Posted on: Saturday, June 12, 2004

Religion guided Reagan's presidency, life

By Richard N. Ostling
Associated Press

Ronald Reagan had a religious faith "deeper than most people knew," evangelist Billy Graham observed soon after news broke of the former president's death.

The substance of that faith was examined a few months ago in a book by Reagan admirer and Grove City (Pa.) College political scientist Paul Kengor in a book titled "God and Ronald Reagan: A Spiritual Life" (ReganBooks).

But even Kengor's meticulous research didn't remove all ambiguities. Reagan's spiritual side remains somewhat elusive beyond what seems to have been a sincere, sturdy and nondenominational faith in Jesus.

"While he was president, Ronald Reagan's religious faith was, at best, dismissed or ridiculed," Kengor summarized. "For me personally it has been a moving experience to discover, and help bring to light, this overlooked side of the historical Reagan — a side he would have wanted to be recognized."

Kengor "gets it right," said son Michael Reagan, a radio talk show host.

Reagan cultivated evangelicals, and he shared their views on many social issues including abortion, which he opposed. Religious references were a continual thread in Reagan's words, in public and in private. Among Kengor's inside sources were close aides Richard Allen, Edwin Meese and William Clark, described by Kengor as the president's "closest prayer partner."

Another private glimpse provided by Kengor: The night Reagan returned to the White House after nearly being shot to death, he confided in his diary, "Whatever happens now I owe my life to God and will serve him every way I can."

Kengor sees strong religious roots in Reagan's moral absolutism and profound anti-communism, underscored by the president's famous speech to the 1983 National Association of Evangelicals convention.

There, Reagan said Soviet leaders were "the focus of evil in the modern world," warning against the "temptation" to "ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire" and promote peace without considering moral matters of right and wrong.

Kengor covers Reagan's upbringing in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Dixon, Ill. In this and much else, his devoutly Protestant mother Nelle was far more influential than father Jack, a Roman Catholic with a drinking problem.

Baptized at age 11, he was an active church lad in his teens, teaching Sunday School and dating the preacher's daughter. This devotion seemingly continued at Eureka College, a Disciples of Christ school, and at Beverly Christian Church during Reagan's early years in Hollywood.

Kengor says Reagan shied away from churchgoing while president because of the assassination attempt, but attended again after leaving office.