Dutch, Reformed

Americans have always been apprehensive about mixing politics and religion. It seems that we want our politicians to be religious, and specifically Christian, but not overbearing about it. Hence we view their spiritual lives with great suspicion, questioning either their sincerity or their independence.

This was particularly true for Ronald Reagan. “While he was president,” political scientist Paul Kengor notes in this new “spiritual biography,” “Reagan’s religious faith was, at best, dismissed or ridiculed.” But as Kengor establishes convincingly, the criticisms were dead wrong: Reagan’s belief in God “was a key source of his optimism and boldness, his daring and self-security, and his confidence; these essential intangibles carried him throughout his presidency—and career as a whole— and enabled him to achieve what he did.”

About the Author

S. T. Karnick

Mr. Karnick is the director of research for the Heartland Institute.

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Americans have always been apprehensive about mixing politics and religion. It seems that we want our politicians to be religious, and specifically Christian, but not overbearing about it. Hence we view their spiritual lives with great suspicion, questioning either their sincerity or their independence.

This was particularly true for Ronald Reagan. “While he was president,” political scientist Paul Kengor notes in this new “spiritual biography,” “Reagan’s religious faith was, at best, dismissed or ridiculed.” But as Kengor establishes convincingly, the criticisms were dead wrong: Reagan’s belief in God “was a key source of his optimism and boldness, his daring and self-security, and his confidence; these essential intangibles carried him throughout his presidency—and career as a whole— and enabled him to achieve what he did.”