Heritage Foundation Leadership for America

Location: The Heritage Foundation's Lehrman Auditorium

Since President Bush first situated the current war on terror in a larger moral context – as a global conflict between good and evil – and indicated that his personal faith influences his foreign policy, critics have charged him with departing from precedent. Is the role of religion in informing this President’s thinking an historical aberration? How consistent is it with the principles and practices of the larger American political tradition?

Dr. Elizabeth Spalding will address these questions by comparing President Bush with two other presidents who faced transformative foreign policy challenges: Woodrow Wilson during World War I and Harry Truman during the Cold War. Contrasting the ways in which their faith influenced their understanding of the nation’s purpose in the world, Spalding will provide a historical perspective on the current debates over the role of religion in the present White House.