Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe... were all Episcopalians from Virginia. They had to be because the Church of England and then the Anglican church was the state church of Virginia. It was supported by taxes and membership in this denomination was required for any man who sought influence and public office in the state. They were all part of the southern aristocracy and each one of them was a slaveowner. In addition, they were well-educated men who were much more comfortable with reason than they were with emotion. Thus, with the exception of Jefferson, they kept their religious views to themselves and when they spoke of God, they usually spoke in general terms, using words like "Creator" and "Sovereign" instead of "Lord and Savior." If any of them had a personal conversion experience in which they confessed their sins and accepted Christ as their own Lord and Savior, I am not aware of it. Still, they were baptized church-goers who believed that the country was stronger and more civil because it was anchored in Christianity. John Adams and his son, John Quincy, were both Congregationalists from Massachusetts, although the elder Adams was unable to embrace the church's Trinitarian doctrine or the divinity of Christ. John Quincy, staid and proper as a man could be, was the first President to speak publicly about salvation in Christ and his commitment to God's word could not be questioned. Andrew Jackson was the second President to claim that he was saved by "the merits and the blood of Jesus Christ" following an agonizing and soul-searching night in which we was forgiven and reborn. Our first seven Presidents were "Christians" in different ways and to differing degrees, including Jefferson who claimed that he was Christian "in the only sense that Jesus ever wanted anyone to be."
Most people know of our first seven Presidents. They can recite their names, but as the country dealt with territorial expansion and more particularly, with slavery, it became increasingly difficult to form a consensus around any one man. Thus, we had a string of largely forgotten Presidents between Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln. They include Martin Van Buren (the first President to be born in the United States), William Henry Harrison (who served for only 31 days), John Tyler, James Polk (who was the first President under 50 years of age when elected), Zachary Taylor (who, like Harrison, died in office), Millard Filmore (the last member of the Whig party to be President), "handsome" Franklin Pierce (who died on cirrhosis of the liver), and James Buchanan ( who was a life-long bachelor).
In chronological order, historians have made these observations about the religious faith these men practiced (or failed to practice). 1) Martin Van Buren was baptized and buried in the Dutch Reformed Church of Kinderhook, New York. As a former member of this denomination, I have a soft spot in my heart for Van Buren, but it is a fact that he attended this church (and the Episcopal church in D.C) throughout his life. As an anecdote, history notes that Van Buren's voice "could be heard above the entire congregation in song." During his last illness, Van Buren said, "The atonement of Jesus Christ is the only remedy and rest for my soul;" 2) William H. Harrison succeeded Van Buren. He was yet another Anglican from Virginia and the last President born under English rule. There is little evidence that Harrison's life was based on faith, but he did buy a Bible after he was inaugurated, and according to the pastor of St. John's Episcopal Church, "Had he (Harrison) lived, he intended on the next Sabbath to become a communicant at the Lord's table;" 3) John Tyler succeeded Harrison and he was raised in the same Virginia county as Harrison. Thus, he was also an (inactive) Episcopalian who never abandoned his support for slavery. In fact, when he died. President Lincoln did not recognize his passing because Tyler was considered to be a traitor. Instead, his funeral was arranged by Jefferson Davis. Although one of Tyler's friends noted that "he was a firm believer in the atonement of the Son of God and in the efficacy of his blood...", no pastor visited his home for last rites; 4) James Knox Polk attended the Presbyterian Church throughout his life, but he never joined the church or gave religion much thought for that matter. Indeed, he was never baptized, but he did have a spiritual moment at a Methodist camp when he was a younger man. The experience left a permanent impression of Polk and he called the same pastor/evangelist, John B. McFerrin, to his bedside when he was dying. McFerrin baptized Polk and later said that the President embraced Jesus Christ as his personal Savior; 5) Zachary Taylor was a self-taught man whose writing skills were "near illiterate." He gained wealth when his family moved from Virginia to Kentucky by acquiring cheap land and slaves. Later, he parlayed his contacts through marriage and business into great wealth, acquiring more than 200 slaves... and he parlayed his reputation as a war hero into the White House. Like other Virginians, Taylor was an Episcopalian; 6) Millard Fillmore seldom referred to God in his writings and never in a personal sense. He fought to eliminate the oath which witnesses took in court, and he noted, "God knows I detest slavery and consider it an existing evil for which I am not responsible"... However, we must give it the protection guaranteed by the constitution. Fillmore, a Methodist turned Unitarian, sympathized with what he called "liberal Christianity;" 7) Franklin Pierce was a charming, outgoing and handsome man who married a teetotaler named Jane. She despised his heavy drinking and resisted his political ambitions at every turn. All four of their children died as children and their son, Ben, died in a train crash before their eyes. Jane was a devout Christian and on the second anniversary of her death, Pierce was baptized as a member of the Episcopalian church, which he chose because it was not as "political" as the Congregational church. Notwithstanding his commitment to church, Pierce died of cirrhosis from heavy drinking; 8) James Buchanan was a life-long bachelor who was born to a deist father and a strong Presbyterian mother. He wanted to join the Presbyterian church for years, but between his hesitation over their anti-slavery stance and their unwillingness to accept him, he wasn't able to join the church until Sept. 23, 1865. He liked the order of the Presbyterian worship experience, noting that his "old Presbyterian notions prevented him the theatrical entertainment" of some other churches.
Well. there you have it- the eight men who occupied the White House between Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln. They served in trying times to say the least and they found it impossible to appease both the pro-slavery and anti-slavery sides that were readying for war. They were, as a lot, flawed Christians and I will leave it to you to decide whether one or more of them were Christian in name only.
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