JFK and Catholicism

That 'Religious Issue': Hot and Getting Hotter
From the Sept. 19, 1960 issue of NEWSWEEK

Across the American political landscape, the hot light flickered like the glow of revivalist campfires. The religious issue in the '60 Presidential campaign simply could not be snuffed out. For every statement intended to douse it, another set the blaze flaring again. The burning topic was on the lips of past and present occupants of the White House, and preoccupied both men who hope to be the next tenant; it was tossed back and forth by leaders of the nation's religious thought—some of whom has now become embroiled in politics.

Political figures, generally, took the approach that it was a pity to inject the religious issue; but the other fellows were doing it. Former President Truman hurled these bitter words at Republican nominee Richard Nixon: "While he stands at the front door proclaiming charity and tolerance, his supporters are herding the forces of racial, religious, and anti-union bigotry in by way of the back door." He had no doubt, Mr. Truman added, that Nixon knows "what is going on."

The GOP reply came, not from Nixon (who thought cold silence on his part more effective) but from President Eisenhower who told his press conference: "Mr. Nixon and I agreed long ago that one thing we would never raise, and never mention is the religious issue … Now, the very need, apparently, for protesting innocence in this regard … seems to exacerbate the situation rather than to quiet it … I would hope that [the subject] could be laid on the shelf and forgotten until after the election …"

Almost as the President spoke, new "exacerbation" suddenly appeared in the form of a statement from 150 Protestant ministers and laymen headed by two of the best-known names in churchdom: The Rev. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, best-selling inspiration author ("The Power of Positive Thinking"), and Dr. Daniel Poling, editor of The Christian Herald and syndicated columnist. "It is inconceivable," declared this group, representing 37 denominations, "that a Roman Catholic President would not be under extreme pressure by the hierarchy of his church to accede to its policies with respect to foreign relations.

Rebuttal: From another big name in Protestant churchdom came a sharp retort. "Dr. Peale and his associates … show blind prejudice," said Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr, vice chairman of New York's pro-Kennedy Liberal Party. And Dr. John C. Bennett, dean of Union Theological Seminary, joined Dr. Niebuhr, calling religious opposition to Kennedy "a kind of Protestant underground."