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Religion
Article VI, paragraph 3 of the U.S. Constitution stipulates,
“The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”
The article implicitly precludes any questions on the religious affiliation or beliefs of a president, a fact that many claim, were purposely engineered by the Founding Fathers to accommodate the Unitarian and Deist beliefs among several of them, a few whom would later become president of the country.
This is further reinforced with the introduction of The 14th Amendment, adopted on July 9, 1868, which states:
"No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States."
There is no denying that the religious affiliations of several former presidents are suspect. Twelve in particular have been mired in controversy for the longest of time.
•John Adams
•Chester Arthur
•Ulysses S. Grant
•William Henry Harrison
•Rutherford B. Hayes
•Thomas Jefferson
•Andrew Johnson
•Abraham Lincoln
•James Madison
•James Monroe
•Zachary Taylor
•John Tyler
There is also the disagreement behind the classification of 21 former presidents as Episcopalian. The closest church to the White House, at one time, was the St. John’s Church, of the Episcopalian denomination. Located a stone throws’ away from the White House, the church was reputed to be highly selective of its members, and admission were seen as a status symbol, prompting many to claim affiliation. Case in point was on the assertion that Martin Van Buren and John Tyler were Episcopalians, when there was evidence that van Buren was a practicing Dutch Reformist/Protestant in New York while Tyler’s only surviving quote on religion was in defense of Catholics!
Former President Eisenhower’s affiliation is also another cloudy area, as there is strong evidence he was a Jehovah Witness instead of Presbyterian.
However, for the purpose of brevity, we’ve compiled a list that presents the majority view of the religious affiliations of our presidents.
List of Presidential Religious Affiliation by Denomination
Baptist
Warren Harding, Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton
Catholic
John F. Kennedy
Congregationalist
Calvin Coolidge, Barack Obama (United Church of Christ)
Disciple of Christ
James Garfield, Lyndon Johnson
Dutch Reformed
Martin van Buren and Theodore Roosevelt
Episcopalian
James Madison, James Monroe, William Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, Franklin Pierce, Chester Arthur, Franklin Roosevelt, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush
Methodist
Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, William McKinley and George W. Bush
Presbyterian
Andrew Jackson, James Polk, James Buchanan, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, Woodrow Wilson, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan
Quaker
Herbert Hoover, Richard Nixon
Unitarian
John Adams, John Quincy Adams, William Howard Taft and Millard Filmore
Unconfirmed
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Jackson
How do the candidates stand?
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Gingrich Religion
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Gingrich came from a Lutheran family. However, he was not a practicing Lutheran, and upon entering the academia, and subsequently politics, he began to attend service with his colleagues who were predominantly Southern Baptists, and he became one by default. However, at the turn of the century, he began to immerse himself with history of Catholic Church, quite possibly influenced by his wife Callista, and he was quoted saying, “Slowly, over a decade, the centrality of the Eucharist in the Catholic Mass became more and more obvious to me.”
The final push however arrived in the form of Pope Benedict XVI during a visit to the country in 2008. Gingrich revealed that “the joyful and radiating presence of the Holy Father was a moment of confirmation about the many things I have been thinking and experiencing over the last several years”. He converted to Catholicism the very same evening.
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Declared 2012
Libertarian Presidential Candidate
3-Tour Combat Vet, Philosopher and Law Student
RJ Harris
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Harris Religion
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Deist
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Declared 2012
Libertarian Presidential Candidate
Former Governor of New Mexico
Gary Johnson
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Johnson Religion
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Johnson is a non-practicing Lutheran.
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Karger Religion
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Karger is a non-practicing Jew.
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Lane Religion
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Non-denominational Christian
More on Lane
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Declared 2012
Democratic Presidential Candidate
Current President of the United States
Barack Obama
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Obama Religion
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Obama is a practicing Christian. His biological father, Obama Sr., came from a mixed Christian-Muslim-Animist family background. His stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, was a nominal Muslim, while his mother, Ann Dunham, was a nominal Christian. His maternal grandparents, Stanley and Madelyn Dunham, were Christians.
While living in Chicago, Obama and his wife, Michelle, attended Sunday service at the Trinity United Church of Christ for almost two decades. However, following controversial remarks made by the church's pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, in 2008, they have distanced themselves from the church since.
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Paul Religion
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• Ron Paul is a Protestant.
• He was raised as a Lutheran but had his children baptized in the Episcopal church.
• He now attends a conservative Baptist church in his Texas district.
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Declared 2012
Libertarian Presidential Candidate
New York attorney and founder of the Paralegal Institute
Carl Person
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Person Religion
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• Formerly Methodist, Congregationalist, Lutheran, and Unitarian. Now supports freedom of religion, but no current faith given.
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Romney Religion
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• Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS).
• Mitt Romney is the fifth Mormon to try for presidency.
• Comparing his stance to that of John F. Kennedy's famous address in 1960, Mitt Romney said 'Like him, I am an American running for president. I do not define my candidacy by my religion. A person should not be elected because of his faith nor should he be rejected because he believes in my Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it. My faith is the faith of my fathers -- I will be true to them and to my beliefs,"
• In his Faith in America speech on December 16th 2007, Mitt Romney said "No candidate should become the spokesman for his faith. For if he becomes president he will need the prayers of the people of all faiths."
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Santorum Religion
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Santorum is a devout Catholic, and at one time was even listed as one of the 25 most influential evangelists in America by Time magazine. A former aide was once quoted as saying that Santorum was a ‘Catholic missionary’. Santorum and his wife were conferred with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in 2004 by the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta. The award is accorded to Catholics worldwide who have displayed exemplary chivalry, nobleness or service to the faith.
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Snyder Religion
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Christian; Non-denominational
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Declared 2012
Democratic Presidential Candidate
Pro-life Activist
Randall Terry
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Terry Religion
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Roman Catholic
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Woodring Religion
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Christian; Non-denominational
More on Woodring
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Wuensche Religion
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• Has been a Missouri Synod Lutheran all his life. Is quite serious about his faith. He served as a treasurer in one church, was Elder in another for 38 years and is an Elder in his present church.
More on Wuensche
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