One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America

Princeton historian Kruse (White Flight) wonders “why so many contemporary Americans came to believe that [the U.S.] has always been and always should be a Christian nation” and finds answers among a group of 1930s anti–New Deal industrialists intent on promoting “Christian libertarianism”—a philosophy that preached the salvation of the individual through free enterprise. These businessmen, alongside clergy such as Billy Graham, saw an Eisenhower presidency as an opportunity to “inspire the American people to a more spiritual way of life.” Yet the Eisenhower Administration produced little more than ceremonial deism. Kruse argues that superficial displays—such as adding “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance—may have created the religious tradition we see today, but more significant attempts to bridge the gap between church and state were blocked by the Supreme Court. The movement may even have died were it not for Nixon, who cynically evoked nostalgia for 1950s-era stability to win the presidency and helped transform the Silent Majority into the Moral Majority. Kruse sidesteps the question of whether America actually had a religious founding, describing instead how 20th-century politicians exploited this idea, but by doing so, he misses a critical opportunity to separate history from myth and chicanery. B&w photos.[em] Agent: Geri Thoma, Writers House. (Apr.) [/em]