Nearly Every U.S. President Has Been Christian

Most presidents have been from the Episcopalian or Presbyterian churches.

America’s new president Donald Trump is the nation’s ninth Presbyterian president. The nation has appointed another Christian president. Although religion is not a requirement, tracing America’s history of presidents reveals that the nation has almost always had Christian presidents.

Nearly Every U.S. President Has Been Christian[/tweetthis]

The highest number of presidents comes from the Episcopal Church.[/tweetit] 11 of the 44 U.S. presidents, including George Washington himself, were Episcopalian. In contrast, only one Catholic, John F. Kennedy, has served as president despite the fact that Catholicism has been the largest Christian denomination in the nation. Similarly, only one member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses has become president.

There have been two presidents who had no formal religious affiliation, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson. It’s well known Lincoln was raised in a devout Christian household, but which denomination he officially belonged to is still a matter of debate as he was not known to have formally joined any church. Although he often made references to God, his religious affiliation is still unknown. As for Thomas Jefferson, he rejected conservative Christianity and remained unaffiliated to any church. His belief in the existence of an impersonal God and creator was no secret matter. He did, however, edit the Bible to create his own, removing miraculous references and leaving only the teachings of Christ.

Presidents Johnson, Hayes and Obama have all identified as Christians. However, they have not indicated affiliation to any specific church. Obama was raised in a non-religious family. He joined the Trinity United Church of Christ as an adult and remained in the church until 2008, when his Church’s chief pastor said blacks should sing “God Damn America” instead of “God Bless America.” After he left the Church, Obama remained a Christian, although he hasn’t joined any other church ever since.

Two of the most popular US Presidents, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson, had no religious affiliation. Keep religion out of politics!

— ✌? (@WhatDoIStand4) August 11, 2013

The religious affiliation of President Trump has also been a matter of contention for a long time, although it’s now widely accepted he is a Presbyterian. The Presbyterian Church stands second in producing presidents for the U.S. Presbyterianism was one of the new religions that moved to America after the continent was discovered. Andrew Jackson was the first Presbyterian in the White House and the most recent one prior to Trump was Ronald Reagan. Trump’s religious affiliations are confusing because he no longer attends a Presbyterian church, although he says that his is a “wonderful religion.” However, it’s also known he attended a Dutch Reformed Congregation Church, Marble Collegiate Church as a young man in New York. Of late, he has been increasingly associated with white evangelical pastors such as Paula White.

Resources

• Pew Research Center
• World Religion News – Donald Trump’s Religion and Beliefs
• World Religion News – Trump’s “God Whisperer”: Meet the Pastor Who Prays With Him
• Smithsonian
• ABC News