The former president George W Bush and his wife Laura joined the crowds mourning the passing of Billy Graham in Charlotte, North Carolina on Monday, and paid tribute to the late evangelist.

'Laura and I are honored to be able to come and pay our respects to the Graham family, and more importantly, to be able to say goodbye to a person who was influential in our lives, and influential in the lives of millions,' the 41st president said.

He added that his father, the former president George HW Bush wished he could be there as well.

AP reported that thousands of people have been slowly filing past the casket of the famed pastor to pay their final respects, since the doors of Graham's childhood home were opened to mourners first thing yesterday morning.

Graham died aged 99 last Wednesday at his home in Montreat, North Carolina.

According to AP, Graham's grandson, Roy, shook the hand of every person who came to see his grandfather for the first few hours.

'I just wanted to tell them how much I appreciated the love for my family,' he said.

He added that what moved him the most yesterday were the dozens who paused and told him the exact moment and place Billy Graham came into their lives through his hundreds of 'crusades' around the world, AP reported.

AP spoke to Cecily Turner, whose mother was at Billy Graham's 1957 New York crusade and she said he led her mother to salvation that day. 'I know she is in heaven thanking him right now,' she said.

Turner said that her mother had passed her faith onto her and she, in turn, had passed it down to five children and four great-grandchildren.

'That's an amazing thing,' she said.

Public viewing will continue today at Graham's Charlotte library on the campus of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

His body will then be taken to the US Capitol where, on Wednesday and Thursday, he will be the first private citizen to lie in honour there since the civil rights heroine Rosa Parks in 2005. Graham's funeral is on Friday.

All living former US presidents are expected to attend, along with the current president Donald Trump who has confirmed he will be there.

George W Bush came to pay his respects with his wife yesterday because he had a scheduling conflict with the funeral.

The funeral will be held in a giant tent as an echo of Graham's 1949 Los Angeles crusade which Graham said propelled him to worldwide fame and was held in a circus tent dubbed the 'canvas cathedral'.

The man known as 'America's Pastor' would eventually preach to an estimated 210 million people in person as well as many more through media outlets.

Graham will be buried beside his wife, Ruth, who died in 2007, at the foot of a cross-shaped walkway at Graham's library.