How Did John F. Kennedy Influence The Role Of Religion In America?

Kennedy was a catholic, but though he appeared to be devout; his religion was a political liability so he avoided religious rhetoric and promoted the strict separation of church and state. Kennedy went on to push for religious tolerance in the U.S. and stress that the real issues in the U.S. were not religious in nature, but the threat of Russia and Cuba, the civil rights movement, the space race, and the poor and unfortunate people in America.Though he didn’t like talking about his personal beliefs while in office, Kennedy regularly attended Trinity Church in Washington D.C. throughout his political career, indicating that he was quite a devout Catholic. (Tom Kershaw).
While John F. Kennedy probably did have more effect on religion in America than any other modern president, this is in a sense deeply ironic. Kennedy was not, by all accounts, a deeply religious man. He has been variously described by contemporaries and historians as “a rather irregular Christian,” “spiritually rootless and almost disturbingly secular,” and one who “wore his religion lightly.” Kennedy certainly did not influence the nation’s religious landscape through his own personal piety or public theology. (Matthew Wilson).
In September, a group of 150 Protestant ministers partial to Richard Nixon put out a statement declaring that Kennedy’s religion was fair game. Calling them the National Conference of Citizens for Religious Freedom, the signatories included the prominent best-selling pastor Norman Vincent Peale, whose imprimatur gave the group authority and publicity. These provocations persuaded Kennedy to tackle the slander that as a Catholic he would put private faith above public duty. (Jefferson,NC;