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Sep 25, 2023

Dwight W. Eisenhower

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I frequently attended meetings at National Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC during my years of pastoral ministry. As I entered the church, I often passed by the “Eisenhower kneeler.” President Dwight W. Eisenhower (1890-1969) knelt for baptism on that kneeler ten days after his inauguration as our country’s thirty-fourth president in 1953. He’s the only president ever baptized while occupying the oval office.
President Eisenhower was raised in the River Brethren Church in Abilene, Kansas, an offshoot of the Mennonite faith. Like our founders, he believed religion played an indispensable role in American democracy. He instituted the National Prayer Breakfast and welcomed Billy Graham to the White House. He signed into law the addition of the phrase, “under God” to our Pledge of Allegiance and “In God we Trust” to paper currency.

By all accounts, Dwight was a deeply religious man. He attended worship regularly and referenced Scripture often in his speeches. As Supreme Commander of the Allied forces during the Second World War, he witnessed firsthand the atrocities of war. He said in 1967, “The business of the church is to put us generals out of business.”

President Eisenhower delivered his inaugural address on January 10, 1953, beginning his remarks by leading our nation in prayer. The very idea of a sitting president praying for the nation he was about to lead seems unimaginable in our time. He wrote the following prayer on hotel stationary on the evening before his inauguration:

Almighty God, as we stand here at this moment, my future associates in the executive branch of government join me in beseeching that Thou will make full and complete our dedication to the service of the people in this throng, and their fellow citizens everywhere. Give us, we pray, the power to discern clearly right from wrong, and all our words and actions to be governed thereby, and by the laws of this land. Especially we pray that our concern shall be for all the people regardless of station, race or calling. May cooperation be permitted and be the mutual aim of those who, under the concepts of our Constitution, hold to differing political faiths; so that all may work for the good of our beloved country and Thy glory. Amen.

Rev. Dr. Peter James served 42 years as the senior of Vienna Presbyterian Church in Vienna, VA — 21 years in the 20th century and 21 years in the 21st century. He retired in 2021 and now serves as Pastor-in-Residence at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Even as a pastor, prayer came slowly to Pete. Read Pete’s story.