Religious affiliations can affect the electability of the presidents of the United States and shape their stances on policy matters and their visions of society and also how they want to lead it. While no president so far has ever openly identified as an atheist, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and William Howard Taft were speculated to be atheists by their opponents during political campaigns; in addition, a survey during the first presidency of Donald Trump showed that 63% of Americans did not believe he was religious, despite his professed Christian affiliation. Conspiracy theorists also falsely circulated rumors that Barack Obama was a Muslim during his 2004 Senate campaign and later time as president. Conversely, other presidents, such as Jimmy Carter, used their faith as a defining aspect of their campaigns and tenure in office.
Essentially all of the presidents can be characterized as Christians, at least by upbringing, though some were unaffiliated with any specific religious body. Mainline Protestants predominate, with Episcopalians and Presbyterians being the most prevalent. John F. Kennedy and Joe Biden are so far the only Catholic presidents.
Formal affiliation The pattern of religious adherence has changed dramatically over the course of United States history, so that the pattern of presidential affiliations is quite unrepresentative of modern membership numbers. For example, Episcopalians are extraordinarily well represented among the presidents compared to a current membership of about 1% of the population; this is partly because the Church of England, from which the Episcopal Church is derived, was the established church in some of the British Colonies (such as New York and Virginia) before the American Revolution. The Episcopal Church has been much larger previously, with its decline in membership occurring only in more recent decades. The first seven presidents listed as Episcopalians were all from Virginia. Unitarians are also overrepresented, reflecting the importance of those colonial churches. Conversely, Baptists are underrepresented, a reflection of their quite recent expansion in numbers; the list includes only two Catholic presidents, although they are currently the largest single denomination. There have been no Adventist, Anabaptist, Eastern Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East, Oriental Orthodox, Lutheran, Latter Day Saint, or Pentecostal presidents.
While many presidents did not formally join a church until quite late in life, there is a genre of tales of deathbed conversions. Biographers usually doubt these, though the baptism of James K. Polk is well documented.
Personal beliefs On the other hand, there are several presidents who considered themselves aligned with a particular church, but who withheld from formal affiliation for a time. James Buchanan, for instance, held himself allied with the Presbyterian church, but refrained from joining it until he left office.
Deism and the Founding Fathers Deism was a religious philosophy in common currency in colonial times, and some Founding Fathers (most notably Thomas Paine, who was an explicit proponent of it, and Benjamin Franklin, who spoke of it in his Autobiography) are identified more or less with this system. Thomas Jefferson became a deist in later life, and George Washington, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, James Monroe, and John Tyler are often identified as having some degree of deistic beliefs.
Unitarianism and nontrinitarianism Four presidents were affiliated with Unitarian churchesIn 1962, the American Unitarian Association merged with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Universalist Association, which is non-creedal and a fifth (Thomas Jefferson) was an exponent of ideas now commonly associated with Unitarianism. Unitarianism, the belief that God has a unitary nature, developed in opposition to Trinitarianism, the belief that God is three persons in one (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit). In a letter to Benjamin Waterhouse in 1822, Jefferson said, "I trust that there is not a young man now living in the US. who will not die an Unitarian."Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Benjamin Waterhouse (June 22, 1822) in the National Archives William Howard Taft, a Unitarian, said in a letter to a friend, "I am interested in the spread of Christian civilization, but to go into a dogmatic discussion of creed I will not do whether I am defeated or not. ... If the American electorate is so narrow as not to elect a Unitarian, well and good. I can stand it."
While Abraham Lincoln never officially joined a church, there has been some research indicating that he may have had Quaker leanings. During his time in office, he had numerous meetings with Quakers and had investigated a supposed Quaker ancestry.
The only other president with any association with a definitely nontrinitarian body is Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose parents moved from the River Brethren to the antecedents of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Eisenhower himself was baptized in the Presbyterian church shortly after assuming the presidency, the only president thus far to undergo such a rite while in office; and his attendance at West Point was in sharp opposition to the tenets of the groups to which his parents belonged.
Nonreligious presidents There are some presidents for whom there is little evidence as to the importance of religion in their lives. For example, almost no evidence exists for Monroe's personal religious beliefs, though this may be the result of the destruction of most of his personal correspondence, in which religious sentiments may have been recorded. As with claims of deism, these identifications are not without controversy. No president has declared himself to be atheist.
Civic religion St. John's Episcopal Church (built 1815–1816) just across Lafayette Square and north of the White House, is the church nearest to the White House, and its services have been attended at least once by nearly every president since James Madison (1809–1817). Another Episcopal church, Washington National Cathedral, chartered by Congress in 1893, has hosted many funeral and memorial services of presidents and other dignitaries, as well as the site of interfaith presidential prayer services after their inaugurations, and the burial place of Woodrow Wilson.
Throughout history governmental proclamations often include religious language. In at least two cases, presidents saw fit to issue denials that they were atheists. At the same time, this was tempered, especially in early years, by a strong commitment to disestablishment. Several presidents especially stand out as exponents of this. Consideration of this has become increasingly contentious as topics such as civil rights and human sexuality have increasingly put churches at odds with each other and with the government.
List of presidents by religious affiliation Name Religion Branch Further Branch Denomination Years in office1 Christian Protestant Anglican Episcopalian1789–17972 ChristianNontrinitarianUnitarian1797–18013 ChristianNontrinitarianUnitarianChristian deist, originally Anglican1801–18094 Christian Protestant Anglican Episcopalian1809–18175 Christian Protestant Anglican Episcopalian1817–18256 ChristianNontrinitarianUnitarianUnitarian1825–18297 Christian ProtestantReformed Presbyterian1829–18378 Christian ProtestantReformedDutch Reformed1837–18419 Christian Protestant Anglican Episcopalian1841–184110 Christian Protestant Anglican Episcopalian1841–184511 Christian ProtestantMethodistMethodist Episcopal1845–184912 Christian Protestant Anglican Episcopalian1849–185013 ChristianNontrinitarianUnitarianUnitarian1850–185314 Christian ProtestantReformedCongregationalist- later converted to Episcopalian1853–185715 Christian ProtestantReformed Presbyterian1857–186116 Christian Disputed1861–186517 Christian ProtestantNondenominational1865–186918 Christian ProtestantNondenominational1869–187719 Christian ProtestantNondenominational1877–188120 Christian ProtestantRestoration Movement Disciples of Christ1881–188121 Christian Protestant Anglican Episcopalian1881–188522/24 Christian ProtestantReformed Presbyterian1885–1889; 1893–189723 Christian ProtestantReformed Presbyterian1889–189325 Christian ProtestantMethodistMethodist Episcopal1897–190126 Christian ProtestantReformedDutch Reformed1901–190927 ChristianNontrinitarianUnitarianUnitarian1909–191328 Christian ProtestantReformedSouthern Presbyterian1913–192129 Christian ProtestantBaptistNorthern Baptist1921–192330 Christian ProtestantReformedCongregationalist1923–192931 Christian Protestant Quaker1929–193332 Christian Protestant Anglican Episcopalian1933–194533 Christian ProtestantBaptist1945–195334 Christian ProtestantReformedUnited Presbyterian1953–196135 Christian Catholic Latin Church1961–196336 Christian ProtestantRestoration Movement Disciples of Christ1963–196937 Christian Protestant Quaker1969–197438 Christian Protestant Anglican Episcopalian1974–197739 Christian Protestant Baptist Southern Baptist 1977–198140 Christian ProtestantReformed Presbyterian1981–198941 Christian Protestant Anglican Episcopalian1989–199342 Christian Protestant Baptist Southern Baptist 1993–200143 Christian Protestant Methodist United Methodist 2001–200944 Christian Protestant Nondenominational 2009–201745/47 Christian Protestant Nondenominational 2017–2021; 2025–present46 Christian Catholic Latin Church 2021–2025
List of presidents with details on their religious affiliation For each president, the formal affiliation at the time of his presidency is listed first, with other affiliations listed after. Further explanation follows if needed, as well as notable detail.
George Washington – Episcopalian and Deist John Adams – Unitarian The Adamses were originally members of the state-supported Congregational churches in New England. By 1800, most Congregationalist churches in Boston had Unitarian preachers teaching the strict unity of God, the subordinate nature of Christ, and salvation by character. Adams himself preferred Unitarian preachers, but he was opposed to Joseph Priestley's sympathies with the French Revolution, and would attend other churches if the only nearby Congregational/Unitarian one was composed of followers of Priestley. Adams described himself as a "church going animal" in a letter to Benjamin Rush. Thomas Jefferson – None specified, possibly Deist Jefferson was raised Anglican and served as a vestryman prior to the American Revolution, but as an adult he did not hold to the tenets of this church. While not holding to the tenets of the church, "he never withdrew from the Episcopal Church [although] his views were essentially what are called Unitarian today." Jefferson spoke favorably of Unitarianism, saying he believed it would "be the religion of the majority from north to south" and a "remedy" for fanaticism. Modern Unitarian Universalists consider Jefferson's views to be very close to theirs. The Famous UUs website says: Like many others of his time (he died just one year after the founding of institutional Unitarianism in America), Jefferson was a Unitarian in theology, though not in church membership. He never joined a Unitarian congregation: there were none near his home in Virginia during his lifetime. He regularly attended Joseph Priestley's Pennsylvania church when he was nearby, and said that Priestley's theology was his own, and there is no doubt Priestley should be identified as Unitarian. Jefferson remained a member of the Episcopal congregation near his home, but removed himself from those available to become godparents, because he was not sufficiently in agreement with the Trinitarian theology. His work, the Jefferson Bible, was Unitarian in theology ... In a letter to Benjamin Rush prefacing his "Syllabus of an Estimate of the Merit of the Doctrines of Jesus", Jefferson wrote: