Faith and the American Presidency
 |
|
Never before in American history have so many presidential candidates been identified with a strong, personal faith. There are no "religious" candidates because all are religious in one way or another. The question is: What difference does this make once the person is in office?
While we can’t predict the future, we can look to the past to give us a clue. Written by leading American historians, Faith and the American Presidency shows how the personal beliefs of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, and Ronald Reagan—among others—shaped their public policies.
What readers will see is that religious faith does indeed shape the presidency in ways that are both subtle and unexpected.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Nine Presidential Moments
Chapter 1: George Washington: American Moses
Chapter 2: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams: The Rancorous Referendum on Church and State
Chapter 3: Abraham Lincoln: War and the Will of God
Chapter 4: William McKinley: A Nation on a Divine Mission
Chapter 5: Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson: Champions of the ‘Democratic’ Bible
Chapter 6: Harry Truman: The ‘Cyrus’ of Israel
Chapter 7: Ronald Reagan: Re-Moralizing America
Appendix 1: The Presidents and their Denominations
Appendix 2: The Presidents on God
Appendix 3: Recommended Reading
|
|
