This year’s presidential election finds Republicans going all out trying to hold onto the Catholic vote. Over the years, it has been a source of contention, confusion, pride and, most of all, prejudice. But candidates ignore it at their peril.
I first became aware of how much religious affiliation mattered in politics at an early age. In 1928, New York Governor Al Smith captured the Democratic Party nomination for president, the first Catholic to do so. In my urban Irish Catholic neighborhood, enthusiasm for Smith ran high. I soon found out, however, that among many non-Catholics, such as my Uncle George, opposition was intense. In a visit to our family, he swore that if Hoover won, Catholics with pictures of Smith in their windows had better get them down before they were smashed.
Even harsher anti-Catholic attacks on Smith came from members of the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups. Active in Northern as well as Southern states, they aroused followers with cross burnings across the country. Strong anti-Catholic feelings deeply embedded among clergy and laity of many Protestant denominations also emerged. Some bigots even warned of a Vatican move from Rome to our White House!
Smith swept the Catholic vote, but Hoover dominated
Smith swept the Catholic vote, which had been split in 1920 and 1924, and drew millions of Catholics to the polls for the first time. But it was not nearly enough. Hoover, bolstered by a strong economy, won in a walk, garnering 58 percent of the popular vote and sweeping the electoral vote 447-87. He captured several Southern states, breaking the Democratic grip on “The Solid South” they had held since the end of Reconstruction.
In 1932, Franklin D, Roosevelt, who had succeeded Smith as governor of New York, secured the nomination. Since the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, Hoover’s popularity had plummeted, and FDR won in a landslide. Catholic voters, encouraged by Smith, stuck with the Democrats’ New Deal.
One little-known way in which the Catholic vote apparently played a significant role in American history was in the 1944 vice presidential selection. Roosevelt preferred James Byrnes who had been working effectively in wartime federal government. Some of his political advisors foresaw a problem. Byrnes, son of Irish Catholic parents, had converted to the Episcopal faith. His place on the ticket would cost Catholic votes. And so, Harry Truman became vice president and subsequently president.
Anti-Catholic prejudice dates to colonial times
More often, anti-Catholic prejudice has prevailed, going back to colonial times when religious conflicts in Europe spilled over into the new land. In many areas, Catholics, who comprised little more than 1 percent of the population, could not own land or vote. Incidents of violence flared up from time to time against those who many Protestants viewed as the pope’s missionaries in America.
At the same time, many examples of religious toleration were evident. Rhode Island granted freedom of religion for all faiths. Maryland settled under a charter obtained by George Calvert, a Catholic whose son became the colony’s first governor, did likewise. Its Act of Toleration, issued in 1649, was adopted by an Anglican majority intent on making Maryland attractive to settlers of diverse religious persuasions. Although it proved a source of controversy, and was repealed and reinstated over the years, it has been considered a precursor to our First Amendment. Pennsylvania, founded by William Penn, a Quaker who had been jailed in England for his beliefs, also offered a sanctuary of religious freedom.
So, despite widespread prejudice, many Catholics managed to find acceptance, and even distinction in the early days of our country. One noteworthy example was the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, a non-denominational organization, open to Catholics, Protestants, and Quakers. It was founded in Philadelphia on March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day) in 1771 by a group of 24 merchants, businessmen, and public officials of Irish ancestry who met in a Philadelphia tavern.
A social and charitable organization, its meetings included guests from English, Scottish, German, French, and Welsh organizations. Early membership relied heavily on those who had wrested American independence from the British in the Revolutionary War and had distinguished themselves in the Army, Navy, Cabinet, and Congress. General Stephen Moylan, a Catholic and cavalry commander who served as one of General George Washington’s closest aides, was its first president. Washington became an honorary member in 1782.
Irish immigrants threatened Protestants
The Friendly Sons continued as a benevolent society particularly in aiding Irish immigrants. During the Irish Famine in which a million men, women, and children perished, and another million emigrated to escape poverty and starvation, their resources were stretched to the breaking point. This tide of Irish immigrants, primarily in the East, along with newly arrived Germans settling in the Midwest seemed to pose a threat to the economic and political security of native-born Protestant Americans.
Any sign of increased Catholic influence might set off a storm of heated protests. As when President Franklin Pierce (1853–1857) selected a Catholic to be Postmaster General. This idea of Catholics controlling their mail infuriated nativists who took to the streets in protest and attacked Catholic churches.
One major response to this immigration was the rise of the Know Nothing Party. Most people today know little about them. Who were they? Why the name? What was their program? How influential were they? Their movement was as an outgrowth of a strong anti-immigrant and especially anti-Catholic sentiment that flourished in the decade before the Civil War. Its members, when asked about their nativist organization, were supposed to reply that they knew nothing.
Their political plan was devious, but effective. Instead of running openly as “Know Nothings,” they campaigned as Democrats or Whigs, and with covert backing from nativists, were elected to office. These tactics created havoc among Whigs and Democrats, who scrambled to find hidden Know Nothings in their ranks.
Millard Fillmore, who later ran for president on the Know Nothing ticket under the banner “Americans Must Rule America,” managed to become vice president under President Zachary Taylor as a member of the Whig party, assuming the presidency after Taylor's death in 1850.
Slavery spelled decline of Know Nothings
Their political power declined, however, as slavery became a more salient issue than immigration, and Know Nothings split into northern and southern sympathizers.
Although prejudice against Catholics, as in the Know Nothing era and in Al Smith’s run for president, often carried the day, some issues and incidents roused enough Catholic voters to swing elections. The 1884 election was one such case.
Democratic Governor Grover Cleveland of New York faced Republican James G. Blaine of Maine in a hostile campaign in which each side tried to outdo the other in mudslinging.
Democrats chanted the slogan: “Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine, The Continental Liar from the State of Maine!” in reference to Blaine's involvement in unethical business arrangements with the railroad industry and his subsequent denials.
Republicans countered with “Ma, Ma, where's my Pa, gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha” –based on allegations that Cleveland had fathered a child out of wedlock.
In a close and contentious campaign, a single incident late in the race proved crucial. At a Blaine rally in New York City, Presbyterian clergyman Samuel Burchard labeled Democrats as the party of "rum, Romanism, and rebellion.” How much did this swipe at Irish Catholics affect the election? Consider this. New York went for Cleveland by a razor-thin 1,000 votes, and its 36 electoral votes was enough to win the White House.
By 1900, Catholics had grown to 14 percent of the total U.S. population, Still, they held few high offices in government. For example, only one of the first 54 justices on the Supreme Court was Catholic.
European Catholics continued to immigrate
But immigration from Catholic Europe continued to grow, with Italian, Polish and several other nationalities following the Germans and Irish, and with Hispanics from Latin America arriving in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Since Al Smith’s run in 1928, Catholics had formed a core part of the New Deal Coalition of the 1930s into the 1950s with overlapping memberships in church, labor unions, big city machines, and the working class. All of these advocated liberal policy in domestic affairs and anti-communism during the Cold War.
In 1960, Democrats nominated a second Catholic for the presidency, John F. Kennedy, a popular senator from Massachusetts. He had served as captain of a PT boat in the Pacific during WWII and had considerable appeal to that younger generation. His nomination created a furor because of his Catholicism and some concern about his father Joe Kennedy, a wealthy political power. One little story that circulated was of a job applicant being questioned about two omissions on his application blank-father's occupation and religion. His reply was “I’m the one applying for the job, not my father, and I come here to work, not to pray.”
Many feared a Catholic president
Many Americans were still fearful that a Catholic in the White House would be under the direction of the Vatican, and separation of church and state would be compromised. Reverend Norman Vincent Peale, author of best-selling The Power of Positive Thinking and the most prominent Protestant radio and television preacher and columnist, opposed Kennedy's candidacy on religious grounds. He and Billy Graham convened a meeting of a group of like-minded Protestant leaders to plan campaign tactics, mobilize Protestants and defeat Kennedy. When word got out about this anti-Catholic movement it met with widespread condemnation. Adlai Stevenson, former presidential candidate, noted for his wit, contrasted Peale with the Apostle Paul, saying, “I find Paul appealing and Peale appalling.”
Kennedy, in his major attempt "to separate bigots from the honestly fearful," accepted an invitation to address 300 clergymen attending a meeting of the Greater Houston Ministerial Association. In remarks replayed around the nation for the next seven weeks, Kennedy told his audience that he believed in an "America where separation of church and state is absolute – where no Catholic prelate would tell the President how to act and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote." While his remarks did not remove anti-Catholicism from the campaign, it softened its influence.
The drift of Catholics from being overwhelmingly Democratic began after WW II for several economic and cultural reasons, but as Irish Americans left cities for the suburbs, they became increasingly conservative and Republican.
JFK stabilized that for a while, but, more recently, a Democratic turn to the left with their embrace of feminism, gay rights, and especially abortion began to cost heavily. It started with Ronald Reagan as an opponent. When his pollster told him that four themes, “Work, Family, Neighborhood, and Peace Through Strength,” resonated most powerfully with Catholics in big electoral states, he drummed those issues home. His pride in his Irish heritage and interest in contemporary Ireland also struck the right note.
Reagan developed positive relationship with the Vatican
In 1980, Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter, winning more than 90 percent of the electoral vote. In 1984 against Mondale, he captured every state but one and most of the Catholic vote.
During his time in office, Reagan developed positive relationships with the Vatican. Throughout American history such relationships had been a source of controversy, generating fears of papal influence on American politics. Reagan made it acceptable.
The United States had maintained consular relations with the Papal States from 1797 under President George Washington until 1867 when, Congress passed legislation prohibiting future funding of diplomatic missions to the Holy See.
This status continued until 1933 when Roosevelt designated a personal envoy for discussions of humanitarian and political issues, a practice most future presidents followed. In 1951, President Truman nominated former General Mark W. Clark to be United States Ambassador to the Vatican. Clark later withdrew his nomination following protests from Protestant groups and Congress passing a law denying funding.
This prohibition lasted until 1983, when it was repealed. In 1984, President Reagan established diplomatic relations with Pope John Paul II. This time there was little objection from Congress, courts, or Protestant groups. William Wilson, who had been President Reagan's personal envoy to the pope since 1981, was named the first U.S. ambassador to the Holy See. This status continues to this day.
Woodrow Wilson became the first president to visit the pope. In Europe for the Paris Peace Conference, in 1919, he arranged to visit Pope Benedict XV, who shared Wilson’s interest in rebuilding Europe after the destruction of the war years.
More than 30 years went by before Eisenhower became the next president to follow suite. Since then, it has become a regular practice.
Not only have presidents visited the Vatican, popes have come to The United States.
Paul VI was the groundbreaker when he came to speak to the United Nations in 1965,
In 1979, Jimmy Carter, a devout Southern Baptist, became the first president to host the pope at the White House. Back in 1928, when Al Smith lost his bid for the White House a story circulated that Smith then sent a one-word telegram to the pope- “Unpack!” This time the wags noted “he didn’t bring his luggage!”
This meeting was a prelude to opening diplomatic relations between the U.S. and the Vatican under Reagan five years later.
Pope John Paul II and Reagan were close especially because of their shared anti-communism and keen interest in forcing the Soviets out of Poland. Soviet control of Poland had been a sore spot with the U. S. and its allies since the negotiations at the end of WWII in which Stalin, with his troops already controlling that country, insisted on retaining it. In discussions about the decision, Churchill has said to have argued that the pope strongly opposed it. To which Stalin replied: “How many divisions has the pope?”
Without any divisions, a pope later played a significant role. His efforts contributed to the collapse of communism in Poland, and that, in turn, initiated the end of the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe from East Germany to Bulgaria.
No Republican presidents have been Catholic
In more recent years, Catholics comprising one fourth of the national vote, span a wide spectrum of the electorate including a significant set of swing voters in battleground states. In congress, Catholics from both political parties are now well represented, and on the Supreme Court, where for years it had been customary to have only one Catholic justice, the majority of them are now Catholic
Nevertheless, no Republican candidate for President has been Catholic and only one, William Miller (in 1964), has been nominated for Vice President.
In contrast, four Democratic vice-presidential candidates were Catholic prior to Joe Biden: Ed Muskie (1968), Thomas Eagleton (1972, briefly), Sargent Shriver (1972) and Geraldine Ferraro (1984).
Despite this, in recent presidential elections, Catholics, except for Hispanic Catholics, have favored the Republican candidate.
Believing that the Democratic Party had turned too far left on such issues as radical feminism, gay rights and particularly abortion, Catholics in 2016, gave Trump 52 percent of their vote and Clinton only 45 percent -a crucial difference in a close election.
Now, dissatisfied with Trump’s performance, many of them are considering moving to Biden. In this hotly contested campaign, the Republican political machine has been pulling out all the stops to hold onto the Catholic vote, emphasizing vociferously that Democrats are “At war with Catholics, with families and with faith,” and featuring photos of Trump with the pope (and Ronald Reagan).
Pope Francis speaks out
Popes try to avoid becoming embroiled in a country’s politics. At the same time, they often speak out on world issues as Pope Francis recently did. As an invited guest at the U.N. General Assembly (September 2020), he strongly criticized world leaders who: support programs that widen the gap between rich and poor; crave absolute power and control; emphasize nationalism, protectionism, and individualism; ignore the plight of refugees and migrants; promote the arms race that serves the arms industry and fosters distrust and fear.
He urged world leaders to promote public health and ensure every person’s right to basic medical care; to close tax shelters and avoid tax evasion; to defend justice and the common good over the interests of the most powerful; to devote financial and technological resources to mitigate effects of climate change; to reverse the climate of international distrust and rebuild multilateralism; and to relax international sanctions.
On Trump’s recent visit, Pope Francis presented him with a gift that was more than a token-a copy of his treatise on climate control. President Trump’s priorities seem to differ from the pope’s!
Except perhaps on abortion- a crucial controversy for many Catholics.
Where does Biden stand on the issue? A moderate Democrat and a practicing Catholic, he is personally opposed to abortion, hut does not believe in imposing his values on others.
Trump’s opposition to abortion seems based more on political expediency than morality. It is a huge shift from his position prior to his run for the presidency when he moved abruptly from pro-choice to pro-life.
Both are courting the Catholic vote. And, though conditions have changed since Al Smith made his run for president, his memory is still kept alive.
Each year, the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is hosted by the Archbishop of New York at the city’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel to raise funds for charitable endeavors in the city. Traditionally an occasion of cordiality and good humor, where politics are put aside, at this year’s event, there was no joking. Held virtually because of the pandemic, the two candidates used it as a continuation of their debate two days previously. Host Cardinal Timothy Dolan, in thanking both men, reminded them that Al Smith was known as “the Happy Warrior” and not as a sore loser.
Let us hope all of us participate actively in the election, then accept its results and move on.
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