Tag: John F. Kennedy
For American Catholics, “the election of Kennedy was an important moment in history, where they were recognized and accepted by American society as true Americans,” says Rev. Thomas Reese, S.J. But anti-Catholicism continued to linger until JFK’s assassination, when the 34th president became an American martyr, and it was no longer acceptable to be anti-Catholic. More
“Rick Santorum is a very particular kind of Catholic…A lot of Catholics don’t see themselves in him, and a lot of people actually don’t even know that he’s Catholic. Most people assume he’s an evangelical,” says Religion News Service editor in chief Kevin Eckstrom.
know that he’s Catholic. Most people assume he’s an evangelical.” MoreShaun Casey, author of THE MAKING OF A CATHOLIC PRESIDENT: KENNEDY VS NIXON 1960, talks with Kim Lawton about religion’s role in the 1960 presidential race. More
University of Oklahoma political science professor Allen Hertzke compares Mitt Romney’s speech about his Mormon faith to John F. Kennedy’s speech on his Catholic faith nearly half a century ago. More
Mitt Romney gave a powerful speech in which he forcefully defended religious liberty and related his own firm commitment to it. He insisted that no authorities of his church would exert influence on his decisions as president. For anyone acquainted … More
Whatever one thinks of his politics, one has to admit that Governor Romney’s Texas speech on “Faith in America,” like Senator Kennedy’s remarks to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association in September 1960, was expertly written and beautifully delivered. Both men … More
A half century ago, Senator Everett Dirksen of Illinois said “the first task of every politician is to get right with Lincoln.” If he were speaking today, he might say the first task of every politician is to get right … More
In 1960 John F. Kennedy gave two major speeches on what he described as the “so-called religious issue” in the presidential campaign. The second, presented to the greater Houston Baptist Ministerial Association in September, after he received the Democratic nomination, … More
“Governor Romney says some wise things about faith and freedom and politics,” says historian and professor David O’Brien, “What’s missing is conscience, how religion’s claims are mediated by conscience and, as John Kennedy acknowledged on a similar occasion, a moment might come when a president, like a citizen, might be required to object, or to resign.” More
In what may be seen as the defining moment of his campaign, Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and a Mormon, sought to address the issue of his faith and its bearing on his pursuit of the presidency. Pundits … More