The God Strategy: How Religion Became a Political Weapon in America

A well researched look at how God talk has increased in politics through the 20th century and into the 21st. The authors start with FDR, and go through Bush 43 (only halfway), and show that the religious signaling strongly increases starting with Reagan. It was surprising to see that in many things, Carter was a low point of God talk, but then, he probably felt he showed his stripes through his life. They do not neglect the elections that are not presidential, but most of the time is spent on the White House, where it has been the most obvious. There has been a substantial increase at every level they looked at, and it appears people feel strongly that the candidate must be pious to be president. It would be interesting to carry this show more further to Obama through Trump; I suspect the trend has continued, and perhaps increased, though the content of the God talk does change with party. A worthwhile look at an important subject. show less

This is a statistical analysis of targeted word & reference counting in presidential speeches and proclamations over the last 70 years. As such, it's a useful and enlightening tool for understanding religious trends in American politics. The down side is that it is only part of the puzzle; which is perfectly okay as it doesn't pretend to be anything else. The last chapter is a bit of a rumination on politics and religion (with an avowed bias towards their separation), but the main thrust of the book is academic.

Other books and studies are better at teasing out why and how political positions have become increasingly "biblicized" over the last 30 years; this book simply establishes (quite authoritatively) that they have.