Dr. Gary Smith

Gary Scott Smith chairs the History Department and coordinates the Humanities Core at Grove City College where he has taught since 1978.  He will discuss his book Faith and the Presidency: From George Washington to George W. Bush (Oxford University Press, 2006).  As news about the 2008 presidential campaign, including the religious commitments and views of the candidates, fills the airwaves every day, having a historical background is helpful.

Despite the mounting interest in the role of religion in American public life, we actually know remarkably little about the faith of our presidents. Was Thomas Jefferson an atheist, as his political opponents charged? What role did Lincoln's religious views play in his handling of slavery and the Civil War? How did born-again Southern Baptist Jimmy Carter lose the support of many evangelicals? Is George W. Bush, as his critics often claim, a captive of the religious right? In his fascinating book, Smith answers these questions and many more. He takes a sweeping look at the role religion has played in presidential politics and policies. Drawing on extensive archival research, Smith paints compelling portraits of the religious lives and presidencies of eleven chief executives for whom religion was particularly important.

"Wonderful... a thorough, even-handed and nuanced study. What resounds on page after fascinating page is that, despite all the handwringing over the role of religion in American public life, in reality we've known very little about the steadfast beliefs of our past presidents." --Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“It is hard to imagine a better informed or a better balanced study of the complicated, and sometimes contradictory, roles that religion has played for the eleven presidents who are the subjects of this book." --Mark A. Noll, author of America's God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln

 “Broad in scope, thoroughly researched, written by an author informed both in theology and in political history, this book may establish a standards for subsequent writers on the American presidency. Smith's insightful and ambitious study details the ways in which the religious faith of eleven key presidents influenced their policies and performances.. It promises to become required reading for anyone concerned with the interplay of religion and presidential policies in American history."  --David L. Holmes, author of The Faiths of The Founding Fathers