How <em>The Atlantic</em> Covered Billy Graham at the Start of His Career

Baptist preacher Billy Graham conducted the first of his many crusades in 1947, at the age of 28. In the nearly six decades that followed, these evangelical campaigns brought him to 185 countries and territories. There, he’d speak in stadiums, parks, auditoriums, and city streets packed with thousands of congregants, who he’d invite to pray with him and claim Jesus as their lord and savior. He continued to travel and evangelize on these crusades until his retirement in 2005, delivering his message to over 215 million people; on Wednesday, Graham passed away at age 99.

In the midst of his longest crusade, a published a piece on Graham and his preaching tour around Scotland two years earlier.It became a topic of debate between writers and a number of readers—whose feelings ranged from delight to disgust.