Kevin Kruse\u2019s Under God: How Corporate American Invented Christian America is an engaging and important book with a somewhat misleading central argument.<\/p>\n
Kruse explains how many things Americans take for granted came to be: the presence of \u201cunder God\u201d\u009d in the Pledge of Allegiance, the adoption of \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d\u009d as a national motto, the annual \u201cpresidential\u201d\u009d prayer breakfast, and the presidential practice of ending speeches with \u201cmay God bless America.\u201d\u009d Although \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d\u009d has a longer history, many elements of American civil religion have their roots not in the American founding but in the more recent past.<\/p>\n
Nor did expressions of public piety bubble up from the pews. Instead, a coalition of politically conservative business leaders forged ties with likeminded ministers, evangelists, and politicians to fight against New Deal liberalism, Communism, and immorality. Kruse describes their agenda as \u201cChristan libertarianism.\u201d\u009d Many individuals played leading roles in this cause: the Congregationalist minister James Fifield, Goodwill Industries founder Abraham Vereide, philanthropist J. Howard Pew, Ronald Reagan, Walt Disney. But the two foremost heroes (or villains, depending on your perspective) were Dwight Eisenhower and Billy Graham.<\/p>\n