The words "under God" are added to the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance - June 14th, 1954

On this day in 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill to add the words “under God” to the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class as a production of I
Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class,
a show that flips through the pages of history to
deliver old news in a new way. I'm Gay Bluesier
and in this episode, we're talking about the origin of

(00:20):
the Pledge of Allegiance and how the addition of two
little words stirred up a big controversy. The day was
June four, nineteen fifty four. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed

(00:41):
a bill to add the words under God to the
US Pledge of Allegiance. This amended version of the pledge
is still regularly recited at schools and at public events
as a demonstration of loyalty and devotion. But what was
the initial intention behind the pledge, why was era push
to change it in the nineteen fifties, and how did

(01:03):
that change affect the original meaning. The original version of
the pledge was written in eighteen ninety two by a
Baptist minister from New York named Francis Bellamy. As a
self described Christian socialist, Bellamy often preached against the sin
of greed, which he saw as the nation's primary threat

(01:24):
at the turn of the twentieth century. The economic divide
between the wealthy and the working class had grown larger
and larger during the Gilded Age, creating a sense of
every man for himself. Bellamy watched this growing divide with trepidation.
He feared his country was losing its way, that it

(01:44):
was abandoning its promise of equal opportunity and favor of
self promotion and unbridled capitalism. Bellamy sought to counter that
message by rekindling a sense of unity and patriotism among
his fellow citizens. One of the ways he hoped to
achieve that was by establishing a national ritual observance of

(02:05):
the American flag in public schools. In eighteen ninety one,
his goal aligned with that of The Youth's Companion magazine,
a Boston publication with about half a million readers. The
magazine hired Bellamy to help with a pr campaign commemorating
the four hundredth anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas.

(02:28):
The magazine wanted to use that occasion to promote the
use of the American flag in schools, and it was
for this reason that Bellamy penned his pledge to the Flag.
The article was published in September of eighteen ninety two,
where the pledge appeared as follows, I pledge allegiance to
my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible,

(02:53):
with liberty and justice for all. You'll notice that, unlike
the modern pledge, Bellamy's original made no mention of God
or even the United States of America. That's because Bellamy's
aim was to unite the nation, and he believed a
more secular form of patriotism would cast a wider net.

(03:14):
As for admitting the name of the country. That was
likely so that the pledge could be adopted by citizens
of other nations who were also trying to combat the
threat of greed. However, over the next half century or so,
several alterations were made to Bellamy's pledge. My flag became
the flag of the United States of America, and the

(03:37):
preposition too was added before the Republic, though no one
raised much fuss about that one. Then, in the late
nineteen forties, a movement began to add the phrase under
God to the pledge. One of the strongest promoters of
the change were the Knights of Columbus, a global fraternal
orderer of Catholics. Members had begun reciting the phrase as

(03:59):
part of the flag pledge they made at each meeting,
and in the early nineteen fifties they began sending letters
to just about every member of Congress suggesting that under
God be added to the pledge. Officially, the Knights of
Columbus and other like minded Americans justified this change by
pointing out that Abraham Lincoln had used the phrase himself

(04:21):
during his Gettysburg address. They argued that the phrase one
Nation under God set the US apart from other nations,
and that by echoing it, citizens would reaffirm the unique
religious conception of their nation. Several Congressmen on both sides
of the aisle were swayed by the argument. They sponsored

(04:43):
various resolutions to add the words to the pledge, but
these early measures failed to win enough support in Congress. However,
thanks to a new president and to his newfound religion,
that was about to change. By most accounts, Dwight D. I.
Senhauer was raised as a Mennonite, but later disavowed his

(05:03):
family's religion shortly before enlisting in the army. It wasn't
until February of nineteen fifty three that Eisenhower would return
to religion, this time as a Presbyterian. He was baptized
just ten days after being sworn in as president, and
it wasn't long after that that he heard a sermon
arguing in favor of adding under God to the Pledge.

(05:27):
Eisenhower learned of the campaign by the Knights of Columbus
to amend the Pledge, and in nineteen fifty four he
encouraged Republican Congressman Charles Oakman to reintroduce the bill to
Congress with a promise of the President's support. The bill
was easily passed, and Eisenhower signed it into law on
June fourteenth, which was appropriately enough Flag Day. The new

(05:50):
version of the pledge, as recorded in the nation's Flag
Code Law, reads as follows. I pledge allegiance to the
Flag of the United Ided States of America and to
the Republic, for which it stands, One Nation under God,
indivisible with liberty and justice for all. The president's recent

(06:11):
embrace of religion certainly played a role in his support
of the bill, but it wasn't the only factor. At
the time. On the eve of the Cold War, the
growing threat of communism was a major concern for the administration.
Eisenhower felt that adding under God to the pledge would
draw a clear line between god fearing capitalist Americans and

(06:34):
their godless communist enemies abroad. The President made this intention
clear and the statement he released upon signing the bill,
it said, quote from this day forward, the millions of
our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town,
every village and rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our nation

(06:55):
and our people to the Almighty. To anyone who truly
loves America, nothing could be more inspiring than to contemplate
this rededication of our youth on each school morning to
our country's true meaning. Especially is this meaningful as we
regard today's world. Over the globe, mankind has been cruelly

(07:16):
torn by violence and brutality, and by the millions deadened
in mind and soul by materialistic philosophy of life. Man
everywhere is appalled by the prospect of atomic war. In
this somber setting, this law and its effects today have
profound meaning. In this way, we are reaffirming the transcendence

(07:38):
of religious faith in America's heritage and future. In this way,
we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will
be our country's most powerful resource, in peace or in war.
As you might imagine, there were quite a few people
who didn't share Eisenhower's convictions. Among them was one of

(08:00):
Francis Bellamy's daughters. She publicly objected to the alteration, claiming
that it undermined the unifying intent of her father's pledge
by leaving out those of differing religions or no religion
at all. Other Americans took issue with the phrase on
the grounds of separation of church and state. A heated
political discussion quickly ensued, and in some corners it continues

(08:24):
to this day. Eisenhower, however, had already made up his mind,
and the very next year he doubled down on using
what he called spiritual weapons. On Flag Day nineteen fifty four,
he signed a law declaring in God we Trust to
be the nation's official motto and calling for the phrase
to be added to all US paper currency. Whether Eisenhower

(08:48):
was right to make these additions is still a matter
of public debate, but if nothing else, they definitely made
him the most popular member of his church. I mean,
talk about showing off. I'm Gabe Blusier, and hopefully you
now know a little more about history today than you

(09:10):
did yesterday. If you'd like to keep up with the show,
you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at
t d i HC Show, and if you have any
comments or suggestions, you can always send them my way
at this Day at I heart media dot com. Special
thanks to guest producers Joey Patt and Casey Pegrum, and

(09:30):
thanks to you for listening. I'll see you back here
again tomorrow for another day in History class.