Franklin Graham facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Franklin Graham
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| Born |
William Franklin Graham III
July 14, 1952 |
| Education | LeTourneau University Montreat College (AS) Appalachian State University (BA) |
| Occupation | Christian evangelist |
| Political party | Republican (before 2015) Independent (2015–present) |
| Spouse(s) |
Jane Cunningham
(m. 1974) |
| Children | 4, including Will |
| Parent(s) | Billy Graham Ruth Graham |
| Relatives | L. Nelson Bell (grandfather), Gigi Graham (sister), Anne Graham Lotz (sister) |
William Franklin Graham III (born July 14, 1952) is an American evangelist and missionary in the evangelical movement. He frequently engages in Christian revival tours and political commentary. The son of Billy Graham, he is president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and of Samaritan's Purse, an international evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization. Graham became a "committed Christian" in 1974 and was ordained in 1982, and has since become a public speaker and author.
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Early life and education
William Franklin Graham III was born in Asheville, North Carolina, on July 14, 1952, to evangelist Billy Graham and Ruth Graham. He is the fourth of their five children. As a teenager, Graham attended The Stony Brook School, a Christian private school on Long Island, New York, but was expelled mid senior year. He finished high school in North Carolina.
In 1970, Graham attended LeTourneau College in Longview, Texas, and was expelled from the school for keeping a female classmate out past curfew. In 1973, Graham joined Bob Pierce, founder of Samaritan's Purse, on a six-week mission to Asia. During this trip, Graham decided to focus on world relief. In 1974, he graduated from Montreat-Anderson College, now Montreat College, with an A.S. That same year on a trip to Jerusalem, he repented and experienced a new birth. In 1978 he graduated from Appalachian State University with a B.A.
He was ordained in 1982 by the Grace Community Church in Tempe, Arizona, a non-denominational church.
Ministerial career
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In 1979, after the death of Pierce, he became the president of Samaritan's Purse.
In 1995, Franklin Graham became vice-president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). According to Billy Graham's biographer, the decision to appoint his son, Franklin, as the head of the BGEA was initially controversial among some long-time employees who were critical of Franklin's lifestyle that clashed with the organization's conservative corporate traditions. In 2000, Franklin Graham was named the CEO of the organization, since his father retired from ministry. According to the BGEA spokeswoman, it was his father’s decision to let his son take charge. In 2001, Franklin Graham succeeded his father, Billy Graham, as President of BGEA.
Political views
Donald Trump (2017–2021)
In April 2011, Graham told ABC's This Week program that Donald Trump, who had recently declared an interest in the Republican nomination for the 2012 U.S. presidential race, was his preferred candidate. During an MSNBC Morning Joe interview on February 21, 2012, Graham said that Rick Santorum was most closely aligned to Christian values in his words and deeds and that Senator Santorum was certainly a Christian at heart. On President Obama, Graham said that he is "a fine man," but could not know whether the president was a Christian in his heart. Asked about Mitt Romney, Graham said that most Protestants do not view Mormonism as a Christian faith.
On February 28, 2012, Graham responded to a one-page letter sent by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as an: "Open Letter from Leaders of Faith Regarding Statements by Franklin Graham." In the introduction to the one-page letter, the fourteen signatories stated: "We are greatly troubled by recent attempts by some religious leaders to use faith as a political weapon. We were disturbed and disappointed by statements made by Rev. Franklin Graham during an interview on MSNBC that questioned whether President Obama is a Christian." In closing, the open-letter stated: "We call on Rev. Graham and all Christian leaders to exemplify this essential teaching of Jesus and refrain from using Christianity as a weapon of political division." In June 2016, Graham told a crowd, "I have zero hope for the Democratic Party; I have no hope for the Republican Party. I am running a campaign to put God back in the political process." Nevertheless, in November 2016, Graham told The Washington Post that God had played a role in Donald Trump's election as U.S. president, saying: "I could sense going across the country that God was going to do something this year. And I believe that at this election, God showed up." The same newspaper noted that the day after Trump's victory, Graham had posted a comment on Facebook in which he wrote, "Did God show up? […] In watching the news after the election, the secular media kept asking 'How did this happen?' 'What went wrong?' 'How did we miss this?' Some are in shock. Political pundits are stunned. Many thought the Trump/Pence ticket didn't have a chance. None of them understand the God-factor." At the Inauguration of Donald Trump on January 20, 2017, Graham chose to read a passage from Paul's First Epistle to Timothy, chapter 2, which calls for prayers for all people, including "kings and for all those in authority, that we may live peacefully quiet lives in all godliness and holiness."
Since the 2016 election, Graham has "become known, above all, as the most vociferous evangelical ally" of Trump. He has strongly opposed the impeachment process, calling it an "unjust inquisition." In a November 21, 2019, interview with Eric Metaxas, Graham suggested opposition to Trump was the work of a "demonic power." In December, when Christianity Today magazine, founded by Graham's father Billy, published an editorial calling Trump "profoundly immoral" and supporting his removal from office, Graham responded by saying his father had voted for Trump and saw him as the "man for this hour in history for our nation" and that the magazine was "representing the elitist liberal wing of evangelicalism."
In mid-December 2020, Graham wrote about the first Trump presidency on Facebook, saying that "President Trump will go down in history as one of the great presidents of our nation, bringing peace and prosperity to millions here in the U.S. and around the world."
In January 2021, Graham compared the ten Republican members of the House of Representatives who voted to impeach Trump to Judas Iscariot, suggesting that the Democrats had promised them "thirty pieces of silver".
North Carolina Amendment 1
Graham supported North Carolina Amendment 1, which was passed by a voter referendum on May 8, 2012, prohibiting same-sex marriage and all domestic partnerships. Graham responded to Obama's May 9, 2012, statement of support for same-sex marriage, saying, "President Obama has, in my view, shaken his fist at the same God who created and defined marriage. It grieves me that our president would now affirm same-sex marriage, though I believe it grieves God even more."
In December 2017, several British MPs urged the Home Secretary to consider refusing UK entry to Graham from speaking at an event due to take place in Blackpool in September 2018. As Graham represents the evangelical community, critics argued that those who want to ban Graham which means that individuals who have different opinions of LGBT rights would be banned in the UK. Gordon Marsden, an openly gay Labour MP suggested that Graham's comments may have contravened British laws on hate speech. As of February 2018, a petition against Graham being granted a visa had gathered more than 7,500 signatures. The pastor of Liberty Church in Blackpool, who organized the petition, said: "As a Christian and as a leader of a church that particularly welcomes LGBT people, I'm horrified that other local churches are inviting someone with this record of hate speech." The pastor said that Graham's visit had triggered an "enormous amount of protest from Christians in the north-west" of England, and his presence would be "extremely destructive in the area".
2025 Donald Trump inauguration
At the inauguration ceremony for President Donald Trump on January 20, 2025, Graham gave an invocation in which he thanked God for Trump's win and for assisting America in its recovery from a "pretty dark" period over the previous four years.
Foreign policy views
Support of the Iraq War
Graham supported the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.
Opposition to indicting Sudan's Al-Bashir
When Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir was indicted by the International Criminal Court in March 2009, Graham argued in an op-ed in The New York Times that Bashir should not be indicted for alleged genocidal acts because the indictment would lead to the collapse of the 2005 peace agreement.
Support for Ukraine
Franklin Graham visited Ukraine in March 2022, immediately after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Graham conducted an Easter Sunday sermon from Ukraine and addressed both Presidents Putin and Zelensky, calling for a 10-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in observance of the Easter holiday.
In March 2022, Samaritan's Purse deployed an Emergency Field Hospital in Lviv, Western Ukraine, to provide medical care amidst the ongoing war. During the organization's work in Ukraine, Franklin Graham visited the teams operating the hospital and offering medical assistance.
According to the Ukrainian government, Samaritan's Purse has been operating in Ukraine since the start of the hostilities in Ukrainian Donbass in 2014. Since the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, the organization, through local partners, has been delivering food, water, warm clothing, and medical assistance. More than 9.6 million Ukrainians have benefited from this aid. The organization has established cooperation with 2,000 Ukrainian partners.
Awards and honors
In 2005, TIME magazine recognized Franklin Graham as one of the most influential evangelicals in the United States ("The 25 most influential evangelicals in America"). Graham was also inducted into the Hall of Faith by the Southern Baptist Evangelists.
Honorary doctorates
- 1988: Toccoa Falls College
- 2000: LeTourneau University
- 2002: Whitworth College
- 2023: Liberty University
Other honors
- 1996: The Salvation Army’s William Booth Award by the Southern California Division
- 1999: The News & Observer’s Tar Heel of the Year, an honor given to North Carolinians for their contributions to the state and beyond.
- 2002: WORLD magazine named him Daniel of the Year.
- 2014: Watchman Award from the Family Research Council
Personal life
Graham married Jane Austin Cunningham of Smithfield, North Carolina, in 1974. They have four children: William Franklin Graham IV (Will), born in 1975, Roy Austin Graham (b. 1977), Edward Bell Graham (b. 1979) and Jane Austin Graham Lynch (Cissie) (b. 1986). Graham and his wife have twelve grandchildren. He now lives in the mountains of Boone, North Carolina, with his wife.
Graham underwent heart surgery in November 2021.
Published works
- Bob Pierce: This One Thing I Do (1983)
- Rebel With A Cause: Finally Comfortable Being Graham (1995), autobiography
- Miracle in a Shoe Box (1995)
- Living Beyond the Limits: A Life in Sync with God (1998)
- The Name (2002)
- Kids Praying for Kids (2003)
- All for Jesus (2003), with Ross Rhoads
- A Wing and a Prayer (2005)
See also
In Spanish: Franklin Graham para niños
