God Wills It is a comprehensive study of presidential religious rhetoric. Using careful analysis of hundreds of transcripts, David O'Connell reveals the hidden strategy behind presidential religious speech. He asks when and why religious language is used, and when it is, whether such language is influential.Case studies explore the religious arguments presidents have made to defend their decisions on issues like defense spending, environmental protection, and presidential scandals. O'Connell provides strong evidence that when religious rhetoric is used public opinion typically goes against the president, the media reacts harshly to his words, and Congress fails to do as he wants. An experimental chapter casts even further doubt on the persuasiveness of religious rhetoric.God Wills It shows that presidents do not talk this way because they want to. Presidents like Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush were quite uncomfortable using faith to promote their agendas. They did so because they felt they must. God Wills It shows that even if presidents attempt to call on the deity, the more important question remains: Will God come when they do?

Bush White House, historian Balmer explores the role religion plays in the personal and political lives of Americas presidents. 16-page b&w photo insert.

The authors have skillfully woven an anecdotal, historical, fact-filled account of the White House occupancy of each of the Presidents, for obviously not religion alone decided events or guided action. Adds a new dimension to their characters, and more prestige to many.

This book has been written to give you a taste of the kind of people who have held the office of the President of the United States of America in times gone by. Particularly this book will investigate the religious and Christian views of past presidents to discover whether or not they left a lasting legacy for future presidents to follow. I have also deliberately restricted the research of this book to a time period of about 132 years, between George Washington, who took office in 1789 to Woodrow Wilson, who left office just after World War I in 1921. This helps to avoid repetitiveness if we were to consider presidents from a wider timescale. In order to decide who would be eligible for inclusion in this book, I set up a three-prong test, which is highlighted in more detail in chapter one. Finally, this book has been written to help inform you about the kind of president you would like to see governing the United States from the Oval Office in the future; particularly if you want to base your decision-making, during election times, on the life and experiences of past presidents.

This book chronologically analyzes fourteen key US Presidents, from Washington to Biden, to highlight how religion has informed or influenced 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 fourth edition, this work includes analysis of Joe Biden as the second Catholic president in United States history and provides a timely update to a key text in the study of religion and the presidency.

Continuing the work of Faith and the Presidency (OUP 2006), Gary Scott Smith takes on eleven more US presidents and examines the role religion played in their policies, personal lives, and decisions.

For much of British history, kings and queens have taken oaths on the Bible as they were coronated. Symbolically,perhaps, President George Washington swore on an open Bible, establishing a new American tradition. For Washington, the Bible was opened at random, and many of his successors followed suit. Others have chosen specific verses or books of the Bible. The reasons for a particular choice are as varied as the men who have occupied the office. interestingly enough, more than twice as many have chosen Old Testament verses as New Testament ones, and the Psalms have been used more than any other book. Perhaps the position of the Psalms at the center of many Bibles explains the choice; triumphant Presidents choosing joyful texts is another explanation.