US Capitol unveils statue honoring Billy Graham: 'One of our dearest treasures'
WASHINGTON — Faith leaders and politicians on both sides of the aisle gathered to honor the late evangelist Billy Graham as a sculpture paying tribute to the North Carolina native was unveiled at the U.S. Capitol Thursday.
Hundreds attended a private ceremony revealing the 7-foot statue, which will be part of the National Statuary Hall Collection and installed in the Crypt one level below the Rotunda, where public tours of the U.S. Capitol begin.
The event featured speeches from U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Graham's son, Rev. Franklin Graham, CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the Evangelical humanitarian organization Samaritan's Purse. Grammy-winning Christian musician Michael W. Smith performed the son "I Surrender All."
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Johnson revealed the statue alongside North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, the Graham family and several members of the state's congressional delegation.
Remembering Graham as "the leading ambassador for the kingdom of our lifetimes," Johnson remarked, "This truly is a historic moment."
"There are only four people in the history of our country who have received the three highest honors here," Johnson said.
"Those three honors are a Congressional Gold Medal, having lied in state upon their passing and having a statue here in the Capitol to be honored," he noted.
Johnson identified the late Presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan and civil rights activist Rosa Parks as the other recipients of all three honors.
Like many others in his family, Franklin Graham is also an evangelist and is grateful for his father's recognition in Statuary Hall.
"My father would be a little uncomfortable with this being here because he would want the focus to be on the One that he preached," Graham said. "He would want the focus to be on the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of God."
Graham insisted that the family is honored that their "earthly father will be here in this Capitol pointing to the future generations to our Heavenly father and his son, the Lord Jesus Christ."
Billy Graham, who died in 2018 at the age of 99, is now one of the two statues representing the state of North Carolina in the National Statuary Hall, which contains statues of notable people from each of the 50 states. Graham's statue replaces that of the late Gov. Charles Brantley Aycock, which had been one of the two statues from the state since 1932.
The other statue representing North Carolina depicts Zebulon Vance, who served as a governor and U.S. senator from the state beginning in the Civil War era. The Vance statue dates back to 1916.
According to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Graham preached to 215 million people across six continents and provided counsel to 12 American presidents in his lifetime.
Cooper, a Democrat, cited Graham as one of the several treasures bestowed on the U.S. by his home state.
"Our state has given this nation its first flight, its first public university, its rich farmland," he asserted. "Today, North Carolina gives the nation a symbol representing one of our dearest treasures, the Rev. Billy Graham: a man of faith, a man of North Carolina."
"The Rev. Graham was known as a minister to millions, the pastor to presidents, a selfless man of God who lived out his calling by preaching and teaching across the world, always returning to his beloved home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina for respot," he added. "He brought together people of different faiths and different races."
"Today, we acknowledge that he is a better representation of our state than the statue it replaces, which brought memories of a painful history of racism. Not that Rev. Graham was perfect, he would have been the first to tell us that. Instead, he realized that he and all of us here today have feet of clay. We are imperfect."
Cooper expressed gratitude that Graham "believed as many of us do that there is redemption, and he gave his life to delivering that message."
"The Rev. Billy Graham also recognized that the responsibility of public servants such as us and especially that of the president of the United States was so immense that whoever was in that office deserved a presumption of good faith, the power of prayer, the gift of his wisdom, friendship and advice."
Cooper praised Graham's willingness to work with politicians on both sides of the aisle, saying he didn't seek to "bludgeon or deify any political candidate or party."
"Instead, he would use his magnetic, loving and persuasive gifts to counsel and lift in prayer political leaders of both parties," Cooper said. "He did not seek to attack other religions, and he treated all with dignity and respect. In fact, he once said, 'Racial prejudice, antisemitism or hatred of anyone with different beliefs has no place in the human mind or heart.'"
Cooper urged public officials to "honor his legacy not just by unveiling this statue but by being humble, humble enough to know that our public service is not to honor ourselves but to serve our country and strengthen our democracy and humble enough to put aside personal aggrandisement, to do better for our country, not for personal gain."
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
