Mormonism and American Politics is an edited volume that brings together many leading scholars in Mormon studies to provide an interdisciplinary perspective on historical developments surrounding Mormonism and politics. The recent “Mormon Moment” and Mitt Romney's historic nomination inspired increased scholarly attention to Mormons and politics, including Mormons in American Politics: From Persecution to Power by Luke Perry and Christopher Cronin (Santa Barbara, Calif.: Praeger, 2012) and Seeking the Promise Land: Mormons and American Politics by David Campbell, John C. Green, and J. Quinn Monson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014). The key questions raised in this book are: (1) “What is the status of the American outsider in American politics?” (2) “What drives outsiders to seek a place at the table?” and (3) “How does cultural acceptance affect their sense of identity?” (xii).
The book is organized into three chronological parts: (1) Origins and Tensions, (2) Shifting Alliances, and (3) Into the Twenty-First Century. The first three chapters are focused on Mormon leaders Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and B. H. Roberts. Richard Bushman argues that Joseph Smith was drawn to national politics, and launching his own presidential candidacy, out of a need to protect his newfound church from violent persecution. In doing so, Smith was a political idealist who believed “that government could be based on trust and friendship” (10).
Conversely, John G. Turner explains how Smith's assassination shaped Brigham Young's deeply pessimistic view of American politics and his belief that the country strayed from its founding principles. Accordingly, Young sought political autonomy after resettling beyond America's western border, deeply distrusted non-Mormon political authorities, and adopted his own version of “theodemocracy.” Jana Riess explains how theodemocracy was not well-received nationally, particularly after Utah gained statehood, because of concern surrounding Mormon polygamists attaining political power. This prompted a unique and successful effort to prevent B. H. Roberts, a Utah polygamist, from being seated to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Part two focuses on the transition of Mormons in American politics from a persecuted, more liberal minority, to the conservative, more powerful minority Mormons are today. Jan Shipps illuminates this shift through Ezra Taft Benson, an iconic Mormon conservative, who served as Secretary of Agriculture under President Eisenhower, and later became an LDS President. Several chapters focus on how greater cultural assimilation fell short of full assimilation, including Mormonism's uneasy fit into American civil religion, its special understanding of American exceptionalism, and notable differences in how George Romney managed his faith on the presidential campaign trail compared to his son, Mitt, a generation later.
Part three focuses on contemporary Mormons and politics. The section begins with an exceptional chapter by David Campbell, Christopher Karpowtiz, and J. Quin Monson, who utilize Utah's voting patterns to illustrate how the state oscillated in and out of the mainstream until a peculiarly strong allegiance to the Republican Party emerged in 1976. Though Mormons are largely conservative, the authors also illustrate nuance within this ideological disposition, including support for more inclusive immigration policies and relative disinterest in abortion. Several chapters focus on challenging issues within Mormonism, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, and media portrayals. The chapter by Joanna Brooks does a particularly eloquent job of exploring complex and painful divisions surrounding LDS political mobilization efforts against marriage equality in California.
The essays collectively suggest that the status of Mormons as “American outsider[s]” is one of slow and steady progress. Mormons sought greater acceptance, originally to enhance survival, and once that was achieved, to further legitimacy and influence. The book successfully articulates how political validation, in the form of statehood and the pursuit of prominent government posts, was vital to this process. The struggle for acceptance induced reform and compromise, most notably during the nineteenth century in regard to marriage practices, as well as political and social divisions, both within the group and between insiders and outsiders. Mormonism is a remarkably American story about a group never completely at home in America.
This collection of premier scholars brings extraordinary scope and depth to the topic at hand. The insights are of great benefit to readers who are new to the subject as well as related experts. Several of the themes have been covered in similar books, but the authors raise original questions and/or provide new takes on existing understandings.
The book struggles a bit with a general challenge of edited volumes: how to connect overarching themes. The essays are arranged chronologically, which makes sense, but the interdisciplinary approach, though valuable, creates some disjuncture, as various modes of analysis and research methods are lumped together into the same section. For instance, Matthew Bowman's thought-provoking essay on the connection between progressive thought and shifts in Mormonism is out of place concluding part one after the previous three chapters focused on “great men” of Mormonism. Section summaries and a concluding chapter would have helped remedy this.
The book provides very little contemporary political analysis. The cover includes pictures of Mitt Romney and Harry Reid, but Reid is only mentioned in passing. Romney's presidential campaigns are used as a means to understand national attitudes toward religion and Mormons over time and to understand shifts in news media reporting on Mormons from 2008 to 2012. These are important areas of inquiry, but alone provide an incomplete picture of modern American politics as it relates to Mormonism. Greater analysis of how other religious groups, political parties, and voters understood Romney's faith, and the perceived and actual challenges it posed for him, would strengthen the book.
Mormonism and American Politics is an important and valuable addition to research on Mormons and politics, particularly from historical and religious studies perspectives. The lasting impression is one of hope in regards to Mormons in America, echoed in the final sentence of the introduction. Mitt Romney fell short of winning the presidency, “the ultimate prize and validation in American politics” that “will almost certainly present itself again” to Mormons (xiii). This book provides a vital foundation for understanding current political developments, including Utah being competitive in the 2016 presidential election, and future possibilities, such as U.S. Senator Mike Lee someday running for president.
