Presidential Faith and Foreign Policy

This book explores the relationship between the religious beliefs of presidents and their foreign policymaking. Through the application of a new methodological approach that provides a cognetic narrative of each president, this study reveals the significance of religion's impact on U.S. foreign policy.

“Examining how the religious convictions of presidents Carter and Reagan shaped their foreign policy. … Historians and international relations scholars could learn a lot from this.” (Matthew Hill, Fides et Historia, Summer-Fall, 2015)

"Steding argues that Carter and Reagan's 'cognetic narratives,' shaped by their religious faith and values, can help explain some of their most important foreign-policy decisions. The research is impressive and the argument novel. It will certainly provoke debate among historians, but Presidential Faith and Foreign Policy more than holds its own." Andrew Preston, Cambridge University, UK

"William Steding has brought welcome attention to the unduly neglected religious factors in the foreign policies of Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. Even more, he has probed their similarities and differences with deep research, in broad perspective, and with creative interpretations. Finding out what Steding means by the contrasting 'cognetics' of these two administrations will richly reward all readers who care about the United States' recent political, religious, and diplomatic history." Mark A. Noll, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History, Notre Dame, USA, Author of God and Race in American Politics: A Short History (2008)

"Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter did not share much in common, but each found solace and direction through faith. Not until William Steding's Presidential Faith and Foreign Policy, however, have we truly understood precisely how each man's spirituality shaped his personality, his policies, and ultimately the direction each took the American people. Eloquent, insightful, indeed the best book available for making real sense of the impact of that unquantifiable quality we call 'religion,' this is thoughtful history at its best." Jeffrey A. Engel, Director of the Center for Presidential History, Southern Methodist University, USA

William Steding is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, USA.