God in the White House: How Faith Shaped the Presidency from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush

Journal of Church and State, Summer, 2008 by Thomas E. Blantz

God in the White House: How Faith Shaped the Presidency from john F. Kennedy to George W. Bush. By Randall Balmer. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2008. 243 pp. $24.95 paper.

In 1960, presidential candidate John Kennedy insisted that his religion should be a non-issue; most voters apparently agreed, and he was electedresident. In 2004, the religious beliefs both George W. Bush and John Kerry were openly discussed as legitimate issues. In God in the White House: How Faith Shaped the Presidency from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush, Randall Balmer attempts to trace this change from non-issue to issue though nine successive presidencies.

Although some remained skeptical of John Kennedy's Catholic loyalties, most voters seemed to overlook the issue, religious bigotry became discredited, and Catholicism had little impact on the Kennedy presidency. Lyndon Johnson kept his religion private but believed in the responsibility of the strong to care for the weak, and his Great Society pro rams strove to assist the poor and minorities at home, and his war in Vietnam sought to save that small country from totalitarian Communism. Richard Nixon was a personal friend of Billy Graham and inaugurated White House worship services, but his administration's "Dirty Tricks"--the Watergate cover-up and the foul language revealed on the Oval Office tapes--suggested that the impact of religion on his presidency was minimal. Gerald Ford was raised Episcopalian and Evangelical preacher Billy Zeoli strove to be a close adviser but, good and decent man though he was, Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon, in the eyes of many, indelibly linked him to his predecessor's corrupt administration.

Disillusioned by lies about progress in Vietnam and by the sleaziness of the Nixon administration, the American people sought change and they turned to Jimmy Carter. Carter was a born-again Christian, taught Sunday School, and strove openly to live according to Gospel teachings. But because of the ineffectiveness of his administration and his decision not to act against abortion, the Religious Right abandoned him after one term. His successor, Ronald Reagan, was divorced, remarried, rarely attended church, and appointed the pro-choice Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court, but religious conservatives seemed content. Despite the Iran-Contra

abuse, he seemed to act from moral principle, saw issues as right or wrong, and castigated the Soviet Union as the "evil empire." George H. W. Bush, like Jimmy Carter before him, was personally religious and pro-life as president, but ineffective as chief executive.

Elected in 1992, President Bill Clinton attended church regularly and professed a strong belief in God and eternity, but his scandalous relationship with Monica Lewinsky alienated many. Reacting to Clinton's Tilings, the country elected George W. Bush. Bush called Christ his favorite philosopher, credited the power of God with his victory over alcohol, and felt "called" to run for the presidency, but the war in Iraq ultimately cost him support.

The author concludes that, after Nixon, religion could no longer be a non-issue for voters, and Carter, Reagan, and both Presidents Bush understood this.But the author also notes that religious belief rarely translates into a successful presidency and, although the American people see themselves as religious, they do not demand that their presidents always act religiously, only that they avoid public scandal.

This brief work is not exhaustive, but it treats an important topic, and its evidence is solid, if often anecdotal. Each president comes alive, with faults and virtues, and the general reader will put the book down looking forward to reading further and learning more. Seven appendices of primary source material, including John Kennedy's address to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, Gerald Ford's proclamation of pardon for Richard Nixon, and Jimmy Carter's "Crisis of Confidence" speech, add to the book's value and usefulness.

THOMAS E. BLANTZ, C.S.C.

UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

NOTRE DAME, INDIANA