God And The Oval Office

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.

Many American presidents have had a deep and meaningful faith that has helped shape their worldviews and characters, and their religious commitments have strongly influenced their political philosophy, analysis of issues, decision-making, and performance in office. Numerous presidents have testified that their faith enabled them to cope with the colossal challenges of their office and gave them courage and comfort. This book examines eleven chief executives from John Adams to Barack Obama.

In his highly praised book Faith and the Presidency, Gary Scott Smith cast a revealing light on the role religion has played in presidential politics throughout our nation's history, offering comprehensive, even-handed examinations of the role of religion in the lives, politics, and policies of eleven presidents. Now, in Religion in the Oval Office, Smith takes on eleven more of our nation's most interesting and influential chief executives: John Adams, James Madison, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William McKinley, Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. Drawing on a wide range of sources and paying close attention to historical context and America's shifting social and moral values, he examines their religious beliefs, commitments, affiliations, and practices and scrutinizes their relationships with religious leaders and communities. The result is a fascinating account of the ways in which religion has helped shape the course of our history. From John Quincy Adams' treatment of Native Americans, to Harry Truman's decision to recognize Israel, to Bill Clinton's promotion of religious liberty and welfare reform, to Barack Obama's policies on poverty and gay rights, Smith shows how strongly our presidents' religious commitments have affected policy from the earliest days of our nation to the present. Together with Faith and the Presidency, Religion in the Oval Office provides the most comprehensive examination of the inseparable and intriguing relationship between faith and the American presidency. This book will be invaluable to anyone interested in the presidency and the role of religion in politics.

How did we go from John F. Kennedy declaring that religion should play no role in the elections to Bush saying, "I believe that God wants me to be president"? Historian Randall Balmer takes us on a tour of presidential religiosity in the last half of the twentieth century—from Kennedy's 1960 speech that proposed an almost absolute wall between American political and religious life to the soft religiosity of Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society; from Richard Nixon's manipulation of religion to fit his own needs to Gerald Ford's quiet stoicism; from Jimmy Carter's introduction of evangelicalism into the mainstream to Ronald Reagan's co-option of the same group; from Bill Clinton's covert way of turning religion into a non-issue to George W. Bush's overt Christian messages, Balmer reveals the role religion has played in the personal and political lives of these American presidents. Americans were once content to disregard religion as a criterion for voting, as in most of the modern presidential elections before Jimmy Carter.But today's voters have come to expect candidates to fully disclose their religious views and to deeply illustrate their personal relationship to the Almighty. God in the White House explores the paradox of Americans' expectation that presidents should simultaneously trumpet their religious views and relationship to God while supporting the separation of church and state. Balmer tells the story of the politicization of religion in the last half of the twentieth century, as well as the "religionization" of our politics. He reflects on the implications of this shift, which have reverberated in both our religious and political worlds, and offers a new lens through which to see not only these extraordinary individuals, but also our current political situation.

This book has been written to give you a taste of the kind of people who have held the office of the President of the United States of America in times gone by. Particularly this book will investigate the religious and Christian views of past presidents to discover whether or not they left a lasting legacy for future presidents to follow. I have also deliberately restricted the research of this book to a time period of about 132 years, between George Washington, who took office in 1789 to Woodrow Wilson, who left office just after World War I in 1921. This helps to avoid repetitiveness if we were to consider presidents from a wider timescale. In order to decide who would be eligible for inclusion in this book, I set up a three-prong test, which is highlighted in more detail in chapter one. Finally, this book has been written to help inform you about the kind of president you would like to see governing the United States from the Oval Office in the future; particularly if you want to base your decision-making, during election times, on the life and experiences of past presidents.

Several generations of historians figuratively abandoned the Oval Office as the bastion of out-of-fashion stories of great men. And now, decades later, the historical analysis of the American presidency remains on the outskirts of historical scholarship, even as policy and political history have rebounded within the academy. In Recapturing the Oval Office, leading historians and social scientists forge an agenda for returning the study of the presidency to the mainstream practice of history and they chart how the study of the presidency can be integrated into historical narratives that combine rich analyses of political, social, and cultural history. The authors demonstrate how "bringing the presidency back in" can deepen understanding of crucial questions regarding race relations, religion, and political economy. The contributors illuminate the conditions that have both empowered and limited past presidents, and thus show how social, cultural, and political contexts matter. By making the history of the presidency a serious part of the scholarly agenda in the future, historians have the opportunity to influence debates about the proper role of the president today.

A Princess of Doubt. Being forced to be an Oneida princess of her father's Turtle Clan, was the worst thing that ever happened to Dancing Star. She was allowed to make no decisions of her own, and being forced to marry her most hated enemy made matters much worse. No one believed what kind of vile warrior this man was, and Dancing Star was beginning to lose all hope until A Paralyzed Existence. Russell Powell had lost everything precious to him, including his ability to walk, by a group of malicious Indian renegades. There was no determination in his heart to continue his desolate life. He loathed all Indians with a burning passion. However, as he encounters the beautiful princess, his burden of emptiness and hatred is magically replaced with a romantic paradise. Being confined to a strange object he calls a "wheelchair", Dancing Star is deeply intrigued by this handsome white man. Russell gives her much contentment and peace, and she is his encouragement. But her duties of being a loyal Oneida princess and Russell's obsession for vengeance threatens to keep them apart forever

Join our nation's presidents throughout history in prayer from George Washington to Donald J. Trump. The prayers, invocations, words of faith and inspiration spoken by our Chief Executives will encourage and renew you in prayer, faith and declaring, "God bless America!" Pray with... George Washington seeking God's blessing for the United States. John Adams imploring God's blessing over the White House and its inhabitants. Thomas Jefferson to preserve our nation's heritage. James Madison for public humility. John Quincy Adams in grateful thanksgiving. Abraham Lincoln in establishing a day of fasting and prayer. James Garfield for our children and children's children. Franklin Roosevelt just as he prayed for our troops and soldiers in arms. Dwight D. Eisenhower to be able to discern right from wrong. John F. Kennedy for a vision of peace. Jimmy Carter for mercy, justice and humility. Ronald Reagan for freedom and liberty for us and all nations. George Bush to thank God for His love. Barak Obama for George W. Bush for strength and guidance. Donald Trump in thanksgiving for God's gift of liberty to America.