‘America’s pastor’ Billy Graham dies aged 99

Billy Graham, one of the world's most famous Christian evangelists, has died at the age of 99.

Known as “America’s pastor”, Graham was a “key figure in the revival of the US evangelical Christian movement”, says ABC News.

Several presidents, including Lyndon Johnson, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, relied closely on his spiritual counsel, according to CNN.

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Graham took what was known as his “Billy Graham Crusades” around the world, preaching to a total of more than 210 million people in 185 countries and territories. A million people are estimated to have attended a single event in Seoul in the 1970s.

Graham, who long suffered from cancer, pneumonia and other ailments, died at his home in Montreat, North Carolina, according to a spokesperson for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

President Donald Trump tweeted a tribute to Graham, calling him “a very special man”.

Graham was an active support of the US civil rights movement in the 1950s, preaching to racially integrated congregations, the BBC reports.

He successfully avoided the scandals that dogged some contemporary televangelists through the decades, although “his fiery delivery became more measured with advancing years and controversy surrounding the techniques of mass evangelism.”