The intellectuals and Eisenhower: Civil religion, religious publicity, and the search for moral and religious communities (Dwight D. Eisenhower)

Consensus and pluralist intellectuals believed that religious life during the post-World War II era in the United States was best characterized as being tranquil and superficial. This type of religiosity, moreover, created problems for democratic civil society: authentic religious life was debased and superficial religiosity played into fears about the popular democracy and the rise of reactionary movements. There were three major areas of concern for most of these intellectuals: civil religion, religious publicity, and the role of Eisenhower in the postwar religious revival. While scholars have revisited the consensus history for cultural, political, and social history, no such reassessment has been made for U.S. religious history. This dissertation will assess the claims of the consensus and pluralist intellectuals while detailing the meaning and historical context for each of the three areas noted above. Particular attention will be given to civil religious material culture, since much of their critique rested upon the broader social criticism of U.S. consumer culture. The evidence of this dissertation will demonstrate that U.S. religious life during the postwar era was neither tranquil nor superficial and could be seen as representing an authentic variety of religious experience. All of this will then serve to provide insight into the role of the intellectual in society.