USA 250th: Eisenhower: Make "In God We Trust" Our National Motto

Eisenhower didn’t just lead armies and sign bills, he carried memories of what he believed Marxism, socialism, and communism did to Europe. That lived experience, we argue, explains a quieter but lasting legacy: the choice to stamp a spiritual identity onto the everyday symbols Americans touch the most. When the Cold War was hardening lines across the world, Dwight D. Eisenhower wanted a message that could not be missed.

We talk through why Eisenhower, a two-term President and the Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in World War II, saw atheist communism and atheist socialism as more than political systems. To him, they threatened culture, belief, and the moral foundation of a nation. 

Then we zoom in on a moment most people never learn in school: ten days after his inauguration, Eisenhower asked to be baptized, making him the only president so far to be baptized while in office. We connect that personal decision to the public push that followed, including his request that “In God We Trust” appear on all U.S. coins and paper currency. 

Finally, we break down the bold symbolic move to replace E Pluribus Unum with “In God We Trust” as the national motto, and what Eisenhower hoped it would communicate to the world about American values and national identity.

 If you care about U.S. history, Cold War politics, religion in America, and the real story behind “In God We Trust,” this one is for you. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves presidential history, and leave a review with your take: should a national motto be faith-based or purely civic?

• Eisenhower’s role as Supreme Allied Commander and eyewitness to Europe’s turmoil
• Claims about atheism in communism and socialism and their impact on religion
• Eisenhower’s desire to show why the United States is different
• The decision to be baptized shortly after inauguration
• The push to put “In God We Trust” on coins and paper money
• The effort to change the national motto from E Pluribus Unum to “In God We Trust”
• The idea of national strength tied to continued trust in God

Transcript

Eisenhower’s War-Tested Perspective

SPEAKER_00 0:00

His name was Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States for two terms, but he was also the commanding general, the supreme commander of the Allied forces in World War II. And he was an eyewitness. He saw what happened when the Marxists and socialists and communists, what they had done to the world, he knew how the Marxists and socialists had corrupted religion. He knew about the atheist in communism and the atheist in socialism. He wanted to make a difference. He wanted to show the whole world why the United States was different. He did a couple things.

Baptism In The White House

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Ten days after his inauguration, he asked to be baptized. The first and only president so far to be baptized when he was president.

Pushing Congress On The Motto

SPEAKER_00 0:52

Obviously, God had an incredible impact on him because he went to Congress, and for reference only, not a part of the statement, but he was the first Republican president in 20 years, and he had a Democrat House and Senate. And he said, you know, I know that Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, to bring people together, he put the words, in God we trust on our coins. Eisenhower asked for two things. He wanted In God We Trust all of our coins and all of our paper money. And secondly, he wanted our national motto to no longer be Ipurbus Unum, which means out of many one. He wanted our national motto to be In God We Trust.

Message To Communism And Closing

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Incredible time in America. Eisenhower wanted to send a message to the whole world, to the Marxists, to the socialists, and to the communists that America was different. Again, he was an eyewitness to what they had done to Europe and parts of the world. He wanted to protect the United States and make sure it did not happen in a place called the United States of America. That was President Dwight Eisenhower. And that is our national motto. In God We Trust. And I would suggest to you the reason our nation is so great right now, so powerful, because in God we trust, yes. In God we still, in God we still trust. Thank you, President Dwight Eisenhower.