This volume opens a new avenue toward understanding the politics and policies of many U.S. presidents. For years, leading scholars have largely ignored the religious factor in their studies of presidents. Yet, as the essays in this book reveal, religion has had an enormous impact on many critical presidencies in U.S. history. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, these essays reveal the deeply religious side to such presidents as Truman, Eisenhower, and Reagan, among others.
Introduction: Religion and the Presidency in Historical Perspective; M.J.Rozell & G.Whitney The Faith of George Washington; G.S.Smith Thomas Jefferson and the Myth of Separation; T.E.Buckley Religion in the Life, Thought, and Presidency of James Madison; V.P.Munoz Lincolns Political Religion and Religious Politics; L.E.Morel We Must Put on the Armor of God: Harry Truman and the Cold War; E.E.Spalding Dwight D. Eisenhower: Civil Religion and the Cold War; J.M.Holl Secular Icon or Catholic Hero?: Religion and the Presidency of John F. Kennedy; T.J.Carty Jimmy Carter and the Politics of Faith; J.Walz Ronald Reagans Faith and Attack on Soviet Communism; P.Kengor The Religion of Bill Clinton; J.M.Penning The Faith of George W. Bush: The Personal, Practical, and Political; C.Larson & C.Wilcox