Dwight David Eisenhower (October 14, 1890-March 25, 1969) the 34th President of the United States, 1953-61; Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe, 1950-52; president of Columbia University, 1948-52; U.S. Army Chief of Staff, 1945-48; Supreme Commander of Allied Expeditionary Force, 1944, directing the D-Day invasion of Normandy; Commanding General of Allied Powers in European Theater, 1943, directing invasion of Sicily and Italy; Lieutenant General, Allied Commander in Chief of North Africa, 1942, directing invasion of North Africa; Assistant Chief of Staff to General Marshall, 1942; Brigadier General, 1941; Chief of Staff of Third Division, 1940.
He was assigned to Philippines, 1935-39; attached to staff of General Douglas MacArthur, 1932; worked in office of Assistant Secretary of War, 1929; wrote guide to French battlefields, 1928; attended Command and General Staff School, 1925; assigned to Panama, 1922; commanded tank-training center, 1918; married Mamie Geneva Doud, 1916; commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 1915; and graduated from West Point, 1915.
Dwight D. Eisenhower was a descendant of the Eisenhower family which fled seventeenth century religious persecution in Germany and Switzerland. They belonged to the Brethren in Christ, similar to the Quaker faith, and briefly stayed in Holland, before eventually settling in Pennsylvania in 1735. His grandfather, Reverend Jacob E. Eisenhower, moved the family to Virginia, before his father moved to Denison, Texas, and then finally to Abilene, Kansas.
As a child, Eisenhower recalled how every evening, after their chores, he, along with his six brothers and father, would gather and sing hymns, accompanied by their mother Ida Eisenhower on the piano. They would then read the Bible as a part of their daily routine.
Open about his faith, fellow soldiers were impressed with his knowledge of Holy Land history when they visited Jerusalem, to which Eisenhower replied:
<I practically had to memorize the Bible when I was a kid.> 1890DE001
Dwight D. Eisenhower, who graduated from West Point in 1915, rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in World War I. In 1935, he was named senior assistant to General Douglas MacArthur in the Philippines. In June of 1942 he was selected to lead the Allied invasion on North Africa and command all the United States troops in Europe. Famous for the D-Day invasion of Normandy, Ike was named chief of staff in 1945.
As recorded by Senator Frank Carlson of Kansas, Dwight D. Eisenhower commented at the dedication of a chapel at Kansas State College while he was still in the Army:
<I don't believe our country will ever be the country that our forefathers had planned, and God has intended for us, unless we get back to fundamental spiritual principles.> 1890DE002
On the night of July 10, 1943, General Eisenhower observed the armada of 3000 naval ships that he had ordered to battle, sailing from Malta to the shores of Sicily. He saluted his men, then bowed his head in prayer. To the officer next to him he commented:
<There comes a time when you've used your brains, your training, your technical skill, and the die is cast and the events are in the hands of God, and there you have to leave them.> 1890DE003
On June 6, 1944, in launching the greatest invasion in history, General Eisenhower issued his "D-day Orders of the Day":
<Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!
You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.
In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.
Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.
But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground.
Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!
I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!
Good luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.> 1890DE004
On December 22, 1944, during the historic "Battle of the Bulge," General Eisenhower declared in his "Orders of the Day":
<By rushing out from his fixed defenses the enemy may give us the chance to turn his great gamble into his worst defeat. So I call upon every man, of all the Allies, to rise now to new heights of courage, of resolution and of effort.
Let everyone hold before him a single thought-to destroy the enemy on the ground, in the air, everywhere-destroy him! United in this determination and with unshakable faith in the cause for which we fight, we will, with God's help, go forward to our greatest victory.> 1890DE005
On January 25, 1952, the Religious Herald, Virginia, quoted Dwight Eisenhower in its article Presidential Candidates Stress Role of Religion:
<What is our battle against Communism if it is not a fight between anti- God and a belief in the Almighty? ... Communists...have to eliminate God from their system. When God comes, Communism has to go.> 1890DE006
On June 5, 1952, Dwight Eisenhower spoke at Eisenhower Park in Abilene, Kansas:
<China was lost to the free world in one of the greatest international disasters of our time-a type of tragedy that must not be repeated.> 1890DE007
On June 6, 1952, Dwight Eisenhower spoke in Abilene's Plaza Theater (TIME, June 16, 1952):
<Any kind of Communistic, subversive or pinkish influence [must] be uprooted from the responsible places in our government. Make no mistake about that.> 1890DE008
On June 16, 1952, TIME Magazine published as article titled "Homecoming," reporting on the laying of the cornerstone of the Eisenhower Museum in Abilene, Kansas, June 5, 1952. Kansas' Governor Edward F. Arn gave the introduction, then Dwight Eisenhower took the rostrum and stated:
<Inevitably, on such an occasion as this, memory is bound to turn backward...In fact, this day eight years ago, I made the most agonizing decision of my life. I had to decide to postpone by at least 24 hours the most formidable array of fighting ships and of fighting men that was ever launched across the sea against a hostile shore. The consequences of that decision at that moment could not have been foreseen by anyone.
If there were nothing else in my life to prove the existence of an almighty and merciful God, the events of the next 24 hours did it...The greatest break in a terrible outlay of weather occurred the next day and allowed that great invasion to proceed, with losses far below those we had anticipated...
But that is not really where my memory wants to land today as it travels back over the years. It is to the days of my boyhood...I want to call attention to the virtues of the times, to-at least as my brothers and I devoutly believe-the extraordinary virtues of our parents. First of all, they believed the admonition, "The fear of God is the beginning of all wisdom."
Their Bibles were a live...influence in their lives. There was nothing sad about their religion. They believed in it with a happiness and a contentment that all would be well if a man would take the cards that he had been dealt in this world and play them to the best of his ability...
And yet, in spite of the difficulties of the problems we have, I ask you this one question: If each of us in his own mind would dwell more upon those simple virtues-integrity, courage, self-confidence and unshakable belief in his Bible-would not some of these problems tend to simplify themselves? Would not we, after having done our very best with them, be content to leave the rest with the Almighty, and not to charge all our fellow men with the fault of bringing us where we were and are? I think it is possible that a contemplation, a study, a belief in those simple virtues would help us mightily...
Free government is the political expression of a deeply felt religious faith.> 1890DE009
On September 22, 1952, TIME Magazine published an article titled "Faith of the Candidates," stating:
<The editors of Episcopal Churchnews asked the major presidential candidates for a summary of their religious views, this week printed their answers.
Excerpts: Dwight Eisenhower, Protestant with no denominational affiliation: "You can't explain free government in any other terms than religious. The founding fathers had to refer to the Creator in order to make their revolutionary experiment make sense; it was because 'all men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights' that men could dare to be free."
Eisenhower continued: "During the war I made the most agonizing decision of my life. I had to postpone by at least 24 hours the most formidable array of fighting ships and of fighting men that was ever launched across the sea against a hostile shore...This is what I found out about religion: it gives you courage to make the decisions you must make in a crisis, and then the confidence to leave the result to higher power. Only by trust in oneself and trust in God can a man carrying responsibility find repose."> 1890DE010
Dwight Eisenhower was quoted in the TIME Magazine article, "Eisenhower on Communism," October 13, 1952:
<The Bill of Rights contains no grant of privilege for a group of people to destroy the Bill of Rights. A group - like the Communist conspiracy - dedicated to the ultimate destruction of all civil liberties, cannot be allowed to claim civil liberties as its privileged sanctuary from which to carry on subversion of the Government.> 1890DE210
Dwight Eisenhower's 1951 Presidential campaign speech was quoted in the New York Times, November 4, 1952:
<Many years ago a wise philosopher came to this country seeking the answer to this same question; Wherein lie the greatness and genius of America This was his answer: 'I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers - and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her fertile fields and boundless forests - and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her rich mines and vast world commerce - and it was not there...
I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution - and it is no there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good - and if America ever ceases to be good - America will cease to be great.''> 1890DE310
Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected President receiving over 33,000,000 votes, more than any previous Presidential candidate in United States history.
On January 20, 1953, after having attended a pre-Inaugural worship service at Washington's National Presbyterian Church, President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his First Inaugural Address, the first ever such address to be televised:
<My friends, before I begin the expression of those thoughts that I deem appropriate to this moment, would you permit me the privilege of uttering a little private prayer of my own. And I ask that you bow your heads.
Almighty God, as we stand here at this moment my future associates in the Executive Branch of government join me in beseeching that Thou will make full and complete our dedication to the service of the people in this throng, and their fellow citizens everywhere. Give us, we pray, the power to discern clearly right from wrong, and allow all our words and actions to be governed thereby, and by the laws of this land.
Especially we pray that our concern shall be for all the people regardless of station, race, or calling. May cooperation be permitted and be the mutual aim of those who, under the concepts of our Constitution, hold to differing political faiths; so that all may work for the good of our beloved country and Thy glory. Amen.
My fellow citizens....We are summoned by this honored and historic ceremony to witness more than the act of one citizen swearing his oath of service, in the presence of God. We are called as a people to give testimony in the sight of the world our faith that the future shall belong to the free....
In the swift rush of great events, we find ourselves groping to know the full sense and meaning of these times in which we live. In our quest of understanding, we beseech God's guidance....
At such a time in history, we who are free must proclaim anew our faith. This faith in America is the abiding creed of our fathers. It is our faith in the deathless dignity of man, governed by eternal moral and natural laws. This faith defines our full view of life.
It establishes beyond debate, those gifts of the Creator that are man's inalienable rights, and that makes all men equal in His sight....
This faith rules our whole way of life. It decrees that we, the people, elect leaders not to rule but to serve....It is because we, all of us, hold to these principles that the political changes accomplished this day do not imply turbulence, upheaval or disorder.
Rather this change expresses a purpose of strengthening our dedication and devotion to the precepts of our founding documents, a conscious renewal of faith in our country and in the watchfulness of a Divine Providence.
The enemies of this faith know no god but force, no devotion but it use.
They tutor men in treason. They feed upon the hunger of others. Whatever defies them, they torture, especially the truth. Here, then, is joined no argument between slightly differing philosophies. This conflict strikes directly at the faith of our fathers and the lives of our sons. No principle or treasure that we hold, from the spiritual knowledge of our free schools and churches to the creative magic of free labor and capital, nothing lies safely beyond the reach of this struggle. Freedom is pitted against slavery; lightness against the dark....
We feel this moral strength because we know that we are not helpless prisoners of history. We are free men. We shall remain free, never to be proven guilty of the one capital offense against freedom, a lack of staunch faith....
These basic precepts are not lofty abstractions, far removed from matters of daily living. They are laws of spiritual strength that generate and define our material strength. Patriotism means equipped forces and a prepared citizenry. Moral stamina means more energy and more productivity. Love of liberty means the guarding of every resource that makes freedom possible-from the sanctity of our families and the wealth of our soil to the genius our scientists....
This is the hope that beckons us onward in this century of trial. This is the work that awaits us all, to be done with bravery, with charity, and with prayer to Almighty God.> 1890DE011
Eisenhower told Congress, February 2, 1953:
<Our country has come through a painful period of trial and disillusionment since the victory of 1945...
The calculated pressures of aggressive Communism have forced us...to live in a world of turmoil...No single country, even one so powerful as ours, can alone defend the liberty of all nations threatened by Communist aggression from without and subversion within...
I must make special mention of the war in Korea. This war is, for Americans, the most painful phase of Communist aggression throughout the world. It is clearly a part of the same calculated assault that the aggressor is simultaneously pressing in Indochina and in Malaya.> 1890DE012
Dwight Eisenhower stated at a Prayer Breakfast of International Christian Leadership, Washington, DC., February 5, 1953:
<There is a need we all have in these days and times for some help which comes from outside ourselves as we face the multitude of problems that are part of this confusing situation...
Each of us realizes that he has responsibilities that are equal to his privileges and to his rights...Once in a while it might be a good thing for us to turn back to history. Let us study a little bit of what happened at the founding of this Nation. It is not merely the events that led up to the Revolutionary War...
Did you ever stop to think, for example, that the first year of that war was fought in order that we might establish our right to be free British citizens, not to be independent. From April 1775 until July 4, 1776, there was no struggle for independence. It was a struggle to make people understand that we were free British citizens...
In the Declaration they acknowledged the need to respect public opinion. They said, “When in the course of human events”-and they went on to say a decent respect for mankind impelled them to declare the decisions which led to the separation. They realized that the good opinion of the whole world was necessary if this venture was to succeed...
They went on to try to explain it. What did they say? The very basis of our government is: “We hold that all men are endowed by their Creator” with certain rights. When we came to that turning point in history, when we intended to establish a government for free men and a Declaration and Constitution to make it last, in order to explain such a system we had to say: “We hold that all men are endowed by their Creator.”
In one sentence we established that every free government is imbedded soundly in a deeply-felt religious faith or it makes no sense...If we recall those things...and depend upon a power greater than ourselves, I believe that we begin to draw these problems into focus.
As Benjamin Franklin said at one time during the course of the stormy consultation at the Constitutional Convention, because he sensed that the convention was on the point of breaking up: “Gentlemen, I suggest that we have a word of prayer.” And strangely enough, after a bit of prayer the problems began to smooth out and the convention moved to the great triumph that we enjoy today-the writing of our Constitution...
Prayer is just simply a necessity, because by prayer I believe we mean an effort to get in touch with the Infinite. We know that even our prayers are imperfect. Even our supplications are imperfect. Of course they are. We are imperfect human beings. But if we can back off from those problems and make the effort, then there is something that ties us all together. We have begun in our grasp of that basis of understanding, which is that all free government is firmly founded in a deeply-felt religious faith...
If we remind ourselves once in a while of this simple basic truth that our forefathers in 1776 understood so well, we can hold up our heads and be certain that we in our time are going to be able to preserve the essentials, to preserve as a free government and pass it on, in our turn, as sound, as strong, as good as ever. That, it seems to me, is the prayer that all of us have today.> 1890DE112
Dwight Eisenhower sent a letter to the Senate, February 20, 1953:
<The Soviet Communist Party who now control Russia ... subjected whole nations to the domination of a totalitarian imperialism.> 1890DE013
In a February 25, 1953, Press Conference, Dwight Eisenhower stated:
<Almost 100 percent of Americans would like to stamp out all traces of Communism in our country...I went to Columbia University as its President and I insisted on one thing...If we had a known Communist in our faculty and he could not be discharged...I was automatically discharged.
I personally would not be a party to an organization where there was a known card-carrying Communist in such a responsible position as teaching our young.> 1890DE014
At a News Conference, March 9, 1953, Eisenhower stated:
<Q. Mr. President, are you in favor of the Federal Government investigating communism in churches?
THE PRESIDENT: I believe that if our churches - which certainly should be the greatest possible opponents to communism - need investigation, then we had better take a new look and go far beyond investigation in our country, in our combating of this what we consider a disease. Because the church, with its testimony of the existence of an Almighty God is the last thing that it seems to me would be preaching, teaching or tolerating communism. So therefore I can see no possible good to be accomplished by questioning the loyalty of our churches in that regard.> 1890DE015
Dwight Eisenhower addressed the Council of the Organization of American States, April 12, 1953:
<However real and just be our concern with constructive material development, we must never forget that the strength of America continues ever to be the spirit of America. We are Christian nations, deeply conscious that the foundation of all liberty is religious faith.> 1890DE115
Eisenhower told Congress, May 5, 1953:
<In Greece, the onrush of Communist imperialism has been halted and forced to recede. Out of the ruins left by that aggression, a proud, self-reliant nation has reestablished itself... We are proposing to make substantial additional resources available to assist the French and the Associated States in their military efforts to defeat the Communist Viet Minh aggression.> 1890DE016
At the College of William and Mary, May 15, 1953, Dwight Eisenhower stated:
<It is necessary that we earnestly seek out and uproot any traces of communism at any place where it can affect our national life. But the true way to uproot communism in this country is to understand what freedom means, and thus develop an impregnable wall, that no thought of communism can enter.> 1890DE017
On July 9, 1953, in a message to the National Co-Chairmen of the Commission on Religious Organizations, National Conference of Christians and Jews, President Dwight D. Eisenhower stated:
<The churches of America are citadels of our faith in individual freedom and human dignity. This faith is the living source of our spiritual strength. And this strength is our matchless armor in our world-wide struggle against the forces of Godless tyranny and oppression.> 1890DE018
President Eisenhower was notably faithful in his church attendance. He became a communicant member of The National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., only twelve days after assuming office. On July 12, 1953, an editorial in the Jacksonville, Florida, Times-Union attested:
<There is something soul-stirring about Ike's church going, something that makes a person feel as if the President enters a sanctuary to gain strength, wisdom, and guidance from an All-seeing Power that resides above....
From the same source that Eisenhower finds divine guidance to steer a straight course over the unchartered waters that lie ahead, there is a new way of life for others who would follow the example of the White House and seek where it can be found, and ask where it can be given.> 1890DE019
Dwight Eisenhower commented on the Jewish New Year from Lowry Air Force Base, Denver, September 10, 1953:
<I am happy to extend my warmest greetings to all Americans of Jewish faith on the occasion of the Jewish New Year...The world struggles to find its way toward peace...Patience and good will that have so frequently seen expression in the thousands of years of Jewish life...bring to peoples of good faith everywhere the reassurance...that the citizens of all nations will learn to live together with the understanding and harmony that God-loving people so fervently desire.> 1890DE219
Dwight Eisenhower addressed a Republican Party Dinner at the Boston Garden, printed in the New York Times, September 22, 1953:
<This sovereign ideal we believe to be the very source of the greatness and the genius of America. In this, we proclaim nothing very new. It was seen clearly by a wise French visitor who came to America considerably more than a century ago. he patiently and persistently sought the greatness and genius of America in our fields and in our forests, in our mines and in our commerce, in our Congress and in our Constitution, and he found them not.
But he sought still further and then he said: 'Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and her power. America is great because America is good - and if America ever ceases to be good - America will cease to be great.' I read those words to such an audience as this once before. It was here in Boston, eleven months ago in this hall. The utter truth they held for me then, they hold today.> 1890DE119
Dwight Eisenhower stated at the laying of the cornerstone of the Anthony Wayne Library of American Study, Defiance College, Defiance, Ohio, October 15, 1953:
<I am here because of my ultimate faith in education as the hope of the world-Christian religious education, man’s free access to knowledge, his right to use it...At one spot in this town...a stone marks the site of the first French mission on the Maumee River, established more than 300 years ago.
At another, the earthworks of Fort Defiance remind us that 160 years ago the forward command post of the American Nation was here. Other landmarks are canal locks and monuments and buildings that recall the mighty expansion of the American economy from an agricultural society to the first place among the world’s industrial powers.
In Defiance, whose roots are deep in the American past, it is fitting that I humbly salute the generations of men and women, the builders of Ohio, in this, the sesquicentennial year of their State. They were explorers and trappers and missionaries, traders, and farmers, and teachers, diggers of waterways and skilled operators of an industrial empire. Above all...they helped construct a way of life-the American way of life, of which the cornerstone is an indestructible faith in man’s dignity as a child of God...
Our forebears added the community school to the home that was the center of man’s life as a family being, and to the church that was the fountain of his faith as a religious being. They were intent on providing an armory of knowledge where Americans might gird themselves for the obligations and the challenges that those Founding Fathers knew would be inescapable in a system of representative government... In the dedication of this library...we symbolize our continuing faith in man’s ability, under God, to govern himself intelligently.> 1890DE419
On Saturday, October 31, 1953, President Eisenhower recorded a program for the Committee on Religion in American Life. In the message, which was broadcast nationally over radio and television, President Eisenhower commended:
<Each Year the Committee on Religion in American Life reminds us of the importance of faithful church attendance. It urges full support of religious institutions to the end that we may add strength and meaning to the religious virtues-charity, mercy, brother love, and faith in Almighty God.
These spiritual concepts are the inspiration of the American way. It was once said, "America is great because America is good-and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
By strengthening religious institutions, the Committee on Religion in American Life is helping to keep America good, thus it helps each of us to keep America great.
I earnestly hope that during November, and throughout this and every year, each American citizen will actively support the religious institution of his own choice.> 1890DE020
Dwight Eisenhower addressed the U.S. Information Agency, Department of the Interior, November 10, 1953:
<First you must know what Americanism really is. You have got to know that here a government, of, by, and for free men, is based solidly on some religious concept, for the simple reason that otherwise we cannot prove equality among men....
The objective of the cold war is to maintain some kind of arrangement for getting along in this world until enough of all the world’s people come to believe with you, with us, that the things for which the Americans stand are those things which enrich human life, which ennoble man because he is an individual created in the image of his God and trying to do his best on this earth.> 1890DE120
Dwight Eisenhower stated at the opening of the White House Conference of Mayors, December 14, 1953:
<I want to point out something about fighting-about war. Many of you here, of course, have been through the very worst parts of our past war. One great military leader said, “The moral is to the physical in war as three is to one,” and I think every soldier who has come after him has believed that he understated the case. The winning of war-the effectiveness in such things-is in the heart, in the determination, in the faith. It is in our beliefs in our country, in our God, everything that goes to make up America.> 1890DE220
Dwight Eisenhower stated December 24, 1953, lighting the National Christmas Tree:
<This evening’s ceremony, here at the White House, is one of many thousands in America’s traditional celebration of the birth, almost 2,000 years ago, of the Prince of Peace. For us, this Christmas is truly a season of good will- and our first peaceful one since 1949...
Our hopes are bright even though the world still stands divided in two antagonistic parts. More precisely than in any other way, prayer places freedom and communism in opposition, one to the other. The Communist can find no reserve of strength in prayer because his doctrine of materialism and statism denies the dignity of man and consequently the existence of God.
But in America, George Washington long ago rejected exclusive dependence upon mere materialistic values. In the bitter and critical winter at Valley Forge, when the cause of liberty was so near defeat, his recourse was sincere and earnest prayer. From it he received new hope and new strength of purpose out of which grew the freedom in which we celebrate this Christmas season.
As religious faith is the foundation of free government, so is prayer an indispensable part of that faith...Would it not be fitting for each of us to speak in prayer to the Father of all men and women on this earth, of whatever nation, and of every race and creed-to ask that He help us-and teach us-and strengthen us- and receive our thanks.
Should we not pray that He help us? Help us to remember that the founders of this, our country, came first to these shores in search of freedom- freedom of man to walk in dignity; to live without fear; beyond the yoke of tyranny; ever to progress. Help us to cherish freedom, for each of us and for all nations.
Might we not pray that He teach us?...Teach us the security of faith.
And may we pray that He strengthen us...Should we not pray that He receive our thanks? For certainly we are grateful for...the opportunity given us to use our strength and our faith to meet the problems of this hour.
And on this Christmas Eve, all hearts in America are filled with special thanks to God that the blood of those we love no longer spills on battlefields abroad. May He receive the thanks of each of us for this, His greatest bounty- and our supplication that peace on earth may live with us, always.> 1890DE021
In his State of the Union Message, January 7, 1954, President Eisenhower stated:
<I am flatly opposed to the socialization of medicine. The great need for hospital and medical services can best be met by the initiative of private plans.> 1890DE022
Dwight Eisenhower wrote to the United Catholic Organization for Freeing Cardinal Joseph Mindszenty, February 1, 1954:
<We in the free world have not forgotten that this is the fifth anniversary of Cardinal Mindszenty’s trial and imprisonment by the Communist authorities in Hungary.
The unjust nature of the proceedings against Cardinal Mindszenty is, of course, well known to the American people. They regarded the attack upon him as a blow against religious freedom in Hungary and an unprincipled attempt to destroy spiritual and moral influences in that country.
The Communist assault upon religious liberty and leadership in Hungary has failed, however, to turn the Hungarian people from their faith in God. The plight of Cardinal Mindszenty and of other churchmen who have suffered at the hands of the Communists has not been forgotten. Their situation continues deeply to concern the people of Hungary and to evoke the sympathy of the free world.
Despite the constraints of person and silence imposed on Cardinal Mindszenty and other church leaders by their persecutors, the spirit of these men has defied confinement by the totalitarian State. It has become, indeed, a symbol of faith and freedom for our times.> 1890DE023
Dwight Eisenhower broadcast from the White House for the American Legion's Back-to-God, February 7, 1954:
<As a former soldier, I am delighted that our veterans are sponsoring a movement to increase our awareness of God in our daily lives. In battle, they learned a great truth-that there are no atheists in the foxholes.
They know that in time of test and trial, we instinctively turn to God for new courage and peace of mind. All the history of America bears witness to this truth. Out of faith in God, and through faith in themselves as His children, our forefathers designed and built this Republic.
We remember from school days that, aboard a tiny ship of destiny called the Mayflower, self-government on our continent was first conceived by the Pilgrim Fathers. Their immortal compact began with the words, “In the name of God, Amen.”
We remember the picture of the Father of our Country, on his knees at Valley Forge seeking divine guidance in the cold gloom of a bitter winter. Thus Washington gained strength to lead to independence a nation dedicated to the belief that each of us is divinely endowed with indestructible rights. We remember, too, that three-fourths of a century later, on the battle-torn field of Gettysburg, and in the silence of many a wartime night, Abraham Lincoln recognized that only under God could this Nation win a new birth of freedom.
And we remember that, only a decade ago, aboard the transport Dorchester, four chaplains of four faiths together willingly sacrificed their lives so that four others might live.
In the three centuries that separate the Pilgrims of the Mayflower from the chaplains of the Dorchester, America’s freedom, her courage, her strength, and her progress have had their foundation in faith. Today as then, there is need for positive acts of renewed recognition that faith is our surest strength, our greatest resource.
This “Back to God” movement is such a positive act. As we take part in it, I hope that we shall prize this thought: Whatever our individual church, whatever our personal creed, our common faith in God is a common bond among us. In our fundamental faith, we are all one.
Together we thank the Power that has made and preserved us a nation.
By the millions, we speak prayers, we sing hymns-and no matter what their words may be, their spirit is the same-”In God is our trust.> 1890DE124
On March 25, 1954, in his message at the annual convention of the National Catholic Family Life Conference, New Orleans, President Eisenhower stated:
<The destiny of the nation is as great in promise as its young people are great in character. In that light, we need constant and profound appreciation of the mother as a builder of a brighter and better future.> 1890DE024
Dwight Eisenhower addressed the Daughters of the American Revolution's 63rd Congress at Constitutional Hall, April 22, 1954:
<Our Founding Fathers in writing the Declaration of Independence put it in a nutshell when they said, “We hold that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain rights.” In that one phrase was created a political system which demands and requires that all men have equality of right before the law, that they are not treated differently merely because of social distinction, of money, of economic standing, indeed of intelligence of intellectual capacity, or anything else.
It acknowledges that man has a soul, and for that reason is equal to every other man, and that is the system, that is the principle that is the cornerstone of what we call the American system. There are, of course, dozens of auxiliary principles that go along with this one, but rip out this one and you have destroyed America...
Now, how do we apply such a system in a world where there is present one great power complex that stands for the exact opposite? Remember, in the phrase I quoted to you, “Men are endowed by their Creator.” Our system demands the Supreme Being. There is no question about the American system being the translation into the political world of a deeply felt religious faith.
The system that challenges us today is the atheistic. It is self-admitted as an atheistic document. They believe in a materialistic dialectic. In other words, there are no values except material values. It challenges us today in every corner of the globe.> 1890DE224
Dwight Eisenhower addressed the Committee for Economic Development, May 20, 1954:
<Now everybody knows that no security force is any good at all unless it is one of high morale, belief, and conviction. Consequently, the first thing we must do, it seems to me, is to believe in this system of freedom with all our hearts, to realize we are defending, first of all, our great system of freedoms and of rights. Everything we do that seems to impinge upon them, although at times we may think it is necessary in their modification, we must examine carefully and say how far may we go and still not ruin this system. Where do we establish the line beyond which we must not step, unless we are going to go and lose internally what we so desperately try to defend against externally? I believe all the way through we must in this manner of faith recognize a relationship between free government and a religious faith. I believe that if there is no religious faith whatsoever, then there is little defense you can make of a free system. If men are only animals, why not try to dominate them?> 1890DE324
Dwight Eisenhower toasted the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie at a State Dinner, May 26, 1954:
<I read once that no individual can really be known to have greatness until he has been tested in adversity. By this test, our guest of honor has established new standards in the world. In 5 years of adversity, with his country overrun but never conquered, he never lost for one single second his dignity. He never lost his faith in himself, in his people, and in his God. I deem it a very great privilege, ladies and gentlemen, to ask you to rise and with me to drink a Toast to His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Ethiopia.> 1890DE424
On June 14, 1954, President Eisenhower supported and signed into law the Congressional Act, Joint Resolution 243, which added the phrase "one Nation under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance. He stated:
<From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural school house, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty. To anyone who truly loves America, nothing could be more inspiring than to contemplate this rededication of our youth, on each school morning, to our country’s true meaning... Over the globe, mankind has been cruelly torn by violence and brutality and, by the millions, deadened in mind and soul by a materialistic philosophy of life. Man everywhere is appalled by the prospect of atomic war. In this somber setting, this law and its effects today have profound meaning.
In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resource, in peace or in war.> 1890DE025
After signing the law, June 14, 1954, President Eisenhower then stood on the steps of the Capitol Building and recited the Pledge of Allegiance for the first time with the phrase, "one Nation under God":
<I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.> 1890DE026
The Pledge of Allegiance was first written in 1892 by a Baptist minister from Boston named Francis Bellamy, who was ordained in the Baptist Church of Little Falls, New York. He was a member of the staff of The Youth's Companion, which first published the Pledge on September 8, 1892. Public- school children first recited it during the National School Celebration on the 400th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America, October 12, 1892, at the dedication of the 1892 Chicago World's Fair. The words "under God" were taken from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address:
<...that this Nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.> 1890DE027
Dwight Eisenhower remarked at the 75th anniversary of the incandescent lamp, October 24, 1954:
<Faith and the American individual. Yes, it is on these two pillars that our future rests. It was Thomas Edison who said: “Be courageous; be as brave as your fathers before you. Have faith. Go forward.”
Seventy-five years ago this very week, Tom Edison-a humble, typical sort of American-put this credo into action and gave a new light to the world. It is faith that has made our Nation-has made it, and kept it free.
Atheism substitutes men for the supreme creator and this leads inevitably to domination and dictatorship. But we believe-and it is because we believe that God intends all men to be free and equal that we demand free government.
Our Government is servant, not master, our chosen representatives are our equals, not our czars or commissars. We must jealously guard our foundation in faith. For on it rests the ability of the American individual to live and thrive in this blessed land-and to be able to help other less fortunate people to achieve freedom and individual opportunity.
These we take for granted, but to others they are often only a wistful dream. “In God we trust.” Often have we heard the words of this wonderful American motto. Let us make sure that familiarity has not made them meaningless for us. We carry the torch of freedom as a sacred trust for all mankind.
We do not believe that God intended the light that He created to be put out by men....It can be a confident kind of a prayer too, for God has made us strong and faith has made and kept us free.> 1890DE127
On November 6, 1954, in a remark to newsmen during the football season, President Eisenhower stated:
<An atheist is a guy who watches a Notre Dame-SMU football game and doesn't care who wins.> 1890DE028
On Tuesday, November 9, 1954, President Eisenhower remarked to the first National Conference on the Spiritual Foundation of American Democracy in a luncheon meeting at the Sheraton-Carlton Hotel in Washington, DC:
<We are talking about the spiritual foundations of our form of government, and I meet with the spiritual leaders of the Nation....
Now Dr. Lowry said something about my having certain convictions as to a God in Heaven and an Almighty power. Well, I don't think anyone needs a great deal of credit for believing in what seems to me to be obvious....
Now it seems to me that this relationship between a spiritual faith, a religious faith, and our form of government is so closely defined and so obvious that we should really not need to identify a man as unusual because he recognizes it....
Let us just come down to modern times since the Reformation. Milton asserted that all men are born equal, because each is born in the image of his God. Our whole theory of government finally expressed in our Declaration, you will recall, said-and remember the first part of the Preamble of the Declaration was to give the reasons to mankind why we had established such a government:
"Man is endowed by his Creator." It did not assert that [only] Americans had certain rights, "Man" is endowed by his Creator-or "All Men" I believe was the expression used. So this connection is very, very clear.
And no matter what Democracy tries to do in terms of maximum individual liberty for an individual, in the economic and in the intellectual and every other field, no matter what it tries to do in providing a system of justice, and a system of responsibility-of public servants to all the people-and identifying the people as the source of political power in that government, when you come back to it, there is just one thing: it is a concept, it is a subjective sort of thing, that a man is worthwhile because he was born in the image of his God....
The challenges of today, I think, probably are of two kinds, one from within ourselves, because our fervor, our strength, in our spiritual convictions as to the worth-whileness of this form of government, weakens; and on the other side we are attacked by the Communists who in their own documents state that capitalism-Democracy-carries within itself the seeds of its own destruction, and give, as you know, several reasons why they claim that.
So we are under tremendous attacks. But it is not that we have just to establish the fact. We have to establish the fervor, the strength of our convictions, because fundamentally, Democracy is nothing in the world but a spiritual conviction, a conviction that each of us is enormously valuable, because of a certain standing before our own God.
Now, any group that binds itself together to awaken all of us to these simple things, and to discover new ways and means by which they are brought home to us through our surroundings, through our relationships with other nations, our relationships with one another, and through our peering into the future, any organizations such as that is, in my mind, a dedicated, patriotic group that can well take the Bible in one hand and the a flag in the other, and march ahead.> 1890DE029
Upon lighting the National Christmas Tree at the White House, 1954, President Eisenhower stated:
<This year, even as two thousand years ago when the Prince of Peace was born into the world, the drums of war are still....Mankind's unquenchable hope for peace burns brighter than for many years.> 1890DE030
In 1954, President Dwight David Eisenhower, said:
<The purpose of a devout and united people was set forth in the pages of The Bible...(1) to live in freedom, (2) to work in a prosperous land...and (3) to obey the commandments of God....This Biblical story of the Promised land inspired the founders of America. It continues to inspire us.> 1890DE031
On January 6, 1955, in his State of the Union Message to Congress, President Eisenhower stated:
<A decade ago, in the death and desolation of European battlefields, I saw the courage and resolution, I felt the inspiration of American youth. In these young men, I felt America's buoyant confidence and irresistible will-to-do. In them I saw, too, a devout America, humble before God. And so I know in my heart, and I believe all Americans know, that despite the anxieties of this divided world, our faith and the cause in which we all believe will surely prevail.> 1890DE033
On January 24, 1955, in a message to Congress asking their support, which they granted, in protecting Formosa from Communist China, President Eisenhower stated:
<A suitable Congressional Resolution....would make clear the unified and serious intentions of our government, our Congress and our people. Thus it will reduce the possibility that the Chinese Communists, misjudging our firm purpose and national unity, might be disposed to challenge the position of the United States, and precipitate a major crisis which even they would neither anticipate nor desire.> 1890DE034
On February 8, 1955, in a message to Congress on the state of American education, President Eisenhower stated:
<Unless education continues to be free-free in its response to local community needs, from any suggestion of political domination...it will cease to serve the purposes of free men.> 1890DE035
<The finest buildings, of themselves, are no assurance that the pupils who use them each day are better fitted to shoulder the responsibilities, to meet the opportunities, to enjoy the rewards that one day will be their lot as American citizens.
Good teaching and good teachers made even the one-room crossroads school of the nineteenth century a rich source of the knowledge and the enthusiasm and patriotism, joined with spiritual wisdom, that mark a vigorously dynamic people.> 1890DE036
Dwight Eisenhower, February 20, 1955, stated for the American Legion Back-To-God Program:
<The Founding Fathers expressed in words for all to read the ideal of Government based upon the dignity of the individual. That ideal previously had existed only in the hearts and minds of men. They produced the timeless documents upon which the Nation is grounded and has grown great. They, recognizing God as the author of individual rights, declared that the purpose of Government is to secure those rights.
To you and to me this ideal of Government is a self-evident truth. But in many lands the State claims to be the author of human rights. The tragedy of that claim runs through all history and, indeed, dominates our own times.
If the State gives rights, it can-and inevitably will-take away those rights. Without God, there could be no American form of Government, nor an American way of life.
Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first-the most basic-expression of Americanism. Thus the Founding Fathers saw it, and thus, with God's help, it will continue to be. It is significant, I believe, that the American Legion-an organization of war veterans-has seen fit to conduct a "Back to God" movement as part of its Americanism program.
Veterans realize, perhaps more clearly than others, the prior place that Almighty God holds in our national life. And they can appreciate, through personal experience, that the really decisive battleground of American freedom is in the hearts and minds of our own people...Each day we must ask that Almighty God will set and keep His protecting hand over us so that we may pass on to those who come after us the heritage of a free people, secure in their God- given rights and in full control of a Government dedicated to the preservation of those rights.> 1890DE032
On March 2, 1955, in a tribute to Pope Pius XII, President Eisenhower stated at a new conference:
<As to His Holiness, the Pope, [on] his seventy-ninth birthday, a man that I have had the honor of visiting personally, admiring him greatly, and particularly because of his unbroken record of opposition to all forms of fascism and communism, I am quite certain that America, all America, would wish this great spiritual leader a very happy day today, and many more of them.> 1890DE037
On May 10, 1955, in an address to the Republican Women's National Conference, President Eisenhower stated:
<I believe that women are better apostles than men. Men are engrossed in many kinds of activities. They earn the living. They are engaged in business all day, and they are very apt, at times, to lose that great rounded concept of that women almost always have before them: that he is a spiritual and intellectual and a physical being. He is not merely someone trying to get a higher wage. He wants a higher wage for a purpose, to give greater opportunity in all three of these fields to his family.
Because women think of these things in their process of homemaking, think of them in terms of children and the family, I believe that their influence in spreading the basic doctrines of this kind is more profound than that of men.> 1890DE038
On May 17, 1955, the Prime Minister of Australia, Robert Menzies, commented to President Eisenhower during a visit to Washington, D.C.:
<The time will come when senators and representatives will be picked for their beauty, and God help the country then.> 1890DE039
Dwight Eisenhower stated on accepting the Palestinian Lamp of Freedom from William Rosenwald, Chairman of the United Jewish Appeal, June 3, 1955:
<I am delighted, on behalf of the Allied Forces who, advancing from the west, did so much to crush Nazi tyranny, to accept this beautiful and ancient relic of Jewish civilization.
I am certain that those Forces-the American forces and their Allies- were representing only what we would call the heart of freedom, the belief that all people are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness-that where these are denied one man, they are threatened for all.
And so I am sure those Forces felt that in uncovering these camps, relieving the disasters and correcting the terrible conditions under which those people were living, they were not doing it fundamentally and merely because they were Jews, or anybody else. It was a tremendous privilege and a great change from the killing of war to turn your armies to saving human lives and human dignity.> 1890DE139
On June 7, 1955, in giving the commencement address at West Point, President Eisenhower stated:
<All of us gratefully acknowledge, as our fathers did before us, our dependence on the guidance of a Divine Providence. But this dependence must not tempt us to evade our personal responsibility to use every one of our individual and collective talents for the better discharge of our lifetime missions.
Working and living in this spirit, you as soldiers will make yourselves and the Army a professional counterpart of the American way-jealously conserving principle; forceful in practice; courageous and calm in present crises; steadfast and patient in the long campaign for a secure and peaceful world; stout of faith in yourselves, your Alma Mater, your country and your God.> 1890DE040
On June 11, 1955, in delivering the commencement address at Pennsylvania State University, President Eisenhower stated:
<While we design bombs that can obliterate great military objectives- because we must-we are also designing generators, channels, and reservoirs of atomic energy so that man may profit from this gift which the Creator of all things has put into his hands. And build them we shall.> 1890DE041
On June 21, 1955, in speaking at the Vermont Dairy Festival, Rutland, Vermont, President Eisenhower stated:
<I know that Americans everywhere are the same, in their longing for peace, a peace that is characterized by justice, by consideration for others, by decency, above all by its insistence on respect for the individual human being as a child of his God.> 1890DE042
On July 15, 1955, in a national address given just prior to his departure for the Big Four Conference in Geneva, President Eisenhower stated:
<It is natural for a people steeped in a religious civilization when they come to moments of great importance-maybe even crises, such as now we face- to turn to the Divine Power....
I have not doubt that tonight throughout this country, and indeed throughout the free world, such prayers are ascending. This is a mighty force. And this brings to me the thought that through prayer we could also achieve a very definite and practical result at this very moment.> 1890DE043
On July 25, 1955, in a broadcast given upon his return from the Geneva Conference, President Eisenhower stated:
<We must never be deluded into believing that one week of friendly fruitful negotiations can wholly eliminate a problem arising out of the wide gulf that separates so far East and West. A gulf as wide and deep as the difference between individual liberty and regimentation, as wide and deep as the gulf that lies between the concept of man made in the image of his God and the concept of man as a mere instrument of the state.> 1890DE044
On August 17, 1955, President Eisenhower ordered the text of the code of conduct for war prisoners to be put into effect in the armed services:
<1. I am an American fighting man. I serve in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.
2. I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command I will never surrender my men while they still have means to resist.
3. If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.
4. If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information or take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way.
5. When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am bound to give only name, rank, service number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause.
6. I will never forget that I am an American fighting man, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.> 1890DE045
On December 5, 1955, in a telephone address to the unification meeting of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, New York, President Eisenhower stated:
<Man is created in the Divine Image and has spiritual aspirations that transcend the material.> 1890DE046
On February 1, 1956, in a joint statement with British Prime Minister Anthony Eden at the end of a three-day conference in Washington, D.C., President Eisenhower stated:
<While resolutely pursuing these aims, which are the products of our faith in God and in the peoples of the earth, we shall eagerly grasp any genuine opportunity to free mankind of the pall of fear and insecurity which now obscures what can and should be a glorious future.> 1890DE047
On March 21, 1956, in a news conference, President Eisenhower stated:
<Now, this is what I see in Billy Graham: A man who clearly understands that any advance in the world has got to be accompanied by a clear realization that man is, after all, a spiritual being. He teaches, he carries his religion to the far corners of the earth, trying to promote peace, trying to promote mediation instead of conflict, tolerance instead of prejudice.
Now, he does that in this country, he does it abroad. Therefore, because of the very great crowds that he attracts to listen to him, I am very much interested in Billy Graham's activities, but for that reason only. I have never discussed with him any plan for mobilizing nations.> 1890DE048
On May 25, 1956, in delivering the commencement address at Baylor University, Waco, Texas, President Eisenhower stated:
<Communism is, in deepest sense, a gigantic failure. Even in the countries it dominates, hundreds of millions who dwell there still cling to their religious faith; still are moved by aspirations for justice and freedom that cannot be answered merely by more steel or by bigger bombers; still seek a reward that is beyond money or place or power; still dream of the day that they may walk fearlessly in the fullness of human freedom.
The destiny of man is freedom and justice under his Creator. Any ideology that denies this universal faith will ultimately perish or be recast. This is the first great truth that must underlie all our thinking, all our striving in this struggling world.> 1890DE049
On July 22, 1956, in an address to the presidents of the American Republics, Panama City, Panama, President Eisenhower stated:
<We here pay tribute to the faith of our fathers, which was translated into new institutions and new works. But we cannot go on forever merely on the momentum of their faith. We, too, must have our faith and see that it is translated into works.> 1890DE050
On November 8, 1956, at the Election Night celebrations in Washington, D.C., President Eisenhower stated:
<With whatever talents the good God has given me, with whatever strength there is within me, I will continue-and so will my associates-to do just one thing; to work for 168 million Americans here at home-and for peace in the world.> 1890DE051
On Monday, January 21, 1957, in his Second Inaugural Address, President Dwight D. Eisenhower stated:
<Before all else, we seek upon our common labor as a nation, the blessings of Almighty God. And the hopes in our hearts fashion the deepest prayers of our whole people....
We look upon this shaken earth, and we declare our firm and fixed purpose-the building of a peace with justice in a world where moral law prevails....And so the prayer of our people carries far beyond our own frontiers, to the wide world of our duty and our destiny.> 1890DE052
On September 26, 1960, President Dwight Eisenhower addressed the Golden Jubilee Dinner of the National Conference of Catholic Charities, Statler Hilton Hotel in New York City:
<Cardinal Spellman, Your Eminences, Your Excellencies, Governor Rockefeller, Mayor Wagner, the Republican Senatorial delegation from Washington, members of the National Conference of Catholic Charities, and my friends:
The approach in early November of an all-important event upon which the eyes of the nation are centered, suggests that I begin my remarks tonight with a special footnote. The problem prompts me to cite the case of a tormented man in a troublesome time in Ireland's history who, feeling the need to relieve his conscience, sought out his local pastor. Having been admitted to the priest's study, the man said, "father, I have just killed a man." To which the priest replied, "This is neither the time nor the place for discussing politics."
So it is that I am sure we can all agree that we are gathered here tonight in a wholly unpartisan spirit. We have come to honor one of the noblest of all human qualities-charity-the benevolence of men of good will toward their brothers.
I have heard too often the word "charity" disparaged in public discussions, people saying there should be no need for charity and we should have none of it. I personally hold that when our country has lost the spirit of charity, then our government and our form of life will be changed for the worse.
Charity helps the recipient but if given in the right spirit it ennobles the giver, whether the gift be only a kind word or a fortune. So I make no apology for speaking of charity as one of the noblest of man's virtues.
Now quite possibly it would seem natural this evening to spend my time before such an audience in recounting the extraordinary accomplishments of the Catholic Charities. The list is indeed long and impressive. Moreover, Cardinal Spellman's record of alleviating human suffering would, in itself, provide material to interest, and excite the admiration, of every American.
But I have chosen as my subject not gifts themselves. for, as Lowell the American poet so movingly said, "The gift without the giver is bare." It is through the spirit of the giver and in the preservation of this spirit that we sustain one of the indispensable bulwarks of American life.
Over a century ago a keen french observer visiting our land wrote that the greatness of America springs out of the goodness of its people. More cynically minded persons, too deeply impressed by our unquestioned wealth and material progress, have tried to refute the truth of this conclusion. Such people not only ignore the transcendence of spiritual values-they are blind to our nation's history. Concern for a neighbor's welfare and a warm generosity have been more typical of the American way than any alleged worship of money or preoccupation with material success.
Our literature abounds with tales of how early settlers helped one another build homes, clear land, establish schools, tend the sick, and rally when disaster struck. I remember very well that in my days of youth in Central Kansas, charity was primarily an individual matter. Helping one another was as common for parents as raising their own children.
But today, charity has taken on a corporate character and national breadth. Yet the spirit of true charity is the same.
The American people accept as a clear responsibility the combatting of privation and suffering. The growth in private philanthropic contributions in the past ten years has exceeded both the rate of growth of our population and our personal income. Another amazing fact is that in this year 1960, 45 million Americans will lend their time and talents in raising over 9 billion dollars for philanthropic causes.
Now this responsibility is not laid upon us by any constitutional or legal mandate. Our belief, that men are brothers in divine origin and destiny, is a part of our religious heritage that reaches back to the hills of Galilee and imposes upon each of us a spiritually-rooted obligation. Moreover, the methods by which we discharge this obligation must conform to the true spirit of the giver. And, today, they involve a lasting and fruitful partnership between citizens and their government.
While the government must be concerned about the welfare of all the people, we must exercise great care lest we encroach upon the domain of private philanthropy. We must be especially careful not to dilute local responsibility, self-reliance and the spirit of "taking care of one's own."
Of course in those humanitarian undertakings that are so complex in character and so wide in scope as to make futile the efforts of the individual, whether acting singly or in voluntary cooperation, the responsibility for major action falls upon government-either local or central. But money raised by taxes, although willingly paid, can never wholly replace voluntary giving by individuals and groups.
Even as government cannot guarantee us happiness or satisfy the deepest aspirations of mankind, the State cannot more than partially and in special circumstances satisfy the obligation-the compulsion within us-to help our neighbor. Were it to assume entirely this or any other fundamentally personal obligation, the government-the instrument-would eventually become the master. Political considerations might easily become paramount over human values. A concern of heart and spirit would degenerate into a machine-like operation of bureaucratic processes. The will to sacrifice for others would be replaced by reliance on governmental administrative procedures.
The American people, instinctively sensitive to this, have developed a way, a method, an approach to charitable giving unmatched in its scale in human history. Thereby, men and women join voluntarily in discharge of self-imposed obligations, confident that proper goals can be achieved by individuals and organizations of citizens, either by supplementing or making unnecessary governmental activity in the same field.
Now we are met this evening to commemorate fifty years of service by one of these organizations-the National Conference of Catholic Charities. I suggest that, for a moment, we look at the spirit, purposes, and values exemplified by the Conference against a world-wide background of governments and men absorbed in the frantic pursuit of transitory temporal power, unworthy ambitions, and false greatness.
In our season of history, beyond any previous era, the world spectacle seems most violent in its surface turmoil; most intense in its inner passion; most titanic in its destructive potential. Our waking and working hours seem too often filled with the alarms of new threats, the clamor of the aggressive, and the cries of the fearful.
Against the dangers inherent in the attitude and announced purposes of a powerful, secretive dictatorship, we steadfastly maintain the military, moral, economic and political strength to assure the nation's safety. further, knowing that peace and freedom are weakened if not shared, we help other nations which, like ourselves, uphold the dignity of men and maintain their liberty. But in spite of these inescapable burdens, America, if true to herself, will never be tempted to abandon her noble goals.
For close to two centuries our nation has thrived under the bracing influence of belief in God and the dignity of the individual. Should this spiritual base of our society ever become dimmed, our faith in the destiny of America would disappear before a vain reliance on materialism, and crass political maneuver.
Then, even should we seem, for a while, victorious over world circumstances and all visible foes, we would be tragic losers-robbed of our heritage in ideals and our destiny as a leader for world peace with justice. An apparent triumph would become a soon-exposed illusion. A materialistic America-bereft of spiritual purpose-could be nothing more than a rudderless ship of state, and eventually a victim of the fury of international storms and internal decay.
That tragedy will never be visited upon us so long as our churches and our synagogues and chapels-and people who believe in God and in themselves- continue to give of their spirit, of their time, and of their substance, that they may be secure and their fellow men may have faith and hope and courage.
Clear it is that a great charitable and intensely dedicated organization like the Conference of Catholic Charities is far more than an agency for alleviating suffering; it is the collective expression of the spirit of the giver; it is a great bulwark against collapse into materialism and utter dependence on the omnipotent State.
The physical evidence of your work is, of course, immense; without such effort our American communities would lack priceless institutions to help the needy, to relieve suffering, to heal the sick.
Nevertheless, I say again that your greatest contribution is not your gifts; rather it is the example of selfless service you and others set for all Americans; the inspiration you give to your fellow citizens, and to the world; and the direct call you make to their hearts, whatever their creed.
For I am sure-and in this, I think Cardinal Spellman will be quick to support me-your works could hardly in these days be accomplished had you not the help and the prayers of many, many Americans who are not of your Church. By the same token the men and women who support this Conference participate also in the good works of others. for the spirit of the giver is not narrow-it is as broad as his understanding of human need.
So, at this Golden Jubilee Dinner, I salute the devoted men and women- clergy and lay-joined in the National Conference of Catholic Charities. I applaud their record of achievement in helping the less fortunate, for the proof they provide that we live not by bread alone-or by dollars, or by machines.
So long as our America is served by such people and such organizations we shall go forward in self-reliance and confidence; we shall be recognized as good neighbors by all the world's people and we will remember that, despite our fears and ignorance of each other, we are of one brotherhood under God. Thank you.> 1890DE252
Dwight Eisenhower stated on the occasion of the Jewish High Holy Days, September 26, 1957:
<At the beginning of the Jewish New Year, it is fitting for all to give thanks for the past twelve months and to look to the future with confidence born of the mercy of God. The blessings of life and the freedoms all of us enjoy in this land today are based in no small measure on the Ten Commandments which have been handed down to us by the religious teachers of the Jewish faith. These Commandments of God provide endless opportunities for fruitful service, and they are a stronghold of moral purpose for men everywhere. In this season, as our fellow citizens of the Jewish faith bow their heads in prayer and lift their eyes in hope, we offer them the best wishes of our hearts.> 1890DE352
Dwight Eisenhower stated at a news conference, April 2, 1958:
<Just before I walked across the street in the beautiful sunlight and saw this revolution in Washington weather, someone called my attention to a passage in the Bible. It is in the Song of Solomon, second chapter. Read the verses 11 and 12.1 That is my announcement: “For, lo, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; The time of the singing of birds is come, And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.”> 1890DE452
Dwight Eisenhower stated laying the cornerstone for the Interchurch Center in New York, October 12, 1958:
<As this cornerstone is placed in the walls of the Interchurch Center, we see in it a special meaning. That cornerstone symbolizes a prime support of our faith-“The Truth” that sets men free. The freedom of a citizen and the freedom of a religious believer are more than intimately related; they are mutually dependent. These two liberties give life to the heart of our Nation.
We are politically free people because each of us is free to express his individual faith. As Washington said in 1793, so we can say today: “We have abundant reason to rejoice that in this land the light of truth and reason has triumphed over the power of bigotry and superstition, and that every person may here worship God according to the dictates of his own heart.” My friends, freedom has been given one definition that has for me a very great appeal, and I believe it has a great appeal for every true American. It is this: freedom is the priceless opportunity for self-discipline.
Can you imagine the outrage that would have been expressed by our first President today, had he read in the news dispatches of the bombing of a synagogue?...I think we would all share in the feeling of horror, that any brigand would want to desecrate the holy place of any religion...If we are believers in the tradition by which we have lived, that freedom of worship is inherent in human liberty, then we will not countenance the desecration of any edifice that symbolizes one of the great faiths.
Freedom of worship is a basic privilege; guaranteed by the Constitution, and it was by deliberate design our Founding Fathers selected the very first article in our Bill of Rights to proclaim the right of each citizen to worship according to his conscience...Our first President spoke gratefully of religious liberty, but he spoke also of the moral requirements which religion places on the shoulders of each citizen, singly and together. Washington believed that national morality could not be maintained without a firm foundation of religious principle.
When a President of the United States takes his oath of office, he places his hand upon the Bible. In that ceremony, the Bible symbolizes the solemn obligations which he takes “to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” This, for me, is summed up in the final words of that oath: “So help me God.” Clearly, civil and religious liberties are mutually reinforcing. In this land our churches have always been sturdy defenders of the Constitutional and God-given rights of each citizen.
They have sought to protect, to broaden and to sustain the historic laws of justice and truth and honor which are the foundations of our community life. May they always do so. I deeply value the privilege of taking part in this ceremony and of wishing to each of you here present, “Godspeed.”> 1890DE552
The magazine, Episcopal Churchnews asked President Dwight D. Eisenhower to write a summery of his ideas on religion. He responded with a lesson in America's founding principles and with comments on his reaction to the invasion of Normandy in June of 1944:
<It was part of the privilege into which I was born that my home was a religious home. My father and mother believed that "the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom."...The history of our country is inseparable from the history of such God-fearing families.
In this fact we accept the explanation of the miracle of America .... The founding fathers had to refer to the Creator in order to make their revolutionary experiment make sense; it was because "all men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights" that men could dare to be free.
They wrote their religious faith into our founding documents, stamped their trust in God on the face of our coins and currency, put it boldly at the base of our institutions, and when they drew up their bold Bill of Rights, where did they put freedom to worship?
First, in the cornerstone position! That was no accident.
Our forefathers proved that only a people strong in Godliness is a people strong enough to overcome tyranny and make themselves and others free .... What is our battle against communism if it is not a fight between anti-God and a belief in the Almighty?
If there was nothing else in my life to prove the existence of an Almighty and Merciful God, the events of the next twenty-four hours did it. This is what I found out about religion: It gives you courage to make the decisions you must make in a crisis, and then the confidence to leave the results to a higher power. Only by trust in oneself and trust in God can a man carrying responsibility find repose.
If each of us in his own mind would dwell upon the simple virtues- integrity, courage, self-confidence, and unshakable belief in his Bible-would not some of our problems tend to simplify themselves?> 1890DE053
Dwight Eisenhower stated in a radio report on a European trip, September 10, 1959:
<We venerate more widely than any other document, except only the Bible, the American Declaration of Independence. That Declaration was more than a call to national action. It is a voice of conscience establishing clear, enduring values applicable to the lives of all men. It stands enshrined today as a charter of human liberty and dignity. Until these things belong to every living person their pursuit is an unfinished business to occupy our children and generations to follow them...I know that all America prays to the Almighty that this might come to pass.> 1890DE153
Dwight Eisenhower stated on the Jewish Holy Days, October 2, 1959:
<Greetings to my fellow citizens of Jewish faith as they enter the season of their High Holy Days. The teachings of your ancient belief have long sustained you and strengthened the communities in which you live. By constant repetition-in word and deed-of the commandments of God, you have nourished the noblest principles of mankind. The demands of justice, the plea for mercy, the rights and the responsibilities of each individual; these should be uppermost in our thoughts at home and at work, when we sleep and when we awake.> 1890DE253
Dwight Eisenhower told the Congress of Brazil at Tiradentes Palace in Rio de Janeiro, February 24, 1960:
<We pray that all of us will reject cruel tyranny, for tyranny is, in simple essence, the outright denial of the teachings of Christ ...
Perhaps inseparable from the decision of freedom or slavery, we face the philosophic issue which today brings fear, misgiving, and mistrust to mankind. In contrast to our adherence to a philosophy of common sonship, of human dignity, and of moral law, millions now live in an environment permeated with a philosophy which denies the existence of God. That doctrine insists that any means justifies the end sought by the rulers of the state, calls Christianity the “sigh of the oppressed,” and, in short, seeks to return mankind to the age-old fatalistic concept of the omnipotent state and omnipotent fate.> 1890DE353
Dwight Eisenhower stated on the 50th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America, June 1, 1960:
<I might say that after I finally lose the loving care of the Secret Service, that should I be standing one day on the corner of a busy street and a Boy Scout sees this rather elderly-looking fellow looking a little doubtful, if he offers to take me across the street, he can do it...To my mind, that is the great thing about Scouting. It doesn’t make any difference whether they wrap up their bed-rolls just right, or pitch their tent exactly right, or whether they do their cookout and burn the eggs and the bacon not fit to eat. As long as they have that feeling and that development-if they get the same feeling that we did when we read in our Bibles the Parable of the Good Samaritan and then as time comes along, if they individually and collectively begin to think of their nation in part as a “good Samaritan,” doing the decent thing in this world, then I will tell you: Scouting is indeed doing something for all of us that is not only necessary but I would say vital to our vigor as a nation based upon a religious concept.> 1890DE453
Dwight D. Eisenhower stated:
<The spirit of man is more important than mere physical strength, and the spiritual fiber of a nation than its wealth.> 1890DE054
<The Bible is endorsed by the ages. Our civilization is built upon its words. In no other book is there such a collection of inspired wisdom, reality, and hope.> 1890DE055
<America is the greatest force that God ever allowed to exist on His footstool.> 1890DE056
<People who value their privileges above their principles soon lose both.> 1890DE057
<I should like to feel that, in every American family, some place is made for an expression of our gratitude to Almighty God, and for a frank acknowledgement of our faith that He can supply that additional strength which, for these trying times, is so sorely needed.> 1890DE058
On January 17, 1961, in his Farewell Address, President Eisenhower stated:
<Three days from now, after half a century in the service of our country, I shall lay down the responsibilities of office as, in traditional and solemn ceremony, the authority of the presidency is vested in my successor. This evening I come to you with a message of leave-taking and farewell, and to share a few final thoughts with you, my country.
Like every other citizen, I wish the new President and all who will labor with him Godspeed. I pray that the coming years will be blessed with peace and prosperity for all....
Throughout America's adventure in free government our basic purposes have been to keep the peace, to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity, and integrity among people and among nations. To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people....
We face a hostile ideology-global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method. Unhappily, the danger it poses promises to be of indefinite duration....
Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defenses; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research -- these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel.
But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs, balance between the private and the public economy, balance between the cost and hoped for advantages, balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable, balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual, balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress. Lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration. The record of many decades stands as proof that our people and their Government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well, in the face of threat and stress.
But threats, new in kind or degree, constantly arise. Of these, I mention two only.
A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction...
It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system -- ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.
Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we-you and I, and our government-must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow....
You and I, my fellow citizens, need to be strong in our faith that all nations, under God, will reach the goal of peace with justice. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle, confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the nation's great goals. To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America's prayerful and continuing aspiration:
We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings.> 1890DE059
President Eisenhower's wife, Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower, later confided:
<I have gone to the neighborhood Presbyterian church here in Denver all my life, and Ike always goes with me when he is here. Our two sons were christened in this church....Ike is a man who lives his religion every day of his life.> 1890DE060
In commenting on their son John, who was serving in the Korean War at the time, Mrs. Eisenhower explained:
<I have built a philosophy to sustain me during these trying times, knowing that John has a mission to fulfill and that God will see to it that nothing will happen to him until he fulfills this mission.> 1890DE061
On November 23, 1963, the day after President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated, former President Dwight D. Eisenhower drove from Gettysburg to Washington D.C., to meet with President Lyndon B. Johnson and deliver a confidential memorandum:
<Confidential Notes for the President....
I am bold enough to suggest that you call a Joint Session of the Congress to make a speech of not over ten or twelve minutes. I think it might cover the following points:
A. Point out first that you have come to this office unexpectedly and you accept the decision of the Almighty, who in His inscrutable wisdom has now place you in the position of highest responsibility of this nation.>1890DE062
--
American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1890DE001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, Dwight David Eisenhower-Young Military Leader (Bobbs-Merrill, Inc., 1970). Jessie Clayton Adams, More Than Money (San Antonio, TX: The Naylor Company, 1953), p. 2.
1890DE002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, In commenting at the dedication of a chapel at Kansas State College while still in the Army, as recorded by Senator Frank Carlson of Kansas. Edward L.R. Elson, D.D., Lit.D., LL.D., America's Spiritual Recovery (Westwood, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1954), p. 57.
1890DE003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, July 10, 1943 quoted from Charles L. Allen. Herbert V. Prochnow, 5100 Quotations for Speakers and Writers (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1992), p. 347.
1890DE004. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, June 6, 1944, in his "D-day Orders of the Day." Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1948), back cover.
1890DE005. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, December 22, 1944, in his "Orders of the Day" during the Battle of the Bulge. Diary, Office C-in-C, Book XIV, p. 1910. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1948), p. 355.
1890DE006. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, January 25, 1952, in the article Presidential Candidates Stress Role of Religion, published in the Religious Herald, Virginia.
1890DE007. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower June 5, 1952, speech at Eisenhower Park in Abilene, Kansas, published in TIME Magazine, June 16, 1952.
1890DE008. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, June 6, 1952, speech in Abilene, Kansas Plaza Theater, TIME, June 16, 1952.
1890DE009. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, June 16, 1952, TIME Magazine published as article titled "Homecoming," reporting on the laying of the cornerstone of the Eisenhower Museum in Abilene, Kansas, June 5, 1952. Kansas' Governor Edward F. Arn gave the introduction.
1890DE010. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, September 22, 1952, TIME Magazine published an article titled "Faith of the Candidates," http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,822490,00.html 1890DE210. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight Eisenhower, October 13, 1952, TIME Magazine article, "Eisenhower on
Communism."
1890DE310. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower's 1951 Presidential campaign speech, quoted in the New York Times, November 4, 1952.
1890DE011. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, January 20, 1953, in his Inaugural Address. New York Times, January 21, 1953. Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States- From George Washington 1789 to Richard Milhous Nixon 1969 (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office; 91st Congress, 1st Session, House Document 91-142, 1969), pp. 257-262. Paul M. Angle, ed., By These Words (NY: Rand McNally & Company, 1954), pp. 400-408. Davis Newton Lott, The Inaugural Addresses of the American Presidents (NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1961), pp. 257-261. Charles Hurd, ed., A Treasury of Great American Speeches (NY: Hawthorne Books, 1959), (paragraphs 2-4), pp. 305-
306. D.D. Eisenhower, The Inaugural Prayer (Denison, TX: on display at the Eisenhower Birthplace Memorial, 208 E. Day, Denison, Texas, 75020). Charles
E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), pp. 192-193. Edmund Fuller and David E. Green, God in the White House-The Faiths of American Presidents (NY: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1968), p. 217. Edward L.R. Elson, D.D., Lit.D., LL.D., America's Spiritual Recovery (Westwood, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1954), p. 56. January 20, 1953, Scripture choice at his Inauguration, January 20, 1953: "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and heal their land."(II Chronicles 7:14). J. Michael Sharman, J.D., Faith of the Fathers (Culpeper, Virginia: Victory Publishing, 1995), pp. 106-108. 1890DE012. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, February 2, 1953, addressing Congress.
1890DE112. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, February 5, 1953, Prayer Breakfast of International Christian Leadership, Washington, DC.
1890DE013. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, February 20, 1953, letter to the Senate.
1890DE014. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, February 25, 1953, Press Conference.
1890DE015. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, March 9, 1953, at a News Conference.
1890DE115. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, April 12, 1953, addressed the Council of the Organization of American States.
1890DE016. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, May 5, 1953, to Congress.
1890DE017. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, May 15, 1953, at the College of William and Mary.
1890DE018. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, July 9, 1953, in a message to the National Co-Chairmen of the
American Quotations 2013 – William J. Federer 3304
Commission on Religious Organizations, National Conference of Christians and Jews; (in response to a message from the national Co-Chairmen regarding a recent attack in which they were called "the largest single group supporting the communist apparatus.") Public Papers of the Presidents-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953-Containing Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President, January 20 to December 31, 1953 (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1960), Item 132, pp. 489-490. Edward L.R. Elson, D.D., Lit.D., LL.D., America's Spiritual Recovery (Westwood, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1954), p. 135.
1890DE019. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, July 12, 1953, an editorial in the Jacksonville, Florida, Times- Union. Edward L.R. Elson, D.D., Lit.D., LL.D., America's Spiritual Recovery (Westwood, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1954), p. 58.
1890DE219. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight Eisenhower, September 10, 1953, commented on the Jewish New Year from Lowry Air Force Base, Denver.
1890DE119. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower statement printed in the New York Times, September 22, 1953, "Address at Republican Party Dinner Held at the Boston Garden.
1890DE419. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, October 15, 1953, stated at the laying of the cornerstone of the Anthony Wayne Library of American Study, Defiance College, Defiance, Ohio. 1890DE020. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, October 31, 1953, in a program produced for the Committee on Religion in American Life, broadcast nationally via radio and television. Public Papers of the Presidents-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953-Containing Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President, January 20 to December 31, 1953 (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1960), Item 236, p. 736. Alexis de Tocqueville, attributed. Robert Flood, The Rebirth of America (The Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation, 1986), p. 32. The New American, December 12, 1986, p. 10. Russell P. McRory, "Faith of Our Founding Fathers" (Wallstreet Journal, Letter to the Editor, June 1993). D.P. Diffine, Ph.D., One Nation Under God-How Close a Separation? (Searcy, Arkansas: Harding University, Belden Center for Private Enterprise Education, 6th edition, 1992), p. 1. Sam Bartholomew, God's Role in America (Nashville, TN: Eggman Publishing, Inc., 1996), p. 63. This observation has been referred to in the book, Empty Pews & Selections from Other Sermons on Timely Topics, Madison Clinton Peters; Zeising, 1886, p. 35: "I went at your bidding, and passed along their thoroughfares of trade. I ascended their mountains and went down their valleys. I visited their manufactories, their commercial markets, and emporiums of trade. I entered their judicial courts and legislative halls. But I sought everywhere in vain for the secret of their success, until I entered the church. It was there, as I listened to the soul-equalizing and soul-elevating principles of the Gospel of Christ, as they fell from Sabbath to Sabbath upon the masses of the people, that I learned why America was great and free, and why
American Quotations 2013 – William J. Federer 3305
France was a slave." It was used by Reverend John McDowell Labor Day sermon, Sept. 1922 in New York City; printed in the 1908 copy of The Methodist; and in The Herald and Presbyter, Sept. 6, 1922, pg. 8, col. 3: NEW YORK LETTER.BY REV. CLARENCE G. REYNOLDS, D.D.; in the New
York Times, Feb. 23, 1926, 'Tributes Here Hail Heroic Washington,' pg. 5: 'American ideals are as high today,' he (U.S. Senator Henry F. Ashurst of Arizona) said, 'as ever in our history. The secret of America's genius is not in her halls of Government or even in the Senate, but in her homes and churches.
America is great because she is good, and when she is no longer good she will no longer be great.'; Sherwood Eddy (1871-1963) included the quote in his book 1941 book called The Kingdom of God and the American Dream (1941); General Dwight D. Eisenhower in a 1951 Presidential campaign speech. It was printed in the New York Times Nov. 4, 1952: "Many years ago a wise philosopher came to this country seeking the answer to this same question; Wherein lie the greatness and genius of America This was his answer: 'I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers - and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her fertile fields and boundless forests - and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her rich mines and vast world commerce - and it was not there...I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution - and it is no there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.
America is great because America is good - and if America ever ceases to be good - America will cease to be great.''; Eisenhower used the quote again, printed in the New York Times, Sept. 22, 1953, "Address at Republican Party Dinner Held at the Boston Garden: "This soverign ideal we believe to be the very source of the greatness and the genius of America. In this, we proclaim nothing very new. It was seen clearly by a wise French visitor who came to America considerably more than a century ago. he patiently and persistently sought the greatness and genius of America in our fields and in our forests, in our mines and in our commerce, in our Congress and in our Constitution, and he found them not. But he sought still further and then he said: 'Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and her power. America is great because America is good - and if America ever ceases to be good - America will cease to be great.' I read those words to such an audience as this once before. It was here in Boston, eleven months ago in this hall. The utter truth they held for me then, they hold today."; Richard Nixon use of the quote was printed in the New York Times, Oct. 25, 1970, 'Nixon's Statement Rejecting the Report of Obscenity Panel,': "Alexis de Tocqueville, observing America more than a century ago, wrote: 'America is great because she is good - and if America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.'; President Ronald W. Reagan in a 1982 speech, and again in 1984: "[Tocqueville] is said to have observed that 'America is great because America is good'"; Regean used the quote again, as printed in the New
American Quotations 2013 – William J. Federer 3306
York Times, May 13, 1983, 'Reagan Plays The Issues In More Than A Single Key' by Francis X. Clines, pg. E1: "Invoking the power of Jesus and denouncing the nuclear freeze movement, the President told a fervid audience of evangelical preachers that - 'America is great because America is good.' For an interesting account of the Tocqueville quote, see John J. Pittney's "The Tocqueville Fraud," in The Weekly Standard, November 13, 1995.
1890DE220. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, December 14, 1953, stated at the opening of the White House Conference of Mayors.
1890DE120. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, November 10, 1953, addressed the U.S. Information Agency, Department of the Interior.
1890DE021. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, December 24, 1953, lighting the National Christmas Tree.
1890DE022. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, January 7, 1954, in his State of the Union Message. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 67.
1890DE023. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, February 1, 1954, to the United Catholic Organization for Freeing Cardinal Joseph Mindszenty.
1890DE024. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, March 25, 1954, in his message at the annual convention of the National Catholic Family Life Conference, New Orleans. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 70.
1890DE124. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, February 7, 1954, American Legion's Back-to-God.
1890DE224. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, April 22, 1954, addressed the Daughters of the American Revolution's 63rd Congress at Constitutional Hall.
1890DE324. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, May 20, 1954, addressed the Committee for Economic Development.
1890DE424. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, May 26, 1954, toasted the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie at a State Dinner.
1890DE025. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, June 14, 1954, on signing the Act of Congress, (bill introduced by Representative Louis Rabout of Michigan-May 6, 1954) which added the phrase Under God to the Pledge of Allegiance. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 73. Act of Congress, (bill introduced by Representative Louis Rabout of Michigan-May 6, 1954) which added the phrase Under God to the Pledge of Allegiance. U.S. Marine Corps, How to Respect and Display Our Flag (Washington: U.S.
American Quotations 2013 – William J. Federer 3307
Government Printing Office, 1977), p. 31.
1890DE026. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, June 14, 1954, President Eisenhower on the steps of the Capitol Building. The Capitol (Washington D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 7th edition, 1979), pp. 24-25. Gary DeMar, America's Christian History: The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision Publishers, Inc., 1993), p. 53. 1890DE027. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, June 14, 1954, President Eisenhower signs House Joint Resolution 243 into law as Public Law 287, the Pledge of Allegiance. "Our Christian Heritage," Letter from Plymouth Rock (Marlborough, NH: The Plymouth Rock Foundation), p. 7. D.P. Diffine, Ph.D., One Nation Under God-How Close a Separation? (Searcy, Arkansas: Harding University, Belden Center for Private Enterprise Education, 6th edition, 1992), p. 17. September 8, 1892. Pledge of Allegiance. The World Book Encyclopedia, 18 vols. (Chicago, IL: Field Enterprises, Inc., 1957; W.F. Quarrie and Company, 8 vols., 1917; World Book, Inc., 22 vols., 1989), Vol. 13, p. 6419.
1890DE127. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, October 24, 1954, remarked at the 75th anniversary of the incandescent lamp.
1890DE028. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, November 6, 1954, in a comment to newsmen during the 1954 football season. James Beasley Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 29.
1890DE029. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, November 9, 1954, to the first National Conference on the Spiritual Foundation of American Democracy in a luncheon meeting at the Sheraton- Carlton Hotel in Washington, DC. Public Papers of the Presidents-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1954-Containing Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President, January 1 to December 31, 1954 (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1960), Item 327, p. 1029-31.
1890DE030. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, 1954, upon lighting the National Christmas Tree at the White House. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 78.
1890DE031. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, 1954. "Our Christian Heritage," Letter from Plymouth Rock (Marlborough, NH: The Plymouth Rock Foundation), p. 7.
1890DE032. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, 1955, as quoted by President Gerald Rudolph Ford, Thursday, December 5, 1974, in a National Day of Prayer, 1974, Proclamation 4338. Mrs. James Dobson (Shirley), chairman, The National Day of Prayer Information Packet (Colorado Springs, CO: National Day of Prayer Tack Force, May 6, 1993).
1890DE033. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, January 6, 1955, in his State of the Union Message to Congress.
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James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 201.
1890DE034. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, January 24, 1955, in a message to Congress asking their support in protecting Formosa and the Pescadores from Communist Chinese attack; the resolution won almost unanimously approval. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 202. 1890DE035. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, February 8, 1955, in a message to Congress on the state of American education. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 202.
1890DE036. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, February 8, 1955, in a message to Congress on the state of American education. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 202.
1890DE037. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, March 2, 1955, in a tribute to Pope Pius XII, stated at a new conference. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 204.
1890DE038. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, May 10, 1955, in an address to the Republican Women's National Conference. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 210.
1890DE039. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Robert Menzies, May 17, 1955, the Prime Minister of Australia, comment during a visit to Washington, D.C. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 159.
1890DE040. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, June 7, 1955, in giving the commencement address at West Point. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 215.
1890DE139. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, June 3, 1955, on accepting the Palestinian Lamp of Freedom from William Rosenwald, Chairman of the United Jewish Appeal.
1890DE041. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, June 11, 1955, in delivering the commencement address at Pennsylvania State University. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 216.
1890DE042. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, June 21, 1955, in speaking at the Vermont Dairy Festival, Rutland, Vermont. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 218.
1890DE043. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, July 15, 1955, in a national address given just prior to his departure for the Big Four Conference in Geneva. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of
American Quotations 2013 – William J. Federer 3309
'54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 220. 1890DE044. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, July 25, 1955, in a broadcast given upon his return from the Geneva Conference. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 223.
1890DE045. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, August 17, 1955, the text of the code of conduct for war prisoners to be put into effect in the armed services by Presidential order. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 224.
1890DE046. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, December 5, 1955, in a telephone address to the unification meeting of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, New York. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 226.
1890DE047. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, February 1, 1956, in a joint statement with British Prime Minister Anthony Eden at the end of a three-day conference in Washington, D.C. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 321.
1890DE048. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, March 21, 1956, in a news conference. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 324.
1890DE049. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, May 25, 1956, in delivering the commencement address at Baylor University, Waco, Texas. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 330.
1890DE050. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, July 22, 1956, in an address to the presidents of the American Republics, Panama City, Panama. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 333.
1890DE051. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, November 8, 1956, at the Election Night celebrations in Washington, D.C. James Beasely Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957), p. 339.
1890DE052. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, January 21, 1957, Monday, in his Second Inaugural Address.
Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States-From George Washington 1789 to Richard Milhous Nixon 1969 (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office; 91st Congress, 1st Session, House Document 91-142, 1969), pp. 263-266. Benjamin Weiss, God in American History: A Documentation of America's Religious Heritage (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1966), p. 145. Davis Newton Lott, The Inaugural Addresses of the American Presidents (NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1961), p. 263. Charles
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E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), p. 193. Charles Wallis, ed., Our American Heritage (NY: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., 1970), p. 54. Willard Cantelon, Money Master of the World (Plainfield, NJ: Logos International, 1976), p. 121. Proclaim Liberty (Dallas, TX: Word of Faith), p. 3. J. Michael Sharman, J.D., Faith of the Fathers (Culpeper, Virginia: Victory Publishing, 1995), p. 109.
1890DE252. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, September 26, 1960, Address to the Golden Jubilee Dinner of the National Conference of Catholic Charities, Statler Hilton Hotel in New York City.
1890DE352. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, September 26, 1957, stated on the occasion of the Jewish High Holy Days.
1890DE452. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, April 2, 1958, statement at a news conference.
1890DE552. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, October 12, 1958, statement laying the cornerstone for the Interchurch Center in New York.
1890DE053. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, statement in the Episcopal Churchnews Magazine. Edmund Fuller and David E. Green, God in the White House-The Faiths of American Presidents (NY: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1968), pp. 215-216.
1890DE054. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, statement. Robert Flood, The Rebirth of America (Philadelphia: Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation, 1986), p. 190.
1890DE055. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, statement. The Bible-The Book that Shaped a Nation. Gary DeMar, America's Christian History: The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision Publishers, Inc., 1993), p. 60.
1890DE056. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, statement. Charles Wallis, ed., Our American Heritage (NY: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., 1970), p. 12.
1890DE153. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, September 10, 1959, stated in a radio report on a European trip. 1890DE253. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, October 2, 1959, stated on the Jewish Holy Days.
1890DE353. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, February 24, 1960, to the Congress of Brazil at Tiradentes Palace in Rio de Janeiro.
1890DE453. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, June 1, 1960, stated on the 50th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America.
1890DE057. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, Perry Tanksley, To Love is to Give (Jackson, Mississippi: Allgood Books, Box 1329; Parthenon Press, 201 8th Ave., South, Nashville, Tennessee,
American Quotations 2013 – William J. Federer 3311
American Quotations 2013 – William J. Federer 3312
1972), p. 63.
1890DE058. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, statement. Charles Wallis, ed., Our American Heritage (NY: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., 1970), p. 200.
1890DE059. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, January 17, 1961, in his Farewell Address. Department of State Bulletin (published weekly by the Office of Public Services, Bureau of Public Affairs, February 6, 1961). The Annals of America 20 Vols. (Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 1976), Vol. 18, pp. 1-5.
1890DE060. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, Mrs. Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower, in a conversation at the Doud home, 750 La Fayette St., Denver, Colorado. Jessie Clayton Adams, More Than Money (San Antonio, TX: The Naylor Company, 1953), p. 8.
1890DE061. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, Mrs. Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower, in a conversation at the Doud home, 750 La Fayette St., Denver, Colorado. Jessie Clayton Adams, More Than Money (San Antonio, TX: The Naylor Company, 1953), p. 9. Courtesy of the personal library Michael Gross.
1890DE062. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Dwight David Eisenhower, November 23, 1963, the day after President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated, former President Dwight D. Eisenhower drove from Gettysburg to Washington D.C., to meet with President Lyndon B. Johnson and deliver a confidential memorandum. Lyndon Baines Johnson, The Vantage Point-Perspectives of the Presidency 1963-1969 (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971), pp. 31-32.