Research Catalog

Title

God in the White House, a history : how faith shaped the presidency from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush / Randall Balmer.

Author

Balmer, Randall Herbert.

Publication

New York : Harper San Francisco, [2008], ©2008.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

x, 243 pages : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

"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 evangelism 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." "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."--BOOK JACKET.

Subject

• Presidents > United States > Religion
• Church and state > United States
• Religion and politics > United States > History > 20th century

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

1. Protestant underworld : John F. Kennedy and the "religious issue" -- 2. Do unto others : Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the improbable presidency of Gerald R. Ford -- 3. Born again : Jimmy Carter, redeemer president, and the rise of the religious right -- 4. Listing right : Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and the "Evil Empire" -- 5. Dualistic discourse : the Clinton interregnum and Bush redux -- Conclusion : cheap Grace : piety and the presidency -- App. 1. John F. Kennedy in Houston, Texas -- App. 2. Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society -- App. 3. Gerald Ford's preemptive pardon of Nixon -- App. 4. Jimmy Carter's "crisis of confidence" speech -- App. 5. Ronald Reagan's "Statue of Liberty" speech -- App. 6. Bill Clinton on Billy Graham -- App. 7. George W. Bush on September 11, 2001.

ISBN

• 9780060734053 :
• 0060734051 :

LCCN

40015165253

OCLC

• 192045819
• ocn192045819
• SCSB-5395483

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries