Barack Obama has introduced historic changes in the ethics and religion of the presidential office.  This is   the case in part because he is the first Afro-American to occupy the White House. My book  attempts to avoid the extremes of left and right, to see the Obama  phenomena with greater objectivity and perspective  through   a historical approach.  Religion is a cultural and not  just a sectarian matter.  It continues to be  powerful politically and culturally in the United States– for good and evil.  Obama’s story is incomplete without it.    His  ideology  already is part of  the  historical record;  his  patterns of governing are  becoming  evident in the midst of economic crisis as well  continuing warfare in the Middle East. If  one seeks to secularize his presidency  radically, the view is incomplete and truncated.   Religious faith remains  a fascinating and powerful factor on the American political scene, with its own patterns and nuances.   Obama’s relation to his former Pastor, Jeremiah Wright, nearly cost him the presidency.  Ruling from the White House as President he faces intense international conflict over faith traditions in the Middle East.

My latest  book is written for persons who wish to evaluate what an ambitious  new leader  has done and may  do in the larger and longer setting of the history of his office.  At the beginning of each chapter I comment on the similarities and differences between the forty-fourth President and one of his predecessors! My  approach is narrative and chronological, not  dogmatic.    I am interested in the long term moral values and religious symbols that motivate both voters and public officials.  Of course, I am not so naïve as to suppose that truth is always  on one side of the election divide. Clearly, the U. S. Constitution guarantees both   freedom of worship and the non-establishment of religion. But faith convictions  remain a powerful ideological force in American politics.

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