The Religious Journey of Dwight D. Eisenhower

After rising to become Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II and, later, president of Columbia University and head of NATO, Dwight Eisenhower was questioned by a reporter as to why he rarely attended church. Eisenhower’s impatient reply was, “I am the most intensely religious man I know.” This striking line appears near the beginning (on page 9) of Jack M. Holl’s The Religious Journey of Dwight D. Eisenhower: Duty, God, and Country, which explores the faith “journey” of the five-star general of the US Army who would become the thirty-fourth president of the United States and, yet, would not be baptized into a Christian denomination (Presbyterian) until just before entering the Oval Office.

Holl writes that Eisenhower, growing up in Abilene, Kansas along with his four brothers, was nurtured in his parents’ (David and Ida) Jehovah’s Witness faith. Holl notes that the religious convictions of his parents included a rejection of all oaths, an embrace of pacifism, and the affirmation of  an eventual apocalyptic conflict between good and evil that would usher in Christ’s reign on earth. The religious education Eisenhower received from his parents would result in him reading through the Bible more than once. Like his mother, Holl writes, Eisenhower would become skeptical of religious dogma and of denominations who claimed to possess exclusive theological truth. Eisenhower also rejected his parents’ aversion to military service when he accepted an appointment to the US Military Academy at West Point. Despite their strong reservations concerning their son’s decision, Eisenhower’s parents never condemned his military career.

Eisenhower is often portrayed as a person of minimal religious conviction. This work, however, demonstrates that Eisenhower as US president may have done more to promote the place of religion in American life than any of his predecessors or successors in that office. Chapter 3 in particular makes this clear, detailing how during his presidency Eisenhower opened his first inaugural address with a prayer, opened cabinet meetings with spoken prayer, spoke before the National Council of Churches, supported adding the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance, applauded inscribing “In God We Trust” on US coins and currency, helped create a religious affairs post in the White House, and was instrumental in establishing the Presidential Prayer Breakfast and institutionalized the National Day of Prayer.

The core of Eisenhower’s religious practice might be described as an “American civil religion,” a religion that affirms that because persons are created in the image of a God, democracy demands that individual freedom and dignity be defended and preserved (176). For Eisenhower, the very existence of the United States confirmed God’s benevolent presence. For Eisenhower, Holl argues, American democracy made no logical sense without the recognition of a Supreme Being, as the Founding Fathers acknowledged (300). He had no patience with atheism and was convinced that the rise of Communism threatened the freedom, religious liberty, and moral compass of human beings.

Eisenhower viewed the vibrant practice of religion in the US as important to personal discipline, respect for duty, and an affection for country and neighbor, according to Holl. Religion had the power to unite Americans around an understanding of their past and dedicate them to a common cause for the future (185). This civil call to duty was birthed in Eisenhower’s soul as a cadet at West Point and thereafter became a consuming religious calling.  While Eisenhower never appeared to have had a deep religious experience, the academy propelled him to see that his “calling” was to serve God through serving his nation. His hometown left a lasting mark on his character and worldview, but after leaving Abilene, the army became Eisenhower’s surrogate church (69). His religious awakening was gradual, and the religious seeds planted by his parents did not fully take root until he assumed tremendous duties during World War II (121). Eisenhower viewed human nature as a struggle between selfishness and tyranny (original sin) and commitment to God and our neighbor’s well-being. This dialectical tension between the common good and self-interest shaped his religious, political, and economic beliefs.

Although his long military career receives attention, Holl devotes the majority of his study to the impact of religion on Eisenhower’s presidency,. Perhaps that is because during his time in the White House, he practiced his public faith openly, in contrast to his time as a US Army officer. Eisenhower chose to join the Presbyterian church because that was the faith tradition of his wife, Mamie. During the couple’s marriage they had two sons, Doud Dwight (Icky) and John. Eisenhower’s faith was shattered for an extended period by the sudden death of “Icky” in 1920 from scarlet fever. The loss of his son, around the same time as the death of his close friend Jimmy Ord, caused him to reflect the rest of his life on God’s role in human affairs, since he was certain God did not will the deaths of either of them. For Eisenhower, God did not determine the success or failure of human endeavors because God gave humans freedom to shape the outcome of events.

Evangelical religious leaders such as Billy Graham pressed the president to profess Jesus Christ as his personal savior, but Eisenhower resisted such efforts. Religious dogma did not interest him as a matter of faith. In fact, he remained uncertain about the meaning of “salvation” and the idea of heaven beyond this life (305). American civil religion for Eisenhower was ecumenical: persons of other faiths (Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, etc.) as well as Trinitarians, Unitarians, and pantheists, could all celebrate the fundamental ideals of American democracy.

A great strength of Holl’s work is its detailed narrative backed by extensive research. It is surprising and unfortunate, then, that the book contains no traditional footnotes. There is a biographical section that provides an extensive list of sources used by the author, but it makes no provision for the reader to verify various claims made in the text. Nevertheless, this work is a valuable contribution understanding the religious faith of an individual who has shaped American and world history.

William T. Chandler is an independent scholar.

William T. Chandler

Date Of Review:

September 27, 2023