As the election draws near, and the first debate even nearer, it’s fun to consider the factors that play into our national politics. In this election, we have the first serious Mormon presidential candidate, Mitt Romney. How that will play out in the collective conscience of America’s conservatives and independents is yet to be seen. However, some have speculated that Romney’s Mormonism is hurting him on the enthusiasm front among his base.
Here’s a graphic from the site Online Christian Colleges (HatTip: People First Politics) that takes a look at Romney’s Mormonism as well as the faith’s of past presidents:
Source: OnlineChristianColleges.com
It’s fascinating to see a list of the religious affiliates of past presidents. Traditional Protestant denominations dominate, and out of all 43 past and current presidents, only 3 can reasonably be said to have been not-affiliated with a particular faith tradition. Whether there have been any atheist presidents isn’t made clear from the graphic, but with a growing population of atheists it would not surprise me if the door is open in the next few election cycles for an atheist to seriously content for the Presidency.
Always hard to believe that Nixon and Hoover were of the same faith.
but then, Nixon came from a branch of the Qaukers that was less “Quaker-y” and more evangelical. Thus is pro-war stance.