Faith and the Presidency, ‘Falling in Love with Joseph Smith,’ and More

A glimpse inside the minds and souls of the men who have led our country.

Every American President has professed some kind of religious faith – at least in public. We look back on some of the inner spiritual struggles of our forty-four Presidents, from Abraham Lincoln’s conflict with slavery to Harry Truman’s prayer before dropping the Atom bomb.

Pundits can speculate endlessly about who will win the presidency, but ultimately it’s the voters who decide the outcome. Two individuals tell us how religion and politics intersect in their own lives.

Hemant Mehta, an atheist voter from Chicago
Deirdre Folley, a Catholic voter from Rockville, MD

When Jane Barnes signed on to write the script for PBS’ The Mormons, she had never met a Mormon, and knew nothing about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As she buried herself in her research, she became mesmerized by the church’s plucky founder, Joseph Smith.

 

 


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