Religion and the American Presidency

Religion and the American Presidency
Author: Gastón Espinosa
Publisher:
Total Pages: 566
Release: 2009
Genre: History
ISBN:

This book challenges the idea that the mixing of religion and presidential politics is a new phenomenon. It explores how presidents have drawn on their religious upbringing, rhetoric, ideas, and beliefs to promote their domestic and foreign policies to the nation. This influence is evident in Washington's decision to add "so help me God" to the presidential oath, accusations by Adam's supporters that Jefferson was an infidel, Lincoln's biblical metaphors during the Civil War, and FDR's call to fight against Nazi totalitarianism on behalf of Judeo-Christian civilization. It is also apparent in Truman's support for Israel, Eisenhower's Cold War decision to add "In God We Trust" on American currency, the debate over JFK's Catholicism, Jimmy Carter's born-again Christianity, Reagan's "Evil Empire" speech, Clinton's public repentance, and George W. Bush's "crusade" against Islamic terrorists. This volume explores these issues of religion and power in the presidencies of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Lincoln, FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, JFK, Carter, Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush through scholarly interpretations, primary sources, and illustrations.

The Secrets of the Kingdom

The Secrets of the Kingdom
Author: Hugh B. Urban
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2007
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780742552470

The Secrets of the Kingdom is the first book to critically examine the complex relationship between faith and concealment in the Bush White House.

God and George W. Bush

God and George W. Bush
Author: Paul Kengor
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 404
Release: 2005-09-20
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 006077956X

George W. Bush has brought the question of religion back into American political life in a way that it has not been for decades. From the 2000 election through the challenges America has faced in the wake of September 11, Bush's personal faith -- and his conviction about the importance of religion in our national life -- have won him lasting admiration from the right, while attracting fury and scorn from the left. Now presidential scholar Paul Kengor, the author of the acclaimed God and Ronald Reagan, reconstructs the spiritual journey that carried George W. Bush to the White House -- from the death of his sister, which helped to shape his character, to the conversion experience that changed his life. Matching detailed new research with thoughtful analysis, God and George W. Bush is the definitive look at the spiritual life of this American president.

Faith-based Initiatives and the Bush Administration

Faith-based Initiatives and the Bush Administration
Author: Jo Renee Formicola
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2003
Genre: Church and state
ISBN: 9780742523043

In this textbook noted scholars Jo Renee Formicola and Mary C. Segers analyze the administration's initiative from three distinct dimensions.

Religion in the Oval Office

Religion in the Oval Office
Author: Gary Scott Smith
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 665
Release: 2015
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0199391394

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.

A Man of Faith

A Man of Faith
Author: David Aikman
Publisher: HarperChristian + ORM
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2004-02-18
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1418516392

“Offers some Bush family history, examines his wayward years and details Bush’s transformation from churchgoer to a Christian who internalized his faith.” —Publishers Weekly More than any other world leader in recent times, George W. Bush is a man of faith . . . a conservative Christian who has brought the power of prayer and the search for God’s will into the Oval Office. His faith has proven to be a bedrock of strength and resolve during two of the most tumultuous years in our nation’s history. According to Newsweek magazine, “This presidency is the most resolutely faith based in modern times. An enterprise founded, supported and guided by trust in the temporal and spiritual power of God.” David Aikman, skilled journalist and former senior correspondent for TIME magazine, pens this dramatic and gripping account of Bush’s journey to faith. Based on interviews and behind-the-scenes stories, you’ll learn how . . . His life changed after a conversation with Billy Graham on the beach at Kennebunkport He walked away from alcoholism toward a new destiny The events following 9/11 caused many to view him as God’s chosen man for this critical time in history His decision to go to war with Iraq became the ultimate test of his faith A Man of Faith . . . an intimate look at how Bush’s spiritual life has impacted his presidency, the nation, and the world.

The Man in the Middle

The Man in the Middle
Author: Timothy S. Goeglein
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2011-09-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1433673924

Timothy Goeglein spent nearly eight years in the White House as President George W. Bush's key point of contact to American conservatives and the faith-based world and was frequently profiled in the national news media. But when a plagiarism scandal prompted his resignation, Goeglein chose not to dodge it but confront it, and was shown remarkable grace by the president. In fact, Bush showed more concern for Goeglein and his family than any personal political standing. So begins The Man in the Middle, Goeglein's unique insider account of why he believes most of the 43rd president's in-office decisions were made for the greater good, and how many of those decisions could serve as a blueprint for the emergence of a thoughtful, confident conservatism. From a fresh perspective, Goeglein gives behind-the-scenes accounts of key events during that historic two-term administration, reflecting on what was right and best about the Bush years. He was in Florida for the 2000 election recount, at the White House on 9/11, and watched Bush become a reluctant but effective wartime president. Goeglein, now the vice president with Focus on the Family, also looks back at how Bush handled matters like stem cell research, faith-based initiatives, the emergence of the Values Voters, the nominations of both Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito-in which Goeglein had a direct role-and debates over the definition of marriage. In all, The Man in the Middle backs historians who view the legacy of President George W. Bush in a favorable light, recognizing his conservative ideas worth upholding in order to better shape our nation and change the world.

Visions of Religion

Visions of Religion
Author: Stephen S. Bush
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2014-10-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0199387419

Winner of the Gustave O. Arlt Award in the Humanities Three understandings of the nature of religion--religion as experience, symbolic meaning, and power--have dominated scholarly discussions, in succession, for the past hundred years. Proponents of each of these three approaches have tended to downplay, ignore, or actively criticize the others. But why should the three approaches be at odds? Religion as it is practiced involves experiences, meanings, and power, so students of religion should attend to all three. Furthermore, theorists of religion should have an account that carefully conceptualizes all three aspects, without regarding any of them as more basic than the others. Visions of Religion provides just such an account. Stephen S. Bush examines influential proponents of the three visions, arguing that each approach offers substantial and lasting contributions to the study of religion, although each requires revision. Bush rehabilitates the concepts of experience and meaning, two categories that are much maligned these days. In doing so, he shows the extent to which these categories are implicated in matters of social power. As for power, the book argues that the analysis of power requires attention to meaning and experience. Visions of Religion accomplishes all this by articulating a social practical theory of religion that can account for all three aspects, even as it incorporates them into a single theoretical framework.

George W. Bush on God and Country

George W. Bush on God and Country
Author: George Walker Bush
Publisher: Allegiance Press, Incorporated
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2004
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

This remarkable compilation gives readers portions of every address Bush has given in public life about faith in God, his commitment to life and freedom, patriotism, and his hope in the American people.