# How many of our presidents were athiest or agnostic, or simply non-churchgoers. Any? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 16, 2000, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598 "2000-06-16T16:07:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@Bilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bilder)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/1 "2000-06-16T16:07:08Z")
I believe Jefferson was a non-church going Deist during his years in office, although he trained for the clergy earlier, and was active later, back at Montecello. Some others were never open about what church they were members of, or seemed to “visit” widely among faiths, perhaps for valid political purposes, like showing they were not bigoted (Kennedy comes to mind here). But others probably did that to mask a lifelong disregard for religion, or churches as distinguished. So, who would be in the categories in the post title? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/2 "2000-06-16T16:16:54Z")
I’ll bet an awful lot of 'em were. But their mammas didn’t raise no fools, so they were smart enough to pay lip-service to the church. You think Bill Clinton is REALLY a “Baptist?” ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/3 "2000-06-16T16:55:01Z")
Not that this answers your question, but since I knew a bit of trivia about a world leader, I thought I’d mention it. Robert Hawke, former prime minister of Australia (1983-1991), is an agnostic. [Celebrity Atheist List](http://www.primenet.com/~lippard/atheistcelebs/pg44.html) ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/4 "2000-06-16T17:04:06Z")
Like Eve said, they weren’t stupid. In this country there is a long history of attacking anybody who does not believe in Christ our Lord forever and ever amen. Other than Jefferson, I don’t think any of them were dumb enough to admit to being anything other than Christ loving family man. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/5 "2000-06-16T17:06:57Z")
Reagan, for all his endorsement of traditional values, never attended regular church services during his years as President. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/6 "2000-06-16T17:26:13Z")
I agree with Eve and Little Nemo. Following the Great Revivalist period in American history (early 19th Century), strong devotion to religion was considered an important part of life, and one who did not worship was looked upon with great disdain. This attitude was heightened in the late 19th Century with the beginnings of Communism as a party; since Communism was so anti-religion, many people felt that being anti-religion meant being Communist. It is quite possible that many of our presidents were agnostic or athiestic; certainly, a good many of them were not particularly Christian in their actions\*. But the closest any President has come to being openly agnostic or atheistic are either our early Presidents (Washington, Jefferson, Monroe) who were avowed Deists; or Andrew Johnson, who claimed to believe in Christianity but never was able to find a specific branch that worshipped in a way he could fully approve of. \*Please do not interpret this sentence to mean that agnostics or atheists are inherently evil or nasty because they aren’t Christian. ---
**Author:** ![Morgan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/0ea827/32.png) [@Morgan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/7 "2000-06-16T17:40:34Z")
This appears to be an accurate source. [The Religious Beliefs Of Our Presidents](http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/franklin_steiner/presidents.html) The website has the first five chapters from the book of the above title. The titles of the chapters are: > [@](#): > > Chapter I - George Washington - The Vestryman Who Was Not A Communicant > Chapter II - Presidents Who Were Presbyterians > Andrew Jackson > James Knox Polk > James Buchanan > Grover Cleveland > Benjamin Harrison > Woodrow Wilson > Chapter III - Presidents Who Were Unitarians > John Adams > John Quincy Adams > Millard Fillmore > William Howard Taft > Chapter IV - Presidents Who Were Episcopalians > Franklin Pierce > Franklin Delano Roosevelt > Chapter V - Presidents Who Were Not Members Of Any Church > William Henery Harrison > Andrew Johnson > Ulysses Simpson Grant > Rutherford Birchard Hayes > Chapter VI - Presidents Whose Religious Views Are Doubtful > James Madison > James Monroe > Martin Van Buren > John Tyler > Zachary Taylor > Chester Alan Arthur > Chapter VII - Thomas Jefferson, Freethinker > Chapter VIII - Abraham Lincoln, Diest And Admirer Of Thomas Paine > Chapter IX - James Abram Garfield, The Preacher President > Chapter X - William McKinley, The Methodist President > Chapter XI - Theodore Roosevelt, Dutch Reformed But Not Very Religious > Chpater XII - The Beliefs Of Our “Prosperity” Presidents > Warren Gamaliel Harding - Baptist > Calvin Coolidge - Congregationalist > Herbert Clark Hoover - Quaker ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/8 "2000-06-16T17:49:05Z")
Interesting. The chapter is called "Chapter XI - Theodore Roosevelt, Dutch Reformed But Not Very Religious " but I remeber Roosevelt making lots of religious referenes; calling the White House the “bully pulpit”; having “Onward Christian Soldiers” as his song for the 1912 campaign; claiming that he was fighting for the “Army of the Lord” in trying to elect McKinley and defeat Bryan in 1896. Guess that shows how even those politicians who didn’t care much for their own religion knew to talk a lot about it in public. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/9 "2000-06-16T18:29:46Z")
IIRC, Nixon was a Quaker, at least by birth. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/10 "2000-06-16T18:50:04Z")
Nixon indeed was Quaker, but he rarely attended meetings after his childhood. His main religious belief seemed to be a paranoid form of anti-Semitism, at least that’s what’s been coming out from the White House tapes. ---
**Author:** ![TampaFlyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71e660/32.png) [@TampaFlyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TampaFlyer)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/11 "2000-06-16T21:17:59Z")
\> Reagan, for all his endorsement of traditional values, never attended regular church services during his years as President. Yes, but that was supposed to be for security reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/12 "2000-06-16T22:14:01Z")
I recall reading somewhere that Abraham Lincoln was basically an atheist. I assume “diest” from the TOC of the book listed above is “deist” misspelled, so I guess it has a different opinion. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/13 "2000-06-16T23:31:13Z")
“The Complete Book of US Presidents” by William DeGregorio says that Lincoln, when he went to church, went to Presbyterian services. However, he never formally joined any church. Reagan too was nominally Presbyterian. ---
**Author:** ![SarumanRex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@SarumanRex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SarumanRex)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2000, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/14 "2000-06-17T02:24:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > \> Reagan, for all his endorsement of traditional values, never attended regular church services during his years as President. > > Yes, but that was supposed to be for security reasons. > \*\* After Reagan made one of his famous speeches in which he mentions God, a reporter asked him why he never went to church. Reagan (or his press spokes-person I don’t remember) said that his presence in church would create an undue security risk for the other parishioners. The reporter then asked, “Then why don’t you do what Carter did and invite a minister to the Whitehouse to give sermons to you and your family every Sunday?” To this Reagan had no good answer and the topic was dropped. IMHO Reagan was an excellent politician and all the best politicians are completely full of crap. You never know what they really think about any hot topic like religion or abortion or gun rights or anything that could get them in trouble. Even when speaking in private a good politician keeps his cards close to the chest since it could get out that he thinks, “religion is a crutch for weak minded people who need strength in numbers”. No good politician would admit to thinking that, not even in private, since it would jeopardize his chances of re-election or advancing to higher office. In response to the OP there is no way to know what religious beliefs our President’s really held since most of them were superb politicians. ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2000, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/15 "2000-06-17T02:50:12Z")
Reagan was such a master of propaganda and image its almost impossible to find more than a handful of press pictures of him without a big flag in the background. I think SarumanRex really sums in up, these men were master politicians than means they’re masters of typical PR activities like spin, lying, non-consistancy, pandering, etc. Generally, they also come from rich, privileged, and high class families, a demographic known for religious apathy compared to low-class under-educated types who fill the pews at more fundamentalist religions. Though many southern Republicans give off a strong Jezoid-freak vibe. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2000, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/16 "2000-06-17T05:02:09Z")
Note that the most recent President listed in Morgan’s post is FDR. The book was written in 1936, so some information may be dated. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2000, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/17 "2000-06-17T15:25:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Note that the most recent President listed in Morgan’s post is FDR. The book was written in 1936, so some information may be dated. > \*\* That’s OK. I doubt that Andrew Jackson’s religous beliefs have changed much in the last 60 years :). To add to the recent presedents, George Bush is, IIRC, Presbyterian. Clinton is nominally a Southern Bapist, although given his attitudes and conduct, I wouldn’t be suprised to find out he’s really an atheist. What’s Gerald Ford’s religion? I certainly hope he believes in God, because the last time I saw him on TV (which was about a year ago), he really looked terrible. I wonder if he’ll die before Reagan? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2000, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/18 "2000-06-17T16:15:43Z")
Let’s see, since FDR we have: Truman - Baptist Eisenhower - Presbyterian Kennedy - Roman Catholic Johnson - Disciples of Christ Nixon - Quaker Ford - Episcopalian Carter - Baptist Reagan - Disciples of Christ Bush - Episcopalian Clinton - Baptist There seems to be a fairly good list of presidentail statisics of various types at [http://www.fujisan.demon.co.uk/USPresidents/preslist.htm](http://www.fujisan.demon.co.uk/USPresidents/preslist.htm) They give only Jefferson, Andrew Johnson and Lincoln as “none”. Lincoln was an astute politician. In todays climate, he would probably profess some organized religion. They also put the “religion” list on the same page with “their reputed affairs” - an interesting juxtaposition. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2000, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/19 "2000-06-17T16:17:34Z")
I guess I goofed on Bush :o ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2000, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598/20 "2000-06-17T16:43:17Z")
George Bush is a man straight out of Episcopalian Central Casting. Nixon might have been raised a Quaker, but he: 1) served in the military and 2) “swore” in his oath of office. Hoover only took an affirmation when he became president as Quakers are not supposed to take any oaths. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-our-presidents-were-athiest-or-agnostic-or-simply-non-churchgoers-any/22598.md?page=2)