Has an Athiest ever been President of the United States?

[Billy Costigan]

If so, who was it?

Just wondering.

 

[VOLatile]

Before it became compulsory thanks to the Red Scare in the 50s, lots of pre-WW2 Presidents didn't fit squarely into the definition of Christian.

All the below weren't regular Church-going Christians:

James Madison
James Monroe
Martin Van Buren
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
Zachary Taylor
Andrew Johnson
Ulysses S. Grant
Rutherford B. Hayes
Chester Arthur

 

[tvolsfan]

I think Abraham Lincoln was an atheist, but he kept it quiet.

 

[dhendri]

Before it became compulsory thanks to the Red Scare in the 50s, lots of pre-WW2 Presidents didn't fit squarely into the definition of Christian.

All the below weren't regular Church-going Christians:

James Madison
James Monroe
Martin Van Buren
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
Zachary Taylor
Andrew Johnson
Ulysses S. Grant
Rutherford B. Hayes
Chester Arthur

Not sure how much stock I'd put in a Yahoo Answers response.

 

[VOLatile]

Not sure how much stock I'd put in a Yahoo Answers response.

I wouldn't put stock into anything. There haven't been any clear "atheists" as President, but there have been several that couldn't give a rat's ass about god.

 

[volinbham]

I wouldn't put stock into anything. There haven't been any clear "atheists" as President, but there have been several that couldn't give a rat's ass about god.

link?

 

[s1216]

I wouldn't put stock into anything. There haven't been any clear "atheists" as President, but there have been several that couldn't give a rat's ass about god.

And how would one make that claim?

 

[OJ]

If you believe in a false god , are you still an atheist?

 

[SDV]

If you believe in a false god , are you still an atheist?

Obama, no wait he's Muslim

 

[bamacheats]

If you believe in a false god , are you still an atheist?

Scientologist
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[droski]

Reagan reportably was not religious
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[VOLatile]

If you believe in a false god , are you still an atheist?

This makes no sense. Who determines what a false god is in the first place? (Universally speaking)

 

[BigPapaVol]

None have been in word, but I suspect many were in deed.
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[rjd970]

I believe Jefferson was pretty secular and from what I have read certainly didn't believe in a prayer answering type god.

 

[Pepe_Silvia]

Before it became compulsory thanks to the Red Scare in the 50s, lots of pre-WW2 Presidents didn't fit squarely into the definition of Christian.

All the below weren't regular Church-going Christians:

James Madison
James Monroe
Martin Van Buren
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
Zachary Taylor
Andrew Johnson
Ulysses S. Grant
Rutherford B. Hayes
Chester Arthur

How relevant is the Red Scare when all the presidents listed above served in the 19th Century?
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[bamacheats]

This makes no sense. Who determines what a false god is in the first place? (Universally speaking)

The real God.
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[VOLatile]

How relevant is the Red Scare when all the presidents listed above served in the 19th Century?
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Red Scare - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Those guys were pre-WW2, before religion was a major determining factor in elections. The Red Scare brought religion to the forefront by labeling Communists as atheists and the like.

 

[therealUT]

Taft was a Unitarian (very closely related to Deism).
Nixon was a Quaker in his youth; however, with his policies, I would assume that he no longer identified with the Friends and it is quite possible that he could have been an Atheist (it is just as possible that he could have been anything else, though).
I have a hard time thinking that the Clinton's pay any mind to religion other than what it gains them politically.

 

[Pepe_Silvia]

Red Scare - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Those guys were pre-WW2, before religion was a major determining factor in elections. The Red Scare brought religion to the forefront by labeling Communists as atheists and the like.

And what about the presidents from the first half of the 20th Century?
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[therealUT]

And what about the presidents from the first half of the 20th Century?
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Not atheists; however, here is what the US basically had:

Teddy - a war monger and a property stealer; and, a property stealing war monger (just ask the Columbians)

Taft - blah

Wilson - basically, a spokesman for the KKK

Harling, Coolidge, and Hoover - blah (unless an upperclass gentleman wanted to make loads of money)

FDR - war mongering socialist

Truman - Atom Bomb

Were I a Christian, I am not sure I would want to be associated with most of these gentlemen.

 

[tvolsfan]

You say FDR was war mongering, but do you think he should have handled things differently?

 

[therealUT]

You say FDR was war mongering, but do you think he should have handled things differently?

I think he should have been less devious in the manner in which he sustained the British war effort and prepared the US for war. I also do not think that he should have declared war on German ships in September of 1941 and should not have demanded, in October 1941, that Japan give up their Manchurian territory which they had taken in 1932.

I think he knew that the US populace and Congress would not vote for an expeditionary war unless the US was attacked; I think he did everything in his power to provoke an attack.

Note: I am not in any way saying that FDR conspired with the Japanese or with anyone in the attack on Pearl; I am saying that FDR was intent on poking both tigers until they struck so that the US would give up its "isolationism".

 

[KiffinKiller]

I think he should have been less devious in the manner in which he sustained the British war effort and prepared the US for war. I also do not think that he should have declared war on German ships in September of 1941 and should not have demanded, in October 1941, that Japan give up their Manchurian territory which they had taken in 1932.

I think he knew that the US populace and Congress would not vote for an expeditionary war unless the US was attacked; I think he did everything in his power to provoke an attack.

Note: I am not in any way saying that FDR conspired with the Japanese or with anyone in the attack on Pearl; I am saying that FDR was intent on poking both tigers until they struck so that the US would give up its "isolationism".

Didn't Wilson behave much the same way in 191-? He used public opinion to stay out and then enter the war.

 

[n_huffhines]

Reagan reportably was not religious
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He grew up very religious. Fundamentalists. I think they were crusaders against dancing and boozing. Not sure what his views were while in office.

 

[n_huffhines]

I think he should have been less devious in the manner in which he sustained the British war effort and prepared the US for war. I also do not think that he should have declared war on German ships in September of 1941 and should not have demanded, in October 1941, that Japan give up their Manchurian territory which they had taken in 1932.

I think he knew that the US populace and Congress would not vote for an expeditionary war unless the US was attacked; I think he did everything in his power to provoke an attack.

Note: I am not in any way saying that FDR conspired with the Japanese or with anyone in the attack on Pearl; I am saying that FDR was intent on poking both tigers until they struck so that the US would give up its "isolationism".

Also sanctions against Japan aren't exactly the actions of a neutral party.