham reached a total of more than two billion people with his television and radio appearances...

...But as Aikman makes clear, Billy Graham changed the face of evangelical Christianity, and brought the Gospel message to tens of millions of people worldwide, including many who had historically been denied a Christian ministry...

...During the Vietnam war he developed a close friendship with Lyndon Johnson that lasted until LBJ’s death...

...But for Billy Graham, using religion to shape domestic and international affairs has been his forte, and in Billy Graham: His Life and Infl uence, David Aikman sheds much new light on Graham, the man, and his impact on America...

...Graham’s frequent pastoral visits with the Bush family are said to have played a pivotal role in bringing George Bush the younger to his faith...