The Faith Of George W. Bush,
by Stephen Mansfield


(Click for Amazon book review)

OnTheIssues.org BOOK REVIEW:

This book is about George W. Bush's faith as a candidate and president, but also about the faith of George H. W. Bush, the father. The two are intertwined, of course, since Bush Sr. chose Bush Jr.'s early church experiences. But the book outlines how their presidential politics continued that intertwining in adulthood.

The author claims (p. xiv) to have written this book because "the matter of his religious faith… is another likely pillar of George W. Bush's legacy." While that is not true for Bush Sr., the author does spend a lot of ink on the earlier president too. The author details (p. 19) how Bush Sr. considered his faith to be "personal", while Bush Jr., as indicated by the quote above, considered his faith to be a critical component of his policymaking.

This book is the first of a series by Stephen Mansfield on the faith of presidents and presidential candidates. Mansfield later authored The Faith of Barack Obama (2008) and The Faith and Values of Sarah Palin (2010). Mansfield also writes faith-oriented biographies about non-politicians; but we hope he continues this insightful series on many more candidates.

-- Jesse Gordon, editor-in-chief, OnTheIssues.org, October 2011

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Principles & Values     Jimmy Carter: Openly a Born-Again Christian.     Ronald Reagan: Not first religious president but first hero to evangelicals.

Click for quotations from other sources by:
• Jimmy Carter
• Ronald Reagan