So Help Us, God

The religious beliefs of America's leaders and the role of religion in public life have long captivated the American public. In this book, historian Carl J. Richard looks at the many ways that the Bible has influenced America's leaders in their personal and political lives. With chapters organized thematically, Richard discusses the educational system, familial influences, church experiences, and religious revivals that have immersed presidents in the Bible; their lifelong engagement with Scripture; their biblically-infused political rhetoric; their powerful belief in a divine Providence that protected them and guided their nation; their resultant belief in the power of prayer; their belief in God-given rights and spiritual equality; their belief in a national mission to advance the cause of liberty across the globe; their belief in the excellence of Christian ethics and in the necessity of religion to the survival and success of republican government; their belief in an afterlife; their religious differences; the influence of the founding presidents' biblical conception of human nature on their establishment of constitutional checks and balances; and the effect of modern presidents' more optimistic outlook on their willingness to undermine them. So Help Us, God: American Presidents and the Bible will appeal to all readers interested in American presidential history and the role of religion in public life.