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HOUSTON (FOX 26) - He once said, "My home is in Heaven... I'm just traveling through this world." Billy Graham's remarkable journey is now over, and he remained humble to the end.
"My whole life has been to please the Lord and to honor Jesus. Not to see me,” Graham said.
But you could often see Graham at the side of presidents. He rose to national prominence in 1949, and advised 12 of them before retiring in 2005. Among them was George Herbert Walker Bush. Senator John Culbertson says he is a vital part of American history.
"Billy Graham advised and inspired George H. W. Bush to come up with a 'thousand points of light' program which the Bush family did so well in encouraging Americans to volunteer their time and money," Culbertson said.
He also counseled future presidents. George W. Bush turned to him when he was younger to help him stop his drinking.
"I know for my Uncle George he was very influential in his life and my grandfather," Pierce Bush said. "I was too young to know him personally. I know he was a dear friend to everybody in the Bush family."
His influence crossed party lines, counseling President Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. With his access and influence, he was arguably the county's first mega pastor, albeit without a mega church, and his death leaves a void. Who can fill that void?
"I think here in Texas and in Houston, Dr. Ed Young fills that role. Second Baptist Church has inspired countless lives," Culbertson said.
Graham and Young knew each other and considered each other as friends. Governor Abbott has ordered Texas flags to be flown at half-staff the day he will be interned.