“Under God” Added to Pledge of Allegiance
President Dwight Eisenhower signed a law on this day that added the words “Under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.
It probably comes as a surprise to most Americans that the pledge itself only became the official U.S. Pledge on December 28, 1942, during World War II.
Adding “Under God” to the Pledge was one of several instances of the official promotion of religion in the 1950s, which for civil libertarians regarded as a violation of the Establishment Clause. Another example was the creation of the National Prayer Breakfast, on February 5, 1953, which immediately became an almost mandatory event for presidents.
Read: Richard Ellis, To the Flag: the Unlikely History of the Pledge of Allegiance (2007)
Learn about the history of the Pledge: http://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm
Learn more about the context of the times: Jeremy Gunn, Spiritual Weapons: The Cold War and the Forging of an American National Religion (2009)
Read about the history of conflict over religion in American history: Steven Waldman, Sacred Liberty: America’s Long, Bloody, and Ongoing Struggle for Religious Freedom (2019)
And more: Kevin Kruse, One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America (2015)
Learn more about government endorsements of religion: http://secular.org/content/government-action
Hear Bob Dylan sing With God On Our Side: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfHLYIms97A