American Gospel

American Gospel by Jon Meacham

Category: U.S. History Grade: B

This book is a survey of the place of religion in the United States from the Founding pretty much through the present day. Meacham's premise is that "public religion" - a general belief in God - has been a critical part of the formation of our country since its beginning. He starts with the Founding Fathers, most importantly Jefferson, Adams and Franklin, and shows that while all were deists, none were devout participants in organized religion. Jefferson, in particular, pushed the notion of the separation of church and state. His premise, a little surprisingly, was not necessarily to protect the government and citizens from the intrusion of relgion. In spite of his generic beliefs, he believed that the survival of organized religions were important to the future of our country.

Meacham shows how personal religious beliefs of our leaders have affected how they respond to the issues they face. He focuses on some of the obvious recent presidents - Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson and Reagan. He also has some interesting things to say about the relationship between Billy Graham and Richard Nixon.

As you can tell, there's not a lot of enthusiasm behind this review. The book was good, but not great. If you've got a specific interest in either the Founding Fathers or the roll of religion in society, you'll enjoy it. If not, don't bother.