Detroit, USA - Candidates and religion
John McCain: He was raised in the Episcopalian tradition but now attends a Baptist church. "Do I advertise my faith? Do I talk about it all the time? No," he said in a 2007 interview.
Barack Obama: He wasn't raised in any particular faith. In the mid-1980s, he became a Christian. He has no church home, having recently quit Trinity United Church of Christ after disagreeing with positions of its pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Pew preferences
Here's a breakdown of presidents by denomination:
> Episcopalian: 11 presidents
> Presbyterian: 10
> Methodist: 5
> Baptist: 4
> Unitarian: 4
> Disciples of Christ: 3
> Reformed: 2
> Quaker: 2
> Catholic: 1
> Congregationalist: 2
> Jehovah's Witness: 1
Note: The total is greater than the number of men who have been president because some changed denominations during their lifetime.
Last 50 years: Here are presidents' affiliations going back to 1958: Eisenhower: Jehovah's Witness, later Presbyterian. Kennedy: Catholic. Johnson: Disciples of Christ. Nixon: Quaker. Ford: Episcopalian. Carter: Baptist. Reagan: Disciples of Christ. Bush: Episcopalian. Clinton: Baptist. Bush: Methodist.
QUESTION: Were any presidents nondenominational?
ANSWER: Jefferson, Lincoln and Andrew Johnson.
Saying grace: Lyndon Johnson asked an aide, who happened to be a Baptist minister, to say grace before a White House meal. The aide obeyed. Johnson bellowed: "Speak up, I can't hear you." The aide countered: "I wasn't speaking to you, sir."
Religion in America
The Pew Forum on Religion and Politics recently polled 35,000 U.S. adults about religion in their life -- and their politics. Some findings:
> 92% said they believe in God or a universal spirit.
> People who often go to services and hold to traditional religious views tend to be conservative. People who are less involved in church and hold more secular views tend to be liberal.
> A main issue among people who regularly attend services and hold traditional views is abortion rights. About 60% of those people say abortion should be illegal.
> Of evangelicals, 50% are Republican or lean Republican, and 25% are Democrat or lean Democratic.
> Democrats score about 26% among several groups.
Catholic vote
There are more than 65 million Catholics in the United States, but the number of those registered to vote is unknown. Since the early 1960s, when 80% of Catholic voters voted for Kennedy, the so-called Catholic vote has become less Democrat and more Republican, experts say. The Pew survey found 43% of Catholics were solidly Republican or leaned that way; 25% were solidly Democratic or leaned that way.