Billy Graham, America's most famous Christian preacher, has died. Billy Graham, the most famous Christian preacher, died in the United States

The very first photo of baby Billy with his mother.

He became world famous after a series of sermons in Los Angeles in 1949. Since then, he has preached to 215 million people in 185 countries.

Billy Graham's performances drew stadiums of people all over the world.

In the photo: a record meeting at the stadium in South Korea in June 1973, when 1.1 million people came to listen to Graham.

The Billy Graham Evangelical Organization produces a weekly radio program, print newspaper, TV show, and film production. To date, the total media audience of Billy Graham has exceeded two billion people.

From 1982 to 1992, Billy Graham repeatedly visited the USSR and Russia. In 1988, he came at the invitation of the Russian Orthodox Church to celebrate the millennium of the baptism of Russia.

In 1992, Billy Graham was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. In 2005, he officially retired for health reasons.

Pictured: Billy Graham and US President Donald Trump.

American preacher Billy Graham, one of the most influential religious figures of the past century, has died at the age of 99.

Graham himself called his sixty-year missionary activity, during which he preached to tens, if not hundreds of millions of people, his crusade.

Collected here are some of the important ideas he believed in and championed throughout his life.

Among the first civil rights activists

During the racial segregation in the United States in the 1950s, Graham refused to preach to segregated audiences and often spoke of the need to bring people of different colors together.

Once, while preaching in Tennessee in 1953, he himself removed the rope barrier that separated white parishioners from blacks.

"Christianity is not a religion for white people only, don't let anyone tell you 'this is for whites and this is for blacks!'" he said at a speech in South Africa in 1973. Christ belongs to all people.

Graham was a close friend of Martin Luther King Jr. and once posted bail for his release when King was arrested at a demonstration in 1960.

However, critics contend that Graham was not in favor of changing the law, but for change in society on a voluntary basis, and his support of representatives of the Southern Baptist Convention can be interpreted as an endorsement of segregation.

It is important to communicate with strangers

Graham (center) meets with Kim Il Sung in North Korea in 1992

In 1992, Graham became the first foreign religious leader to visit North Korea, where he met with then-leader Kim Il Sung. Two years later, Graham again visited the DPRK.

His family was closely connected with this country: the childhood of his late wife Ruth, whose parents were missionaries, was spent in Pyongyang in the 30s. She herself spoke of that time as one of the brightest periods of her life.

This visit, during which Graham spoke to a university audience, was approved by then US President George W. Bush.

"I want to become their friend, I want to find something good there and tell everyone about it, because today you hear so many negative things about North Korea," Graham said before the trip.

Thanks to this visit, the missionary acquired the unofficial status of the US representative in countries with which America had cool relations. In 1984, he undertook a 12-day trip to the Soviet Union and even met with Kremlin officials.

Billy Graham Rule

Or, as they call it now, the Mike Pence rule.

A guide to avoiding the slightest opportunity to be accused of inappropriate behavior towards women was developed by Graham and three of his associates in 1948 and was based on the letter to Timothy of the apostle Paul.

This principle was later adopted by US Vice President Mike Pence.

“We made a commitment to avoid any situation that could arouse the slightest suspicion, the slightest hint of obscenity. Since then, I have never traveled, met or dined alone with any woman except my wife,” Graham recalled.

You can find hope in the darkest of times

Speaking at the Washington National Cathedral three days after the 9/11 attacks, Graham said he was struggling to find answers to the nagging questions that the event had posed.

“I have been asked hundreds of times why the Lord allows tragedy and suffering. And I must admit that I don’t know the answer,” the preacher said then, adding that what happened is a reminder for all of us about how much we need each other.

"Now we are faced with a choice - to cease to exist as a single nation, to disunite or unite, to become stronger as a result of this suffering."

Anyone can be saved, even a hardened criminal

One of the most intriguing episodes in Graham's life is his friendship with the leader of the Los Angeles mafia, Mickey Cohen.

They were introduced by Jimmy Vause, a con man who converted to Christianity after attending Graham's sermon.

Cohen did not give in to Graham's entreaties to turn to God, but the missionary did not stop trying for many years and even, according to rumors, promised the gangster to make him an outstanding preacher if he agreed to choose this path.

Cohen disagreed.

"My job is to try to win everyone for God, especially those who have influence in our society," Graham said after their next meeting, realizing that perhaps Cohen needed them only to improve his image in the eyes of others.

He regretted participating in politics

Graham in the company of former US presidents - Bush, Carter and Clinton, 2007

Graham has been on friendly terms with the White House for decades. He served as an unofficial adviser to several presidents. Times journalist Nancy Gibbs once even wrote that he was part of the interior of their offices.

Although he generally avoided speaking out in support of certain candidates, he ended up becoming close friends with a number of presidents, including Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon.

Graham's relationship with Nixon even went as far as the evangelist advising the president on how to proceed in Vietnam. Later, Graham supported Nixon during scandals, which did not stop him from criticizing the president.

In an interview with Christianity Today in 2011, Graham said he regretted becoming involved in politics.

"I am grateful to God for the opportunity to help people in positions of power - they, like everyone else, also have spiritual and personal needs and often have no one to talk to. But looking back, I understand that sometimes in these relationships I crossed the line and I know I wouldn't do it now," Graham said.

In 2002, he apologized after his and Nixon's anti-Semitic remarks were made public, when Graham said: "They don't know how I really feel about what they're doing to our country."

The audience of his last public sermon (he called them his "crusades") in 2005 is estimated at 210 million people worldwide.

His main achievement was the return of the influence of evangelical Christians on American life, lost after 1925, when the attempt of evangelicals to effectively prohibit the study of the Darwinian theory of human evolution failed.

Using his own oratorical abilities with the emerging technical means - radio and television - Reverend Billy Graham managed to spread his views throughout the United States and even beyond.

He was called "America's Preacher".

The influence of Billy Graham was so great that the liberal and more widespread Christian communities - Catholics and various Protestant churches - lost a significant part of their flock, and their role in the United States was noticeably reduced.

One of the first to comment on Graham's death was the incumbent US President Donald Trump. "The great Billy Graham has died. There have never been people like him! He will be missed by all Christians and representatives of other religions. He was a unique person," the head of state wrote on his page in