What were the Religious Affiliations of United States Presidents?
The following article was published June 4, 2009 in Suite 101 by M.Streich and still under copyright
The role of religion in
American politics has always affected voters and this is particularly true
regarding the nation’s Presidents. In some cases, religion played some part in
campaigns: John Quincy Adams, a Unitarian, was accused of being an atheist in 1828;
in 1928 Alfred Smith’s Catholicism was an issue. Forty Presidents affiliated
with the Protestant tradition; three claimed no affiliation and John F. Kennedy
was the only Catholic. Whether subtle or overt, religion has always been
important in national politics.
Religious Affiliations of
American Presidents
There were eleven
Episcopalians, beginning with George Washington, and nine Presbyterians. In
some cases there was cross-over. Rutherford B. Hayes identified with the
Episcopal, Presbyterian, and the Methodist traditions. James K. Polk was both a
Presbyterian and a Methodist, baptized on his deathbed by a Methodist bishop.
Several Presidents claimed no
official affiliation with any particular church, although they attended
services. Martin Van Buren worshiped at Episcopal and Dutch Reformed churches;
Andrew Johnson had no affiliation but frequently attended the Catholic Church,
which he vigorously defended against Know-Nothingism in the 1850s.
Both Thomas Jefferson and
John Tyler subscribed to Deism. Deism rejected an active God who intervened in
his creation. While President, Jefferson, in 1804, authored The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth, a
work he revisited and enlarged in 1820.
The Presidents and Non-Mainline
Religious Affiliation
Running for the presidency in
1980, Jimmy Carter, a Baptist and a Sunday School teacher, stated that he was a
“born again” Christian, introducing a phrase many Americans were unfamiliar
with. Carter was one of four Presidents of the Baptist faith tradition that
included Warren Harding, Harry Truman, and Bill Clinton (Southern Baptist; his
wife was a Methodist).
During the 2008 presidential
election, Barak Obama’s membership in the United Church of Christ caused
controversy after his
Only one President, Teddy
Roosevelt, was a member of the Dutch Reformed church and it was Roosevelt who,
while President, endeavored to have the phrase “In God We Trust” removed from
the nation’s coins. John F. Kennedy was the only Roman Catholic and Calvin
Coolidge the only Congregationalist.
Religious Affiliation in
Political Families
Only two related Presidents,
John Adams and his son, John Quincy Adams, followed the same religious
tradition; both were Unitarians. George Bush was an Episcopalian but his son,
George W., belonged to the Methodist faith. Benjamin Harrison attended the
Presbyterian Church although his Great Grandfather, William Henry Harrison, was
an Episcopalian.
Presidents Affiliated with
the Episcopal Church
George Washington
James Madison
James Monroe
William H. Harrison
John Tyler (also a Deist)
Zachary Taylor
Franklin Pierce
Rutherford B. Hayes
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Gerald Ford
George Bush
The Continued Effect of
Religion
Although John Quincy Adams
was the first President to quote scripture in his inaugural address, it was not
until Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural that the practice became normal. Prior
to the enunciation of “separation of church and state” by the Supreme Court,
Presidents, indirectly, promoted religious concerns.
Harry Truman initiated the
first “day of prayer” in 1952; Dwight D. Eisenhower began the tradition of
White House prayer breakfasts. Numerous presidential speeches have ended with,
“God bless
Sources:
William A. DeGregorio, The Complete Book of
Jaroslav Pelikan, Jesus Through the Centuries (Yale
University Press, 1985)
Author’s lecture notes
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