President Eisenhower Marks Islamic Religious Freedom in America
In a significant gesture of religious tolerance, President Dwight D. Eisenhower spoke at the opening of an Islamic Center in Washington, D.C.
His remarks on this day represented a sharp contrast to more recent anti-Islamic attitudes — or at least the refusal of many political leaders to publicly speak favorably of Islam — in the U.S. following the terrorist bombings of September 11, 2001.
Most notably, Eisenhower’s warm and tolerant attitude toward Muslims contrast sharply with the views of Donald Trump, who as candidate for president in 2016 proposed a ban on all Muslims from entering the U.S.
President Eisenhower’s remarks: “…. And I should like to assure you, my Islamic friends, that under the American Constitution, under American tradition, and in American hearts, this Center, this place of worship, is just as welcome as could be a similar edifice of any other religion. Indeed, America would fight with her whole strength for your right to have here your own church and worship according to your own conscience.”
Read Eisenhower’s entire speech:
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/print.php?pid=10824Learn more: Edward E. Curtis IV, Muslims in America: A Short History (2009)
Learn more about President Eisenhower’s record on civil liberties: Samuel Walker, Presidents and Civil Liberties From Wilson to Obama (2012)
Learn more about President Eisenhower: Stephen E. Ambrose, Eisenhower (1983)