Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
  •  
  •  
 

Mormon Studies Review

Keywords

Joseph Smith, presidential campaign, Nauvoo

Abstract

When Joseph Smith led his persecuted band of followers into western Illinois from Missouri in 1839, nothing overtly portended that within a few short years he and his brother would be assassinated by a mob and his oppressed followers would soon have to flee in the face of lawless violence against them. Instead, their new neighbors expressed along with the related Mormon theology on those topics, would have been illuminating at this point in the campaign story. Surely, it would have been a deciding factor for many potential voters. Overall, exploring Joseph Smith’s White House run tells us about a new faith’s struggle to survive, and it indicates the nineteenth-century nation’s next bend in the road to disunion. Far from a conventional presidential history, McBride’s book offers us a welcome twist at the end, drawing readers closer to the diverse ideas of the many Americans deciding the country’s fate. What did they make of a Mormon nominee? Minus a vote, Nauvoo resident Sally Randall made a strong case for Smith’s morality, writing to her family and friends: “Now I want to know what father and the rest of the people thinks of Joseph Smith being president. If they want a righteous man at the head let them vote for him” (125). It was just the kind of conversation that Joseph Smith might have hoped for as a political outsider slowly gaining and guiding the nation’s trust.

Download

Share

COinS