Faith and the American Presidency

Never before in American history have so many presidential candidates been identified with a strong, personal faith. There are no “religious” candidates because all are religious in one way or another. The question is: What difference does this make once the person is in office? While we can’t predict the future, we can look to the past to give us a clue. Written by leading American historians, Faith and the American Presidency shows how the personal beliefs of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, and Ronald Reagan—among others—shaped their public policies. What readers will see is that religious faith does indeed shape the presidency in ways that are both subtle and unexpected.