Rev. Billy Graham Hospitalized With Pneumonia

Evangelist Billy Graham was resting comfortably in a North Carolina hospital Wednesday night where doctors were treating him for pneumonia that hampered his breathing.







Spokesman Larry Ross said Graham's medical team doesn't believe his condition is life threatening.





Two of his children - Franklin Graham and Anne Graham Lotz - had no plans Wednesday to return early from mission trips overseas, Ross said.





The 92-year-old high-profile preacher, who has met or ministered to every US president since 1950, was rushed to Mission Hospital in Asheville near his home early Wednesday after suffering what Ross called "a pulmonary challenge" overnight.





He "had episodes of sweating and coughing," Ross said. "He had a slight fever and experienced difficulty breathing. But he was never in any distress or in an acute situation."





Initial testing suggested pneumonia but diagnostic studies showed Graham's heart was normal.





"We anticipate his pneumonia to clear with treatment and hope he will be able to soon return home," possibly in a couple of days, said Ross.





Meanwhile, Graham "is resting comfortably and is fully alert," said his primary doctor Lucian Rice.





Ross said that Graham has been in good overall health, though age-related conditions including macular degeneration and hearing loss have limited his appearances in recent years.





Graham founded the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in 1950 and harnessed the media to spread his message of evangelism around the world.





The group now spreads its message of Christianity through its website, films, television specials, a magazine and an internationally syndicated newspaper column.





President Obama drove to Graham's mountainside log cabin in Montreat to visit the aged preacher in April 2010.





The Graham dynasty is being carried on by son Franklin.