One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America

by Kevin M. Kruse

Overview

Conventional wisdom holds that America has been a Christian nation since the Founding Fathers. But in One Nation Under God, historian Kevin M. Kruse argues that the idea of “Christian America” is nothing more than a myth—and a relatively recent one at that.

The assumption that America was, is, and always will be a Christian nation dates back no further than the 1930s, when a coalition of businessmen and religious leaders united in opposition to the FDR’s New Deal. With the full support of Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s, these activists—the forerunners of the Religious Right—propelled religion into the public sphere. Church membership skyrocketed; Congress added the phrase “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance and made “In God We Trust” the country’s official motto. For the first time, America became a thoroughly religious nation.

Provocative and authoritative, One Nation Under God reveals how the comingling of money, religion, and politics created a false origin story that continues to define and divide American politics today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465040643
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	04/14/2015
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	54,844
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Kevin M. Kruse is a professor of history at Princeton University and the author or co-editor of four books, including the award-winning White Flight. Kruse lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Editorial Reviews

02/09/2015
Princeton historian Kruse (White Flight) wonders “why so many contemporary Americans came to believe that 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. Agent: Geri Thoma, Writers House. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Religion in American History
“An eminently readable book, chock-full of lively and entertaining anecdotes.”

Bookforum
“[An] engaging history of modern religious nationalism…briskly narrated and richly detailed…”

Library Journal, Editors' Spring Picks
“Kruse addresses how corporations used clergymen in their PR war against Roosevelt’s New Deal and how evangelist Billy Graham helped Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon use religion as the ‘lowest-common denominator’ to unite the public. I’ve yet to finish it, but I can already tell this will be an informative, insightful read.”

Kirkus, starred review
“In a book for readers from both parties, Kruse ably demonstrates how the simple ornamental mottoes ‘under God’ and ‘In God We Trust,’ as well as the fight to define America as Christian, were parts of a clever business plan.”

Library Journal, starred review
“Thorough and thought-provoking scholarship…Kruse reveals the marketing machine behind American godliness with authority, insight, and clarity. He illustrates key turning points along the way to provide a cohesive picture of a well-powered movement. He hands us the agenda behind the Pledge of Allegiance, ‘in God we trust,’ and other cornerstones of American patriotism. In short, he exposes the PR man behind the pious curtain.”

E.J. Dionne, Jr., author of Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics after the Religious Right
“Much has been written about the religious right, but Kevin Kruse has written a breakthrough book by describing the movement’s pre-history in the 1930s and 1950s—and in fascinating detail. Engagingly written, One Nation Under God will provoke many arguments, but it will require all sides to come to terms with facts and events largely buried in our collective memory until Kruse bravely set out to challenge our assumptions.”

Jon Butler, Professor Emeritus of American Studies, History, and Religious Studies at Yale University
“Kevin M. Kruse’s startling One Nation Under God reveals the extraordinary Cold War politics that put 'under God' in America's Pledge of Allegiance, 'In God We Trust' on U.S. stamps, and Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments on Hollywood’s biggest movie list. The political warriors for a 'Christian America' made the Puritans look like pikers, and Kruse dissects their successes and foibles with grace, glowing research, and more than a little humor. A compelling read!”

Andrew Preston, author of Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in American War and Diplomacy
“In this riveting book, Kevin Kruse combines the history of religion with the history of capitalism to craft an original interpretation about America’s religious identity. Revisionist in the best sense—bold, daring, and intelligent—it will change how we think about the American past.”

Ari Kelman, author of the Bancroft Prize-winning A Misplaced Massacre
“In this brilliant and iconoclastic book, Kevin M. Kruse shows how an unholy alliance of greedy businessmen, venal clergy, and conservative politicians exploited American spirituality for partisan gain. Kruse’s research is extraordinary, his prose vivid, his argument profound. One Nation Under God is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding contemporary culture in the United States.”

Lizabeth Cohen, author of Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in America, 1919-1939
“Prepare yourself for a startling and important discovery: ‘Christian America’ is not a legacy of the nation’s founders or a construct of the Cold War Era. Rather, as Kevin Kruse so powerfully shows, it was the deliberate invention of conservative corporate leaders who allied with like-minded clergymen in the 1930s to fight the antichrist they most feared: Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. Kruse convincingly argues that the rise of the religious right over the next decades grew out of these anti-liberal politics, not the other way around. ‘Church and state’ in America has rarely had a better historian than Kruse.”

Ira Katznelson, author of Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time
“Certain to be controversial, One Nation Under God persuasively reveals how business opponents of the New Deal joined forces with crusading ministers to place religious piety at the core of the American story. The book’s redolent account of this underestimated mid-century point of inflection compels a reassessment of how and when the United States came to be regarded as a consecrated Christian nation.”

Sean Wilentz, Bancroft Prize-winning author of The Rise of American Democracy
“The claim that the United States was founded and then flourished as a Christian nation turns out to be an all-American fraud, disseminated in the 1950s and after by an odd combination of reactionary businessmen, well-meaning political leaders, cranks, cynics, and dupes. Kevin M. Kruse’s calm and devastating book more than debunks the fraud; it offers brilliant insight into our politics, then and now.

From the Publisher

★ 02/15/2015
Patriotism, capitalism, and Christianity have served as the religious right's trinity for decades. Religion has become so well rooted in the Conservative movement that we scarcely consider how it all began. For Kruse (History, Princeton Univ.; White Flight), however, this question serves as the foundation for thorough and thought-provoking scholarship. Here the author takes us from an America battered by the Depression and enlightened by the New Deal—a time when industrialists faced a public relations nightmare—to modern-day America, where God, once a fleeting mention in the political arena, has become an indispensable shout-out. Kruse reveals the ingenious marketing campaign designed to bring scripture to big business. By uniting themselves with pastors, ministers, and reverends, industrialists gave themselves a trusted voice to explain the relationship between free enterprise, love of country, and love of God. VERDICT Kruse reveals the marketing machine behind American godliness with authority, insight, and clarity. He illustrates key turning points along the way to provide a cohesive picture of a well-powered movement. He hands us the agenda behind the Pledge of Allegiance, "in God we trust," and other cornerstones of American patriotism. In short, he exposes the PR man behind the pious curtain. [See "Editors' Spring Picks," p. 32.]—Erin Entrada Kelly, Philadelphia, PA

Library Journal

★ 2014-12-14
Kruse (History/Princeton Univ.; White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism, 2007, etc.) explains the links between capitalism and Christianity.This history is linked to industry's reaction to reform, born during the Progressive Era, revived by the New Deal and perfected during the Cold War. The rise of the Social Gospel movement under Theodore Roosevelt redefined Christianity as faith concerned with the public good more than personal salvation. Business leaders saw new regulations as a threat to their bottom lines and looked for help redefining their roles. The author credits three men and their movements that helped build "Christian Libertarianism": James Fifield's Spiritual Motivation Group, Abraham Vereide's prayer breakfast meetings and Billy Graham's evangelical revivals. Major corporations, prominent industrialists and business lobbies supported these evangelists, who were promoting free enterprise. Using scare tactics and playing up the links between piety and patriotism, these groups sold faith and freedom. Who would be so foolish as to deny or fight either? As Kruse explains the connections, readers will begin to understand that the rallies to promote church participation and fights for school prayer were basically big business's drive to eliminate the welfare state and labor unions. Throughout the book, the author exposes big money's manipulation of the masses. The religious leaders no doubt had good intentions, but many of them became rich promoting the evils of unions and the dangers of socialism. Beginning with Dwight Eisenhower, Republican presidents continued the fight. Enter Madison Avenue and Hollywood, and the propaganda drive and the sacralization of the state were in full tilt. In a book for readers from both parties, Kruse ably demonstrates how the simple ornamental mottoes "under God" and "In God We Trust," as well as the fight to define America as Christian, were parts of a clever business plan.

Kirkus Reviews