Religion and the Mount Rushmore Presidents

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Religion and the Mount Rushmore Presidents

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Title: Religion and the Mount Rushmore Presidents

1
Religion and the Mount Rushmore Presidents
2
The Monument

Gutzon Borglum was the artist who designed and
oversaw the work on the monument. It would take
him and over 400 workers from 1927 to 1841 to
complete the project.
Doane Robinson, Peter Norbeck (a U.S. Senator),
and Borglum would collaborate on picking the
design. Originally, it was to be a memorial to
U.S. Western heroes, but Borglum insisted on
picking Presidents.

By selecting presidents for the memorial, they
hoped to create an eternal reminder of the
birth, growth, preservation, and development of a
nation dedicated to democracy and the pursuit of
individual liberty.

Image 1
4

Borglum would state We believe the dimensions
of national heartbeats are greater than village
impulses, greater than city demands, greater than
state dreams or ambitions.

Therefore, we believe a nation's memorial should,
like Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and
Roosevelt, have a serenity, a nobility, a power
that reflects the gods who inspired them and
suggests the gods they have become (unknown
author qtd. American Park Network).

Image 2
6

In a study of religion and Washington, Jefferson,
Lincoln, and Roosevelt, it is important to keep
in mind that it is hard to decisively state the
religious beliefs or practices of each of these
men. While some of the men held beliefs that were
more obvious than the others, all have been
painted by various camps through the years.

Christians have claimed at various moments that
all of these men were, indeed, devout Christians.
To the contrary, others have declared that none
of these men were not Christians and that, in
fact, they held little, if any, religious beliefs
at all.
Those, while studying these men, only general
assumptions can at times be made based on their
public actions and various comments.

8
George Washington

Washington irregularly attended first the
Anglican and later the Episcopal Church
Washington is often labeled a Deist, although he
appears to have never claimed any particular
religion or belief.

Image 3
9

He always referred to God using vague
non-committal terms such as Providence, Almighty
Being, Great Author, or Invisible Hand (Wacker
176).
He was the first President who swore on the
Bible, stating So help me God, in his
inauguration.
He regarded Jesus as a good example and a fine
man but did not consider him divine (Wacker
177).

Due to this belief, he refused to take Communion,
leaving church prior to it being served.
Later in life, after being chided by a pastor for
leaving, he simply stopped attending services on
days when Communion was served.
It is also known that he refused to kneel for
prayer.

11
Washington and Freedom of Religion

Washington was a staunch believer in freedom of
religion.
He allowed the men under his command to pick
their own chaplains.
He envisioned a country where The liberty
enjoyed by the People of these States, of
worshipping Almighty God agreeable to their
consciences is not only among the choicest of
their blessings but also of their rights
(Washington qtd. in Padover).

A country "which gives bigotry no
sanction...persecution no assistancewhere
every one shall sit under his own vine and fig
tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.

Unlike many of his day, he did not give
preference to Christians when hiring servants or
workers. When hiring men to work on his farm, he
instructed the foreman that it mattered only that
they be good workmen, they may be from Asia,
Africa, or Europe they may be Mahomedans, Jews,
or Christians of any sect, or they may be
Atheists" (qtd. in Wikipedia).

14
First American Moses

After his death, Washingtons statue was
increased to that of American icon. He was often
compared to Moses, who had led the Israelites out
of slavery in Egypt.
It is also alleged that an eagle, the national
bird, flow over his tomb on the day of his
burial.

Later, rumors surfaced about the miraculous
condition of his body when it was exhumed to be
moved to a new coffin in 1837. When the coffin
was opened, it was reported that Washingtons
body showed virtually no decay.

One painter would later show Washington being
crowned with the victors wreath by a cherub upon
his entrance to Heaven.

Image 4
17

Strangest of all, however, is the myth of
Washingtons appearance to Union General George
McClellan during the Civil War.
The story was originally printed in the Evening
Courier, in Portland, Maine in March 8, 1862.

According to the article, Gen. McClellan, who had
fallen asleep over battle plans, was awakened by
a shadowy figure questioning, "General McClellan,
do you sleep at your post?

The figure, whose appearance had now grown to be
as bright as the noonday sun was revealed to be
George Washington. Washington made a map
miraculously appear in mid-air, a map which
showed the whole of the country, with all of the
Confederate and Union positions marked.

The figure told McClellan that America was being
tested by God, and if found deserving would go
on, increasing in power and goodness, until her
borders shall end only in the remotest corners of
the earth, and the whole earth shall beneath her
shadowing wing become a Universal Republic.

At that point, the figure of Washington raised
his hand over McClellan's head in blessing, a
peal of thunder rumbled through space and the
general awoke with a start (Evening Courier qtd.
Wright).
Reportedly, McClellan was able to use the
positions of the Confederate troops shown on the
miraculous map to successfully defend Washington
D.C.

22
Thomas Jefferson

Like Washington, Jefferson appears to have been a
Deist, although he, too, never claimed one
particular belief system over another. He once
stated, I am of a sect by myself, as far as I
know. (Jefferson qtd. Wisdom Quotes).

Image 5
23

In a letter written to Francis Hopkinson in
1789, Jefferson remarked I never submitted the
whole system of my opinions to the creed of any
party of men whatever in religion, in philosophy,
in politics, or in anything else where I was
capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction
is the last degradation of a free and moral agent
(qtd. in Cappon).

24
The Jefferson Bible

However, it appears that he did have a belief in
a Supreme God, and he did believe that Jesus
provided a good ethical example.
In a letter to John Adams, Jefferson wrote In
the New Testament there is internal evidence that
parts of it have proceeded from an extraordinary
man and that other parts are of the fabric of
very inferior minds. It is as easy to separate
those parts, as to pick out diamonds from
dunghills (qtd. in Mitchell).

His disbelief in the divinity of Jesus was so
strong that he edited his own version of the
Bible, now referred to as The Jefferson Bible. In
it, Jefferson compiled all four Gospels into one
book, in the process removing all references to
miracles and other supernatural occurrences.

26
Jefferson and Religious Freedom

Jefferson was a rabid defender of religious
freedom.
In Notes on Virginia, he wrote that it did him
no injury for my neighbor to say there are
twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket
nor breaks my leg (Notes).
In the debate over the issues of separation of
church and state, Jefferson argued vehemently
against a government establishment of religion.

In 1779, Jefferson would author a bill
Establishing Religious Freedom, which
prohibited the collection of taxes for any
religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever.
This bill also stated that All men should be
free to profess, and by argument to maintain,
their opinions in matters of religion (qtd. in
Wacker 156-157).

This bill, voted into law by the Virginia
Legislature in 1786, was the basis for the First
Amendment to the United States Constitution,
which was passed in 1791.

Jefferson died on July 4th, 1826. Among his last
words were "I have done for my country, and for
all mankind, all that I could do, and I now
resign my soul, without fear, to my God (qtd. in
Rayner).

In his biography of Jefferson published in 1834,
B.L. Rayner entitled Jefferson the suffering
apostle of human liberty
Rayner also declared that heaven itself mingled
visibly in the Jubilee Celebration of American
Liberty, hallowing anew the day by a double
apotheosis of Jefferson and John Adams, who had
died the same day as Jefferson (Rayner).

Of all his accomplishments Jefferson appears
most proud of his defense of religious freedom.
His epitaph, which he wrote himself, reads
THOMAS JEFFERSON AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM
AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA.

32
Abraham Lincoln

Raised by Baptist parents, Lincoln was often
critical of his parents religion. Nonetheless,
he read the Bible often and would quote from it
throughout his life.

Image 6
33

However, Lincoln was the only President who never
joined a church.
Like Washington, Lincoln often used vague broad
terms, such as "Divine Providence," "Justice of
God," and "Most High, when referring to a
Supreme God.

In his adulthood, Lincoln often attended a
Presbyterian church, however he never give public
affirmation of any Christian doctrines.
He once told a friend that When I do good, I
feel good, and when I do bad, I feel bad, and
thats my religion.

Lincoln did not believe in prayer, stating, "God
has his own purposes." If God has his own
purposes, then prayer will not change God's
purposes (qtd. in Steiner).
He wrote that in early life I was inclined to
believe in what I understand is called the
"Doctrine of Necessity" -- that is, that the
human mind is impelled to action, or held in rest
by some power, over which the mind itself has no
control (qtd. in Basler).

When accused by Peter Cartwright, a Methodist
Pastor, of being an atheist, Lincoln replied,
That I am not a member of any Christian Church,
is true, but I have never denied the truth of the
Scriptures and I have never spoken with
intentional disrespect of religion in general, or
any denomination of Christians in particular
(qtd. in Basler).

37
The Great American Sermon

Lincolns second inaugural speech has often been
called The Great American Sermon.
In that speech, Lincoln declared that both sides
in the Civil War read the same Bible, and pray
to the same God and each invokes His aid against
the other. It may seem strange that any men
should dare to ask a just God's assistance in
wringing their bread from the sweat of other
men's faces but let us judge not that we be not
judged.

The prayers of both could not be answered
that of neither has been answered fully. The
Almighty has his own purposes. Woe unto the
world because of offences! for it must needs be
that offences come but woe to that man by whom
the offence cometh!

If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one
of those offences which, in the providence of
God, must needs come, but which, having continued
through His appointed time, He now wills to
remove, and that He gives to both North and
South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those
by whom the offence came, shall we discern
therein any departure from those divine
attributes which the believers in a Living God
always ascribe to Him?

Fondly do we hope--fervently do we pray--that
this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass
away.
Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all
the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred
and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk,
and until every drop of blood drawn with the
lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the
sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so
still it must be said the judgments of the Lord,
are true and righteous altogether.

With malice toward none with charity for
all with firmness in the right, as God gives us
to see the right, let us strive on to finish the
work we are in to bind up the nation's wounds
to care for him who shall have borne the battle,
and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all
which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting
peace, among ourselves, and with all nations
(qtd. in Basler).

42
Second American Moses

After his death, Lincoln was risen to the rank of
American martyr by many, often being linked with
Washington in that category.

In 1865, J.G. Butler wrote The Martyr President
Our Grief and Our Duty. In that work, Butler
stated "In all future history his name will
stand beside that of Washington. If he
(Washington) was the father of his country, under
God, Abraham Lincoln was its savior (qtd. in
Riedy).

Butler also declared that Lincoln was "our Moses,
who, under God, has lead us through the
wilderness," and who, "in full view of the
Promised Land, the land flowing with milk and
honey" was struck down by an assassins bullet
(qtd in Riedy).

An engraving of the time by John Sartain's and
entitled Abraham Lincoln, the Martyr Victorious,
exemplifies the perceived connection between the
two Presidents. In it, Washington, along with
several angels, is shown welcoming Lincoln into
Heaven.

Image 7
46
Theodore Roosevelt

Roosevelt was, like his parents, a member of the
Dutch Reformed Church, although he attended a
German Reformed Church while President and an
Episcopal Church with his family from 1887 to his
death.

Image 8
47

It is noted that, in whatever church he attended,
he took part in all aspects of the worship
service, taking Communion and loudly singing the
hymns (unknown author, Theodore Roosevelt
Association).
His public views were, for the most part, in line
with mainline Protestantism, although he showed
little interest in doctrinal or theological
matters.

Despite his church attendance and participation,
like the other three Presidents discussed here,
it is hard to nail down Roosevelts personal
religious beliefs.
Like the others, he has been painted as both a
devout Christian and a non-Christian both before
and after his death.

49
Roosevelt and Religious Freedom

Roosevelt wrote "I hold that in this country
there must be complete severance of Church and
State that public moneys shall not be used for
the purpose of advancing any particular creed
and therefore that the public schools shall be
nonsectarian and no public moneys appropriated
for sectarian schools.

He also believed that to discriminate against a
thoroughly upright citizen because he belongs to
some particular church, or because, like Abraham
Lincoln, he has not avowed his allegiance to any
church, is an outrage against that liberty of
conscience which is one of the foundations of
American life (qtd. in Theodore Roosevelt
Association).

While President, Roosevelt oversaw a change in
the design of American coins. He was relieved to
discover that there was no Federal mandate
stating that In God We Trust had to be engraved
on the new coins.

Roosevelt had a very firm conviction that to put
such a motto on coins . . . not only does no good
but does positive harm." Roosevelts objection of
"In God We Trust" was not limited to
constitutional grounds. He also felt that using
the motto cheapened and trivialized the trust in
God it was intended to promote.

In all my life I have never heard any human
being speak reverently of this motto on the coins
or show any sign of its having appealed to any
high emotion in him, he wrote. Indeed, he added,
the existence of this motto on the coins was a
constant source of jest and ridicule. (qtd. in
Schlesinger).

54
Roosevelts Legacy

Roosevelt is remembered as the President who
enable the United States to evolve from a weak,
domestically-oriented nation to a country with
imperialistic aspirations, from a conservative
nation to a more progressive one, from a nation
bent on destroying its natural resources to one
that had begun to preserve them.

Roosevelt has been referred to as an outspoken
moral crusader who shot from the hip (American
Experience).
Edmund Morris stated that Roosevelt left behind
a folk consensus that he had been the most
powerfully positive American leader since Abraham
Lincoln" (qtd. in Teachout).

During his term, the office of the President also
evolved, with new expanded powers and becoming a
popular obsession. The politics of Theodore
Roosevelt shepherded America into the 20th
century. Much of his legacy shepherded America
out of that century as well (American
Experience).

57
The gods they became

All four of the men discussed were astute
politicians, and as such, for the most part, kept
their deeply personal beliefs a secret shared
with very few. They all seemed to have adhered to
Jeffersons adage that religion is a matter
between every man and his Maker, in which no
other, and far less the public, had a right to
intermeddle (qtd. in Foley).

Thus, as mentioned at the beginning, it is hard
to draw different conclusions about the religion
of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt.
Nonetheless, it is easier to understand why these
four men were picked to be on Mount Rushmore
All four were directly instrumental, as Borglum
stated, for the birth, growth, preservation, and
development of a nation dedicated to democracy
and the pursuit of individual liberty.

Washington was the father of the country.
Jeffersons role in developing freedom of
religion helped it to grow.
Lincoln was instrumental in preserving the union
through the Civil Ward
And, Roosevelts policies, though often
controversial, helped this country develop into a
modern world power.

All four men have become icons in American
history, even god-like to some.
Regardless of personal opinion about them, or
controversy over their religious beliefs, their
role in American history can not be denied.

61
Works Cited

American Experience Theodore Roosevelt. PBS.org.
4 October 2003. lthttp//www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pre
sidents/26_t_roosevelt/index.htmlgt.
American Park Network. 4 October 2003.
lthttp//www.americanparknetwork.comgt.
Basler, Roy. P. ed. The Collected Works of
Abraham Lincoln.New Brunswick Rutgers
University Press, 1990.Qtd. on AbrahamLincoln
Online. lthttp//showcase.netins.net/
web/creative/ lincoln/speeches/ handbill.htmgt.
Cappon, Lester, J. The Adams-Jefferson Papers.
North Carolina The University of North
Carolina Press, 1959.
Foley, John. ed. Jefferson Cyclopedia. Ed. Foley,
John. New York Funk Wagnells, 1900. 4
October 2003. University of Virginia EText
Library. lthttp//www.lib.virginia.edu/speccol/col
lections/tj/gt.
Jefferson, Thomas. Notes on Virginia. 4 October
2003. University of Virginia EText Library.
lt http//www.lib.virginia.edu/ speccol/collections
/tj/gt.
Mitchell, Stephen. The Gospel According to Jesus
A New Translation and Guide to His Essential
Teachings for Believers and Unbelievers. New
York Harper Perennial Library 1995. qtd.
Amazon.com lthttp//www.amazon.comgt.

Padover, Saul K., editor, The Washington Papers.
New York Harper and Brothers Publishers, 1955),
p. 125.
Rayner, B.L. The Life of Thomas Jefferson.
Boston Lilly,Wait, Colman, Holden,1834. 4
October 2003. University of Virginia EText
Library. lthttp//www.lib.virginia.edu/speccol/col
lections/tj/gt.
Riedy, Maureen. Lincoln Man, Martyr, Myth. Qtd.
on Xroads. lthttp//xroads.virginia.edugt.
Schlesinger, Arthur, Jr. When Patriotism Wasnt
Religious. July 7, 2002. Philosophy and
Religion. 4 October 2003. lthttp//www.philosophy-
religion.orggt.
Steiner, Franklin. The Religious Views of Our
Presidents. Prometheus Books 1995.
Theodore Roosevelt Association. 3 October
2003. lthttp//www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/Relig
ion.htmgt.
Teachout, Terry. Moderately Madly, Madly
Moderate. Book January/February 2002. 4 October
2003. lthttp//www.bookmagazine.com/issue20/tteacho
ut.shtmlgt.
Virginia Places. 3 October 2003.
lthttp//www.virginiaplaces.org/religion/religiong
w.htmlgt.
Wacker, Grant. ed. Religion in Nineteenth
Century America. in Butler, Jon, Wacker, Grant,
and Balmer, Randall, eds. Religion in American
Life. New York Oxford University Press, 2003.

Wikipedia.com. 3 October 2003. lthttp//www.wikiped
ia.org/wiki/ George_Washingtongt.
Wisdom Quotes. 3 October 2003. lthttp//www.wisdomq
uotes.comgt.
Wright, Helen. America Cradle for the Second
Coming of the Christ. Qtd. on Mary Baker Eddy
Institute.lthttp//www.mbeinstitute.org.gt

64
Image Credits

Image 1 National Park Service photo. 4 October
2003. lthttp// www.americaslibrary.gov/
cgi-bin/ page.cgi/es/ sd/mount_1gt.
Image 2 National Park Service photo. 4 October
2003. lthttp//www.nps.gov/moru/gt.
Image 3 Stuart, Gilbert. George Washington,
head-and-shoulders portrait,facing slightly
left. 1929. Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 4
October 2003. lthttp//www.americaslibrary.gov/cg
i-bin/page.cgi/aa/washgt.
Image 4 NARA 148-GW-583. United States National
Records and Archive Administration. 4 October
2003. http//www.archives.gov/publications/
prologue/spring_1994_george_washington_3.htmlgt.
Image 5 Stuart, Gilbert. Thomas Jefferson, third
president of the United States. 1828. Portraits
of the Presidents and First Ladies, 1789-Present,
Library of Congress, Washington D.C. 4 October
2003. lthttp//www.americaslibrary.gov
/aa/jefferson/ aa_jefferson_subj_e.htmlgt.

Image 6 Brady National Photographic Art Gallery.
Abraham Lincoln, three-quarter length portrait,
standing, facing left. January 8 1864. Selected
Civil War Photographs, 1861-1865, Library of
Congress, Washington, D.C. lthttp//www.americasl
ibrary.gov /aa/jefferson/ aa_jefferson_subj_e.h
tmlgt.
Image 7 Sartains, John. Abraham Lincoln The
Martyr Victorious. 1865. 4 October 2003.
lthttp//www.nps.gov/abli/hrs/hrs2.htmgt.
Image 8 Theodore Roosevelt. Images of American
Political History. lthttp//teachpol.tcnj.edu/am
er_pol_hist/thumbnail265.htmlgt.