Politicians and other well-wishers gathered at the Capitol Wednesday to pay tribute to the Rev. Billy Graham, ahead of his funeral in North Carolina on Friday.
Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin said Mr. Graham repeatedly challenged the nation to look to God and to look within.
“In those moments, when we felt weak in spirit, when our country was on its knees, he reminded us, he convinced us that is exactly when we find our grace and our strength,” Mr. Ryan said.
Mr. Graham joined an exclusive list of more than 30 Americans who have lain in state or in honor in the Rotunda, including lawmakers, presidents, civil rights activists, law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty, an F. B. I. director, military commanders and the remains of unidentified soldiers from several of the nation’s wars.
He became only the fourth private citizen to lie in honor at the Capitol, the first since Rosa Parks did so in 2005.
Though he was a counselor to many presidents throughout many decades, as he preached to packed stadiums and people watching on television around the world, Mr. Graham later eschewed the mixing of politics and religion, saying that he had “crossed the line.”
That sentiment has prompted some to question whether he would have agreed with the decision to have his coffin lie in honor in the Capitol, which perhaps could be viewed as a celebration of the crossing the line that he no longer believed appropriate at the end of his life.
