The U.S. Constitution famously prohibits any religious test or
requirement for public office. Still, almost all of the nation’s
presidents have been Christians and many have been Episcopalians or
Presbyterians, with most of the rest belonging to other prominent
Protestant denominations.
The nation’s new president, Donald Trump, certainly fits this pattern. Trump
is the nation’s ninth chief executive to be affiliated with a
Presbyterian church. Presbyterianism has its roots in England and
Scotland and has been active in North America since the 17th century.
Even though he no longer regularly attends
a Presbyterian church, Trump was raised a Presbyterian and still
considers himself one, saying “my religion is a wonderful religion.” (As a young man in New York, he began attending Marble Collegiate Church, a Dutch Reformed congregation, and in recent years, he has been associated with Paula White, an evangelical megachurch pastor who will pray at his inauguration.)
The first Presbyterian to occupy the White
House was Andrew Jackson and the last, before Trump, was Ronald Reagan.
Both Jackson and Reagan had Scots-Irish ancestry. Trump’s mother
immigrated to the U.S. from Scotland.
A recent survey by
the Pew Research Center shows that many Americans care about their
leaders’ faith. For instance, half of all American adults say it’s
important for a president to share their religious beliefs. And more
people now say there is “too little” religious discussion by their
political leaders (40%) than say there is “too much” (27%).
Historically, about a quarter of the
presidents – including some of the nation’s most famous leaders, such as
George Washington, James Madison and Franklin Roosevelt – were members
of the Episcopal Church, the American successor to the Church of
England. Unitarians and Baptists (including Bill Clinton and Harry
Truman) are the groups with the third-largest share of presidents, each
with four.
Although Roman Catholicism has long been
the nation’s largest religious denomination, John F. Kennedy remains the
only Catholic president. And since Kennedy’s assassination in 1963,
only one other Catholic, John Kerry, has been a presidential nominee on a
major party ticket.
Two of the most famous presidents in
American history had no formal religious affiliation. The first, Thomas
Jefferson, lost his faith in orthodox Christianity at an early age, but
continued to believe in an impersonal God as the creator of the
universe. Jefferson famously edited the New Testament by removing references to the miracles and leaving in Jesus’ teachings.
The second, Abraham Lincoln, was raised in
a religious household and spoke frequently about God (particularly as
president), but never joined a church. Scholars have long debated
Lincoln’s beliefs, including the question of whether or not he was a Christian, and some aspects of his faith remain a mystery.
Lincoln is not the only president for whom
there is some uncertainty surrounding his affiliation and beliefs. Some
presidents were more private than others about their religious leanings
and some may have evolved in their beliefs during their life.
For example, Lincoln’s second vice
president and ultimately his successor, Andrew Johnson, identified
himself as a Christian, but never was formally part of a denomination or
congregation. Another 19th century president, Rutherford B. Hayes,
sometimes attended Methodist churches, but “moved among Protestant denominations during his life,” according to the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs at Georgetown University.
Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, was
raised in a nonreligious household but converted to Christianity as an
adult and worshipped at a United Church of Christ congregation – Trinity United Church of Christ – in Chicago. However, Obama left Trinity during his first presidential campaign in 2008 after controversial statements by the church’s senior pastor, Jeremiah Wright, gained widespread attention. Today, Obama calls himself a Christian, but is not a regular churchgoer.