Presidents and Faith: Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on Jan. 30, 1883. He was christened two months later at St. James Episcopal Church in Hyde Park, N.Y. Although he was not always regular in his attendance at church services, Roosevelt would remain a communicant in the Episcopal Church his entire life, and would later be elected a vestryman and eventually senior warden in the church.
As a teenager he participated in missionary work organized by his boarding school, Groton School, which was an Episcopal boarding school in Massachusetts. Sometimes Roosevelt played the organ at rural church services. In his adult life, however, Roosevelt seldom attended church, and this was something that aggravated his wife, Eleanor. In a 1918 diary entry, she described his recent church attendance of two weeks in a row as a "great sacrifice to please me." According to Eleanor, Roosevelt was more likely to go out golfing with his friends on Sunday morning than he was to be found in prayer.
Despite his lack of church attendance, Roosevelt was said to maintain a personal inner faith. Eleanor Roosevelt described her husband's faith as follows:
"He had a strong religious feeling and his religion was a very personal one. I think he actually felt he could ask God for guidance and receive it. He never talked about his religion or his beliefs and never seemed to have any intellectual difficulties about what he believed."
Although he was less inclined to publicly invoke religious imagery in his speeches compared to some of his predecessors, Roosevelt did reference Christian concepts in many of his speeches. He mentioned God in all four of his inaugural addresses, always at the end of the address. Here is how he ended each of his inaugural addresses:
1. His first Inaugural address in 1933 closed with him saying: "In this dedication of a Nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us. May He guide me in the days to come."
2. His Second inaugural address in 1937 ended with: "While this duty rests upon me I shall do my utmost to speak their purpose and to do their will, seeking Divine guidance to help us each and every one to give light to them that sit in darkness and to guide our feet into the way of peace."
3. He finished his third inaugural address in 1941 with: "We do not retreat. We are not content to stand still. As Americans, we go forward, in the service of our country, by the will of God."
4. His fourth inaugural address in 1945 ended by saying: "The Almighty God has blessed our land in many ways. He has given our people stout hearts and strong arms with which to strike mighty blows for freedom and truth. He has given to our country a faith which has become the hope of all peoples in an anguished world. So we pray to Him now for the vision to see our way clearly—to see the way that leads to a better life for ourselves and for all our fellow men—to the achievement of His will to peace on earth."
Roosevelt spoke about the importance of the Bible in American history. He once said:
"We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a nation, without reckoning with the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the advances of the Republic. Its teaching, as has been wisely suggested, is ploughed into the very heart of the race."
One Christmas Eve, Roosevelt spoke to the nation on Christmas Eve, and talked about how his New Deal was a form of applied Christianity. In his remarks he quoted from the Sermon on the Mount. Later that evening he read A Christmas Carol to his family, gathered by a White House fireside.
On January 6, 1941 FDR gave a State of the Union address in which he included freedom of religion as one of the essential "four freedoms" that he felt were becoming increasingly threatened by the turmoil abroad. He said, "The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way -- everywhere in the world."
Although he was baptized as an Episcopalian and active in the church in his youth, Roosevelt rarely attended church services in Washington, DC. He said this was because, as President, he had no privacy and was living in what he called a "goldfish bowl". He said, "I can do almost anything in the Goldfish Bowl of the President's life, but I'll be hanged if I can say my prayers in it."
In 1937, in a letter to Calvert Associates, Roosevelt talked about religious tolerence. He wrote:
"The lessons of religious toleration, a toleration which recognizes complete liberty of human thought, liberty of conscience, is one which, by precept and example, must be inculcated in the hearts and minds of all Americans if the institutions of our democracy are to be maintained and perpetuated. We must recognize the fundamental rights of man. There can be no true national life in our democracy unless we give unqualified recognition to freedom of religious worship and freedom of education."
In a speech given on December 16, 1940, Roosevelt talked about the importance of religious education for children. He said:
"Our modern democratic way of life has its deepest roots in our great common religious tradition, which for ages past has taught to civilized mankind the dignity of the human being, his equality before God, and his responsibility in the making of a better and fairer world. In teaching this democratic faith to American children, we need the sustaining, buttressing aid of those great ethical religious teachings which are the heritage of our modern civilization. For not upon strength nor upon power, but upon the spirit of God shall our democracy be founded."
A year later, in the 1942 State of the Union address, delivered less than one month after the United States entered World War II, Roosevelt used religious terms in describing the conflict. He told Congress:
"Our enemies are guided by brutal cynicism, by unholy contempt for the human race. We are inspired by a faith that goes back through all the years to the first chapter of the Book of Genesis: 'God created man in his own image.' We on our side are striving to be true to that divine heritage. We are fighting, as our fathers have fought, to uphold the doctrine that all men are equal in the sight of God."
Roosevelt was criticized by some for not doing more to rescue European Jews who were imprisoned in concentration camps, facing mass execution. One of those urging Roosevelt to take action was his Treasury Secretary, Henry Morgenthau, a Jewish member of Roosevelt's Cabinet. Another Jewish American who was a close confidant of Roosevelt was financier Bernard Baruch. While the President did not act quickly enough to please his critics in this regard, he did not appear to demonstrate any anti-Semitic prejudices or sentiments, as evidenced by the appointment of Morgenthau to such an important post. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was not as quick to hide her prejudices in this respect. Once, after attending a party in honor of Baruch, Eleanor Roosevelt commented that “the Jew party was appalling. I never wish to hear money, jewels, and sables mentioned again.”
On March 29, 1945, Roosevelt went to the Little White House at Warm Springs, Georgia, to rest before his scheduled appearance at the founding conference of the United Nations. (The photo above is the last one ever taken of him). On the afternoon of April 12, Roosevelt said, "I have a terrific pain in the back of my head." He then slumped forward in his chair, unconscious, and was carried into his bedroom. The president's attending cardiologist, Dr. Howard Bruenn, diagnosed the cause as being a massive cerebral hemorrhage. At 3:35 p.m. that day, Roosevelt died. After Roosevelt's death, an editorial by The New York Times declared, "Men will thank God on their knees a hundred years from now that Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House".
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt later said, about her husband's religious beliefs, "I’ve always felt Franklin’s religion had something to do with his confidence in himself. It was a very simple religion. He never seemed to have any intellectual difficulties about what he believed."
As a teenager he participated in missionary work organized by his boarding school, Groton School, which was an Episcopal boarding school in Massachusetts. Sometimes Roosevelt played the organ at rural church services. In his adult life, however, Roosevelt seldom attended church, and this was something that aggravated his wife, Eleanor. In a 1918 diary entry, she described his recent church attendance of two weeks in a row as a "great sacrifice to please me." According to Eleanor, Roosevelt was more likely to go out golfing with his friends on Sunday morning than he was to be found in prayer.
Despite his lack of church attendance, Roosevelt was said to maintain a personal inner faith. Eleanor Roosevelt described her husband's faith as follows:
"He had a strong religious feeling and his religion was a very personal one. I think he actually felt he could ask God for guidance and receive it. He never talked about his religion or his beliefs and never seemed to have any intellectual difficulties about what he believed."
Although he was less inclined to publicly invoke religious imagery in his speeches compared to some of his predecessors, Roosevelt did reference Christian concepts in many of his speeches. He mentioned God in all four of his inaugural addresses, always at the end of the address. Here is how he ended each of his inaugural addresses:
1. His first Inaugural address in 1933 closed with him saying: "In this dedication of a Nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us. May He guide me in the days to come."
2. His Second inaugural address in 1937 ended with: "While this duty rests upon me I shall do my utmost to speak their purpose and to do their will, seeking Divine guidance to help us each and every one to give light to them that sit in darkness and to guide our feet into the way of peace."
3. He finished his third inaugural address in 1941 with: "We do not retreat. We are not content to stand still. As Americans, we go forward, in the service of our country, by the will of God."
4. His fourth inaugural address in 1945 ended by saying: "The Almighty God has blessed our land in many ways. He has given our people stout hearts and strong arms with which to strike mighty blows for freedom and truth. He has given to our country a faith which has become the hope of all peoples in an anguished world. So we pray to Him now for the vision to see our way clearly—to see the way that leads to a better life for ourselves and for all our fellow men—to the achievement of His will to peace on earth."
Roosevelt spoke about the importance of the Bible in American history. He once said:
"We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a nation, without reckoning with the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the advances of the Republic. Its teaching, as has been wisely suggested, is ploughed into the very heart of the race."
One Christmas Eve, Roosevelt spoke to the nation on Christmas Eve, and talked about how his New Deal was a form of applied Christianity. In his remarks he quoted from the Sermon on the Mount. Later that evening he read A Christmas Carol to his family, gathered by a White House fireside.
On January 6, 1941 FDR gave a State of the Union address in which he included freedom of religion as one of the essential "four freedoms" that he felt were becoming increasingly threatened by the turmoil abroad. He said, "The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way -- everywhere in the world."
Although he was baptized as an Episcopalian and active in the church in his youth, Roosevelt rarely attended church services in Washington, DC. He said this was because, as President, he had no privacy and was living in what he called a "goldfish bowl". He said, "I can do almost anything in the Goldfish Bowl of the President's life, but I'll be hanged if I can say my prayers in it."
In 1937, in a letter to Calvert Associates, Roosevelt talked about religious tolerence. He wrote:
"The lessons of religious toleration, a toleration which recognizes complete liberty of human thought, liberty of conscience, is one which, by precept and example, must be inculcated in the hearts and minds of all Americans if the institutions of our democracy are to be maintained and perpetuated. We must recognize the fundamental rights of man. There can be no true national life in our democracy unless we give unqualified recognition to freedom of religious worship and freedom of education."
In a speech given on December 16, 1940, Roosevelt talked about the importance of religious education for children. He said:
"Our modern democratic way of life has its deepest roots in our great common religious tradition, which for ages past has taught to civilized mankind the dignity of the human being, his equality before God, and his responsibility in the making of a better and fairer world. In teaching this democratic faith to American children, we need the sustaining, buttressing aid of those great ethical religious teachings which are the heritage of our modern civilization. For not upon strength nor upon power, but upon the spirit of God shall our democracy be founded."
A year later, in the 1942 State of the Union address, delivered less than one month after the United States entered World War II, Roosevelt used religious terms in describing the conflict. He told Congress:
"Our enemies are guided by brutal cynicism, by unholy contempt for the human race. We are inspired by a faith that goes back through all the years to the first chapter of the Book of Genesis: 'God created man in his own image.' We on our side are striving to be true to that divine heritage. We are fighting, as our fathers have fought, to uphold the doctrine that all men are equal in the sight of God."
Roosevelt was criticized by some for not doing more to rescue European Jews who were imprisoned in concentration camps, facing mass execution. One of those urging Roosevelt to take action was his Treasury Secretary, Henry Morgenthau, a Jewish member of Roosevelt's Cabinet. Another Jewish American who was a close confidant of Roosevelt was financier Bernard Baruch. While the President did not act quickly enough to please his critics in this regard, he did not appear to demonstrate any anti-Semitic prejudices or sentiments, as evidenced by the appointment of Morgenthau to such an important post. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was not as quick to hide her prejudices in this respect. Once, after attending a party in honor of Baruch, Eleanor Roosevelt commented that “the Jew party was appalling. I never wish to hear money, jewels, and sables mentioned again.”
On March 29, 1945, Roosevelt went to the Little White House at Warm Springs, Georgia, to rest before his scheduled appearance at the founding conference of the United Nations. (The photo above is the last one ever taken of him). On the afternoon of April 12, Roosevelt said, "I have a terrific pain in the back of my head." He then slumped forward in his chair, unconscious, and was carried into his bedroom. The president's attending cardiologist, Dr. Howard Bruenn, diagnosed the cause as being a massive cerebral hemorrhage. At 3:35 p.m. that day, Roosevelt died. After Roosevelt's death, an editorial by The New York Times declared, "Men will thank God on their knees a hundred years from now that Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House".
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt later said, about her husband's religious beliefs, "I’ve always felt Franklin’s religion had something to do with his confidence in himself. It was a very simple religion. He never seemed to have any intellectual difficulties about what he believed."