Henry Adams: 3/27/1918

President John Adams' son, John Quincy Adams, was U.S. Minister to Russia. In September 1811, John Quincy Adams wrote from St. Petersburg to his son, Charles: "My dear Son...You mentioned that you read to your aunt a chapter in the Bible...every evening. This information gave me real pleasure..." John Quincy Adams continued: "So great is my veneration for the Bible, and so strong my belief, that when duly read and meditated on, it is of all books in the world, that which contributes most to make men good, wise, and happy-that the earlier my children begin to read it...the more lively and confident will be my hopes that they will prove useful citizens of their country." This correspondence was published after his death as Letters of John Quincy Adams to his son, on the Bible and its Teachings.

President John Quincy Adams' grandson was Henry Adams, an American historian. From his unique perspective of being related to some of America's founders, Henry Adams, who died MARCH 27, 1918, wrote in his 9-volume work, History of the United States: "The Pilgrims of Plymouth, the Puritans of Boston, the Quakers of Pennsylvania, all avowed a moral purpose, and began by making institutions that consciously reflected a moral idea."

American Minute with Bill Federer

Charles Sumner: 3/11/1874

Ben Franklin was the first president of the first anti-slavery society in the United States. Richard Bassett, a Signer of the Constitution, converted to Methodism, freed all his slaves and paid them as hired labor. John Quincy Adams fought to end slavery by removing Congress' Gag Rule. It was Senator Charles Sumner's vehement stand against slavery that resulted in Congressman Preston S. Brooks of South Carolina violently beating Sumner on the head with a cane while he was seated at his desk on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

Charles Sumner died MARCH 11, 1874, having never fully recovered from those injuries. A founder of the Republican Party, Charles Sumner served as a Senator from Massachusetts for 23 years. He stated: "Familiarity with that great story of redemption, when God raised up the slave-born Moses to deliver His chosen people from bondage, and with that sublimer story where our Saviour died a cruel death that all men, without distinction of race, might be saved, makes slavery impossible." Charles Sumner continued: "There is no reason for renouncing Christianity, or for surrendering to the false religions; nor do I doubt that Christianity will yet prevail over the earth as the waters cover the sea."

American Minute with Bill Federer

Inauguration Day: 3/4/1937

Until 1937, MARCH 4th was Inauguration Day.

Each President acknowledged faith upon assuming office, for example, President John Adams in 1797 gave: "Veneration for the religion of a people who profess and call themselves Christians...to consider a decent respect for Christianity among the best recommendations for the public service."

In 1809, President James Madison referred to the: "Guidance of that Almighty Being." President John Quincy Adams stated in 1825: "'Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh in vain.'" In 1841, President William Harrison said: "I deem the present occasion sufficiently important...in expressing to my fellow citizens a profound reverence for the Christian religion." President Franklin Pierce, in 1853, stated: "There is no national security but in the nation's humble, acknowledged dependence upon God." President James Buchanan, 1857, said: "Cultivate peace...with all nations...in a spirit of Christian benevolence." In 1861, Abraham Lincoln wrote: "Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty." President Calvin Coolidge said in 1925: "America...cherishes no purpose save to merit the favor of Almighty God."

American Minute with Bill Federer

All this, of course, was before we had a Muslim President...