Description
Book SynopsisThis book chronologically analyzes thirteen key US Presidents, from Washington to Trump, to highlight how religion has informed or influence their politics and policies. For years, leading scholars have largely neglected religion in presidential studies. Yet, religion has played a significant role in a number of critical presidencies in US history. This volume reveals the deep religious side to such presidents as Truman, Eisenhower, and Reagan, among others, and the impact that faith had on their administrations. Now in its third edition, this work also provides a fresh look at the legacy of Obama’s faith-based administration, as well as a new chapter on the 2016 Trump campaign’s dependence on religious voters to provide a timely update to a key text in the study of religion and the presidency.
Table of Contents1. The Importance of Religion in Understanding the American Presidency.- 2. The Faith of George Washington – Gary Scott Smith.- 3. Thomas Jefferson and the Myth of Separation.- 4. Religion in the Life, Thought, and Presidency of James Madison.- 5. Lincoln’s Political Religion and Religious Practice.- 6. “We Must Put on the Armor of God”: Harry Truman and the Cold War.- 7. Dwight D. Eisenhower: Civil Religion and the Cold War.- 8. Secular Icon or Catholic Hero: Religion and the Presidency of John F. Kennedy.- 9. Jimmy Carter and the Politics of Faith.- 9. Ronald Reagan’s Faith and Attack on Soviet Communism.- 10. The Religion of Bill Clinton – James Penning.- 11. The Faith of George W. Bush.- 12. The Faith of Barack Obama.- 13. Donald J. Trump, the 2016 Election and the Enduring Role of Religion in the American Presidency.
