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"Ronald Reagan truly admired the Latter-day Saints.
His administration included more members of the
Church than any other American president, ever. Three of us, David
Fischer,
Gregory Newell and I, served on his personal White House staff.
Richard Wirthlin was his chief strategist.
Ted Bell served as Secretary of Education,
Angela Buchanan was Treasurer,
Rex Lee was Solicitor General. His White House included
Roger Porter,
Brent Scowcroft, Richard Beal, Blake Parish,
Jon Huntsman Jr., Dodie Borup and Rocky Kuonen, and there were many other Latter-day Saints throughout his Administration. President Thomas S. Monson served on a Presidential Commission on Volunteerism. Others were ambassadors. LDS senators and representatives were held in special regard, and the Tabernacle Choir was his special inaugural guest." -Stephen M. Studdert, Special Assistant to President Reagan |
LDS in politics an uphill battle for 164 years
Setting the Record Straight: Joseph Smith: Presidential Candidate
| William Ide (1796-1852) president the California Republic | In 1846, he joined John C. Fremont in the Bear Flag Revolt. They took Sonoma and captured the Mexican Commandante of Northern California. They raised a new flag and declared the independce of the California Republic with Ide as president. Ide was chosen to serve as president. When the U.S. declared war on Mexico, Ide and the others joined the U.S. forces thus ending California's independence. Source: Wikipedia | ||
 | Ernest Istook Congressman Republican Oklahoma | First elected in 1992, he is currently serving his seventh term representing Oklahoma's fifth district. . Source: Open Secrets | |
 | Jeffrey Max Jones Senator - Mexico PAN State of Chihuahua | Born in Chihuahua, graduated from BYU. He participated in Committees on Agriculture, Livestock and Foreign Affairs and acted as Coordinator of Federal PAN Congressmen in Chihuahua. Jeffrey Max Jones was elected as a Federal Congressman (Diputado Federal) in 1997, to the 57th Legislature. He was elected Senator in 2000 to the 58th and 59th Legislature. He is the first Mormon to hold this high of an office in Mexico. He is currently President of the Border Affairs Committee. Senator Jones is the great, great, grandson of Daniel Webster Jones, who was the first missionary into Mexico and instrumental in getting the church started in Mexico. | |
 | David Matthew Kennedy (1905-1996) Secretary of the Treasury Republican | He became Secretary of the Treasury in 1968, during the Nixon administration. Secretary of the Treasury is a cabinet position second only to the Secretary of State. In addition to being Secretary of the Treasury, he was ambassador to NATO and Ambassador-at-Large for the United States. He became CEO of the one of the largest banks in the United States, the Continental Illinois Bank of Chicago.
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 www.lib.utah.edu | Rep. David S. King Congressman Utah Democrat (1959-1963, '65-67) | David S. King, was a House member back when civil-rights legislation was being debated and the U.S. space program was just beginning (he supported both). He grew up in politics. His father, William H. King, was a two-term U.S. House member from Utah and a four-term U.S. senator. He served for three years as the U.S. ambassador to the African island nations of Madagascar and Mauritius (he speaks fluent French, an official language there). He became an LDS bishop in Kensington, Md. While in that assignment, the church chose a site within its boundaries for its Washington Temple. King later became president of that temple for three years. He also wrote a book about temples, titled "Come to the House of the Lord." King also served three years as president of the LDS mission in Haiti. Deseret News
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 bioguide.congress.gov | William H. King Congressman Utah Democrat (1917-1941,) | William Henry King, Representative and a Senator from Utah; born in Fillmore, Millard County, Utah, June 3, 1863; attended the public schools, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, and the University of Utah at Salt Lake City; church missionary for the Church of the Latter Day Saints in Great Britain 1880-1883. He was a US Senator from 1917-1941. In addition he was the President Pro Tempore of the Senate from November 19, 1940-January 3, 1941, which is the second-highest-ranking official of the Senate and the highest-ranking senator and in addition third in the presidential line of succession. | |
 Photo: Bush taps EPA chief as health secretary by William M. Welch, USAToday, 14 Dec 2004 | Michael O. Leavitt Secretary Health and Human Services | He was governor of Utah from 1993-2003. In 2003, President Bush asked him to become administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2004, President Bush asked him to serve as in his cabinet as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
| White House Bush nominates Leavitt for health secretary, 13 Dec 2004, CNN |
 | Buck McKeon Congressman Republican California | First elected in 1992, he is currently serving his seventh term, representing California’s twenty-fifth district. He comes up for re-election again in Nov 2006. Source: Political Graveyard: Mormon Politicians in California | House.gov |
| Gregory J. Newell Undersecretary of State Republican | In 1980 he became director of Presidential scheduling, Reagan-Bush Committee, Arlington, Virginia. In 1980 - 1981 he was a staff member of the Presidential Transition Foundation, Washington, DC. He then served as Special Assistant to President Reagan. In 1982 Mr. Newell was appointed Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs. He served eight years as ambassador to Sweden. At the age of 29, he was the US's youngest ambassador since Thomas Jefferson.
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 Gov. Norm Bangerter, left, confers with Rep. Howard Nielson Deseret Morning News | Rep. Howard Nielson Congressman | Howard Nielson, now 82, chose to walk away from Congress after four terms to allow him and his wife to do some missionary work for the LDS Church. They then served full-time missions in Australia and Hungary and a part-time mission at the Missionary Training Center in Provo before Nielson's wife died in 2003. He has since remarried to a sister of former (Famous Mormons) Rep. Ron Packard, R-Calif. Deseret News | |
 Deseret News | Rep. Dan Marriott Congressman
| Since Congress, Marriott says he has focused on his insurance and investment company, "and real estate was my hobby. But it got bigger than my business." That includes building the 120-room Zion Park Inn, just outside Zion National Park, and the Switchback Grill and Trading Co. there. Marriott also developed the nearby Canyon Springs subdivision. He also served for three years as president of the LDS South Africa Cape Town Mission Deseret News | |
 | Jim Matheson Congressman Democrat Utah | First elected in 2000, he is currently serving his third term, representing Utah's second district, which comprises the eastern half of Salt Lake County as well as 14 eastern and southern Utah counties. It also includes the most populous southern Utah city-- St. George. He comes up for re-election again in Nov 2006. Source: 13 Legislators re-elected by Jason Swensen, Church News, 13 Nov 2004, Page 7 | House of Representatives |
 | Ron Packard Congressman Republican California | In 2001, he retired after 18 years as a member of the House of Representatives California's 48th district. | Answered Prayers by Maurine Jensen Proctor |
 | Ivy Baker Priest (1905-1975) US Treasurer | She served as the U.S. Treasurer under President Eisenhower. Her signature appeared on U.S. currency from 1953 to 1961. She went on to serve as California Treasurer under Ronald Reagan. She was the mother of the actress who played "Marilyn"
(Pat Priest) on the 60s sitcom "The Munsters."
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 | Harry Reid US Senate Majority Leader Democrat Nevada | First elected to the Senate in 1986. He served as the Senate minority leader, replacing Senator Tom Daschle (D, SD) who lost his seat in a very close race to Congressman John Thune (R, SD). "The biggest strength he has is that he always keeps his word," says Senator Patrick Leahy (D,VT). "He's a straight shooter, smart and easy to work with," says Senate Republican whip Mitch McConnell. Mormon and Democrat? At the same time? Yes it is possible and it will surprise LDS members to find out many popular Mormons were or are democrats. Church President Heber J. Grant started out as an ardent Democrat. Also among Democratic First Presidency counselors who have been Democrat Anthony R. Ivins, a passionate Democrat Charles W. Penrose, equally passionate; John Rex Winder; John Willard Young; Stephen L. Richards; Henry D. Moyle; Hugh B. Brown, another ardent Democrat; and his nephew, N. Eldon. Apostles who have been Democrats are poet and historian Orson F. Whitney; Franklin D. Richards; Moses Thatcher; Abraham H. Cannon; Stephen L. Richards; Melvin J. Ballard; and Joseph F. Merrill. Source an e-article by Todd Compton | Senate.gov |
 | George W. Romney (1907-1995) Governor Republican Michigan | Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, governor of Michigan, chairman of American Motors Corp. and a contender for the 1968 Republican presidential nomination. He is Mitt Romney's Father | |
 | Mitt Romney Former Governor Republican Massachusetts | On 05 Nov 2002, the election of Mitt Romney - an adherent of a faith shared by less than half of a percent of his fellow Massachusetts residents - demonstrates an increasing acceptance of Mormons in the United States, as well as the increasing willingness of Americans to elect members of minority faiths. Source: Center for studies on new religions |  Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games |
 Photo: E Politix.com | Terry Rooney MP (Great Britain) New Labour Party Bradford North | First elected in 1990, and he became the only LDS Member of Parliament in Great Britain (House of Commons). He belongs to the New Labour Party, the same party as the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Source: Email from RM, 20 Feb 2005 | BBC News Profile, 21 Oct 2002 |
| Mike Simpson Congressman Republican Idaho | First elected in 1998, he is currently serving his fourth term representing Idaho’s second district. He comes up for re-election again in Nov 2006. Source: 13 Legislators re-elected by Jason Swensen, Church News, 13 Nov 2004, Page 7 | House.gov | |
 | Gordon Smith US Senator Republican Oregon | First elected to the US Senate in 1996, he is currently serving his second term for Oregon. He comes up for re-election in 2008. He previously served in the Oregon state senate before he became the first U.S. Senator from eastern Oregon since 1938. Source: 13 Legislators re-elected by Jason Swensen, Church News, 13 Nov 2004, Page 7 | Senate.gov |
 | Reed Smoot (1862–1941) US Senator Republican Utah | He represented Utah in the US Senate for 30 years, longer than any other Utah senator. He is the only Mormon apostle to serve in the U.S. Senate. He served concurrently as a Mormon apostle, thus earning the nickname of the "Apostle-Senator." Fact Monster.com |  The Politics of American Religious Identity: The Seating of Senator Reed Smoot, Mormon Apostle |
 | Elbert Duncan Thomas United States Senator
| He made efforts to promote U.S. rescue of Jewish refugees from the Holocaust. During the Holocaust, Sen. Thomas, a devout Mormon, championed a Senate resolution that put pressure on President Roosevelt to establish the War Refugee Board. He was a major sponsor of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, the Wages and Hours Act of 1938, the Nurses Education bill, and the G.I. Bill of Rights. Prior to World War II, Thomas was a leading interventionist and supporter of lend-lease. After he left the Senate, Thomas became the first civilian High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. | Utah Historical Enc.
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 Photo: Multied | Stewart Udall US Secretary of the Interior Democrat | Stewart Lee Udall served as Arizona's Congressman for District 2 from 1954-1961 and as Secretary of the Interior from 1961-1969 in the administrations of President John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. |
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 | Tom Udall Congressman Democrat New Mexico | First elected in 1998, he is currently serving his fourth term, representing New Mexico's third district. He comes up for re-election again in Nov 2006. Source: 13 Legislators re-elected by Jason Swensen, Church News, 13 Nov 2004, Page 7 | House.gov |
 | Olene Walker Governor Republican Utah | She served as lieutenant governor of Utah for eleven years until Governor Mike Levitt left Utah to head the Environmental Protection Agency. On 05 Nov 2003, she was sworn in as the first woman to serve as governor of Utah. In 2004, she failed in her bid to win the Republican nomination for governor of Utah. It was the first time a standing Utah governor failed to win a party nomination in 48 years. She did not decide to seek a full term as governor until March, long after her rivals had established their campaigns. Source: Utah GOP rejects incumbent governor by Paul Foy, Associated Press, 09 May 2004 | "Dont' Mess with Grama" by Bob Lonesberry, 15 Aug 2003
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