God and the Oval Office: The Religious Faith of Our 43 Presidents

By John C. McCollister

A look into how the temporary residents of the White House expressed the deepest of all human feelings—personal religious faith—in their own words.

“We need to remember that the separation of church and state must never mean the separation of religious values from the lives of public servants.” —Lyndon B. Johnson

“So help me God.” George Washington added those words to the presidential oath, and every president since has followed suit. Whether their faith was devout or doubted, heartfelt or pragmatic, John McCollister plumbs America’s strong and deep spiritual heritage, showing the fascinating and vital role faith played in the lives of each of our forty-three presidents:

• Thomas Jefferson’s “edited” version of the Gospels
• Abraham Lincoln’s unique approach to organized religion
• Andrew Johnson’s “secret” Catholicism
• James Garfield’s personal sacrifice of the pulpit for the presidency
• Dwight Eisenhower’s trust in God’s sovereignty
• Ronald Reagan’s profound sense of forgiveness
• George W. Bush’s unapologetic faith in Jesus Christ

From George Washington to George W. Bush, most of our country’s chief executives have turned to God for assurance, guidance, and hope. Through what they learned in the Bible, bolstered by strength found in prayer, they have led America to become the greatest nation on earth. Timely and timeless, God and the Oval Office tells their story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Apr 3, 2005
• ISBN: 9781418515324

Book preview

GOD

AND THE

OVAL OFFICE

The Religious Faith of Our

43 Presidents

JOHN McCOLLISTER

GOO_2fFINAL_pages_0001_001

GOD AND THE OVAL OFFICE

Copyright © 2005 John McCollister.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means–electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published by W Publishing Group, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, Tennessee, 37214.

W Publishing Group books may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please email [e-mail].

All Scripture quotations are taken from The King James Version of the Bible (KJV).

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McCollister, John.

    God and the Oval Office / by John McCollister.

        p. cm.

    Summary: Presents information regarding each United States president and how their faith influenced them—Provided by publisher.

    ISBN 0-8499-0405-6 (hardcover)

1. Presidents—United States—Religion. I. Title.

BR516.M377 2005

973'.099—dc22

2005000301

Printed in the United States of America

05 06 07 08 09 RRD 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

George Washington

John Adams

Thomas Jefferson

James Madison

James Monroe

John Quincy Adams

Andrew Jackson

Martin Van Buren

William Henry Harrison

John Tyler

James Knox Polk

Zachary Taylor

Millard Fillmore

Franklin Pierce

James Buchanan

Abraham Lincoln

Andrew Johnson

Ulysses Simpson Grant

Rutherford Birchard Hayes

James Abram Garfield

Chester Alan Arthur

Stephen Grover Cleveland

Benjamin Harrison

William McKinley

Theodore Roosevelt

William Howard Taft

Thomas Woodrow Wilson

Warren Gamaliel Harding

John Calvin Coolidge

Herbert Clark Hoover

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Harry S Truman

Dwight David Eisenhower

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Lyndon Baines Johnson

Richard Milhous Nixon

Gerald Rudolph Ford

James Earl Carter

Ronald Wilson Reagan

George Herbert Walker Bush

William Jefferson Clinton

George Walker Bush

Epilogue

Presidential Church Affiliations

About the Author

Notes on Research

PREFACE

It’s a hot topic of conversation these days. Seldom is anyone neutral on the issue.

Politicians fill the air with impassioned rhetoric before cheering crowds. Pastors, priests, and rabbis pound pulpits to emphasize their points. Liberal watchdogs carry picket signs and protest in front of city hall.

Why are these advocates so zealous in their demonstrations? It’s because they are involved in a controversy that has been debated for more than two centuries. In this experiment of democracy known as America, what is the proper blending of government and religion?

On one side of the question stand those who proclaim that faith in Almighty God and the heart of America are inseparable. Our nation, they say, was, and has been, honed on religious principles. They point to the fact that the framers of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence not only referred to God, but also proclaimed the importance of divine support for the new nation. Some of those who support a melding of faith and government go so far as to say that America is first and foremost a Christian nation.

On the flip side are those who believe that we should forbid any connection whatsoever between church and state. They openly challenge, for example, the legality of displaying a plaque of the Ten Commandments on government property or religious symbols such as a cross or manger scene during the Christmas season in front of city hall. They even abhor any reference to God in the Pledge of Allegiance recited by students enrolled in public schools.

As with most other issues that evoke emotions, extremists on both sides have been overzealous in their attempts to convince others to agree with them. Couple this with the fact that so many attempt to reconstruct history in order to justify their personal prejudices, and the picture becomes more distorted.

If we consider only the facts, we must admit that the United States of America was not formed as a haven for Christians only. True, the dominant religion in the nation has been Christianity. At the same time, the founders of the Republic were careful not to create a religious state or a state religion. Instead they framed a nation that would allow, among other things, an opportunity for everyone to express his or her religious convictions without fear of government interference.

It should come as no surprise that the First Amendment to the Constitution guaranteed that no one particular religious denomination shall never prevail over the government. That same amendment also assured Americans that no governmental body will ever be able to control any free expression of faith.

To those who insist that we must heed the demand of the Constitution for the separation of church and state, we call their attention to two things.

First, that specific phrase never appears in the Constitution. Instead, it is a comment borrowed from a personal letter written to a friend by our third president, Thomas Jefferson.

Second, and more importantly, the government of these United States was built upon a spiritual foundation. Its major concepts are derived from the biblical teachings about the value and destiny of human beings. In other nations during the eighteenth century, citizens were mere subjects, and the divine right of kings was taken seriously. The very idea of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people seemed radical.

We can go back even earlier than the formal establishment of this nation. Columbus named the first land he discovered San Salvador (Holy Savior) and testified that he would never have found the land had he not been guided by his Savior and Lord.

The Mayflower Compact and the earliest documents organizing the colonies all acknowledged the sovereignty of Almighty God. Sure, the colonists had their differences, and they found comfort in being with others who shared their beliefs. Anglicans settled Virginia; Puritans, New England; Baptists, Pennsylvania; and Catholics, Maryland. But when the time came to decide whether to be loyal to the king of England or to become an independent country, representatives from all denominations who met in Will-iamsburg were united in their belief that this would be a God-fearing nation.

The Declaration of Independence based its principles on spiritual roots. We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights. Each signer of the Declaration of Independence stood silently in a moment of prayer before affixing his signature to the document.

In George Washington’s first inaugural address, he clearly stated the thinking of the earliest American citizens: It would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe . . . that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government.

It’s simply impossible to imagine the United States apart from its strong and deep spiritual heritage.

Our earliest citizens demanded the freedom to worship God as their consciences directed and were careful to guard that fundamental freedom. The late Richard Halverson, while he was chaplain of the U.S. Senate, put it in perspective: "The so-called ‘separation of church and state’ is not a license to ignore religion, but a testimony to its importance in our lives. Freedom of religion ought never be confused with freedom from religion."

John McCollister

INTRODUCTION

I have learned that Chester A. Arthur is one man

and the president of the United States is another.

—CHESTER A. ARTHUR

Twenty-first president of the United States

So help me God.

They are just four innocent-sounding, monosyllabic words, but with them, forty-two men ceased for a time to be private citizens.

These four simple, prayerlike words were added, unexpectedly, to the prepared oath of office by General George Washington on April 30, 1789. They have been repeated by every successor, transforming each individual into a focal point of American history: president of the United States.

In a land without dictators or kings, these forty-two men have approached deification, for this is the only office in America in which the name of a person is guaranteed immortality. Every president knows who he is and, eventually, where he fits into history.

So help me God.

From the moment he utters those four words, the new president begins to shape his history. Whatever he says or does is observed, monitored, and recorded by the press and then served up on a platter to an American public hungry for such news.

On one hand, we Americans pride ourselves as independent, self-determined individuals; on the other hand, we allow ourselves to be influenced by the so-called presidential patterns. Remember? President Kennedy disliked wearing hats, and our nation’s hatters suffered a major setback. President Eisenhower rekindled an interest in golf. President Reagan made jelly beans fashionable.

We may look down our noses at the Hollywood gossip columnists, yet we perk up our ears for news about some facet of a president’s personal life and habits—including his religious faith. If he attends church service, we want to know about it. If he doesn’t attend, we want to know about that, too.

In a sense, it’s a no-win situation for the president. If he seldom attends public worship, he’s branded an infidel; if he’s thought to attend too often, or applauds the efforts of some faith-based organization, he is accused of parading his religion.

Among the president’s other Herculean burdens, it falls upon his shoulders to maintain a proper balance.

History is not an exact science, so it is not just a challenge, but a duty, for any writer to be as precise as possible in his or her presentation of the facts. Unfortunately, as any schoolchild knows, authors of history books often season their accounts with stories that are untrue. A youthful George Washington, for example, did not chop down the cherry tree. Also, there is no credible record to substantiate the image of a famous painting by Arnold Friberg that portrays a humble General Washington kneeling at Valley Forge in a solemn prayer for God’s protection.

This author, therefore, reveals how these temporary residents of the eighteen-acre plot at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue expressed the deepest of all human feelings—personal religious faith—in their own words, whenever possible.

Throughout these accounts, one common note rings loud and clear: whatever any chief executive did or said became subject to public criticism.

Could it be that we Americans expect from our president a moral perfection impossible for the rest of us to attain?

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GEORGE WASHINGTON (1722–1799)

State Born: Virginia

Party: Federalist

Occupation: Farmer

Religion: Deist (attended Episcopal)

GEORGE WASHINGTON

FIRST PRESIDENT

1789–1797

It is impossible to account for the creation of the universe,

without the agency of a Supreme Being. It is impossible to govern the universe,

without the aid of a Supreme Being. It is impossible to reason without

arriving at a Supreme Being.

—GEORGE WASHINGTON

He was the macho man of the eighteenth century.

Traditional historians may chafe at this description of our first president; although, were George Washington living today, he would be a leader of men, a heartthrob of ladies, and an idol of teenagers.

The story of every nation is peppered with examples of people who respond like hypnotized sheep to a personification of strength. This young nation was no exception. No American was ever so powerful in his era, nor perhaps in any other period of history, than the father of our country. His imposing stature for the era (six feet two inches tall, 175 pounds), coupled with his uncanny political savvy, made him the ideal candidate to weld the people.

As commander of the Continental army, General George Washington succeeded in turning back the British chiefly because he was able to keep the military forces of the thirteen colonies united. Two days before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, on July 2, 1776, Washington rallied his troops for battle by declaring:

The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves. . . . The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army.

After the War for Independence, President George Washington had to reunite the citizens and transform them into one nation under God.

Once the cord to Mother England was broken, the real problems for the Colonists began. Trust of one citizen for one another had long since waned. Inflation spiraled. International trade was disrupted. Coping with the newly won freedom was a greater hurdle than gaining it. Something, or someone, had to organize and direct the nation through the infant stage of an experiment called democracy.

The call went out, and George Washington was elected president by unanimous vote of the Electoral College.

One of Washington’s officers, Henry Light Horse Harry Lee, summed up the feelings of the nation about its first president: First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.

General Lee would have been less than honest were he to have added first in his church. George Washington, whose rhetoric influenced the masses, did not talk openly about his religious heritage.

A CONSPICUOUS SILENCE

Washington was raised as an Anglican. He learned the Ten Commandments and the Apostles’ Creed at the Truro Parish Church where his father was a vestryman. On Sunday mornings, he prayed, Pardon, I beseech Thee, my sins; remove them from Thy presence, as far as the east is from the west, and accept me for the merits of Thy son, Jesus Christ. An Anglican clergyman performed the marriage ceremony for the not-yet twenty-seven-year-old Colonel Wash-ington to the widow Martha Dandridge Curtis at her home on January 6, 1759.

Washington maintained his association with the Anglican Church throughout his life, and worshiped on occasion at Christ Episcopal Church in Alexandria, Virginia. Nevertheless, as a result of his conspicuous silence in terms of any endorsement of the Episcopal faith, he was considered at least by some of his contemporaries to be a deist, an agnostic, even an atheist.

President Washington quite probably could have stifled this gossip with a strong statement about his Christian conviction. Certainly, the