USA 250th: Eisenhower: Add “Under God” to Our Pledge

Two words. A global rivalry. A president shaped by war. 

We take a fresh look at Dwight D. Eisenhower and the moment he pushed the United States to say “one nation under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. Eisenhower is often remembered as a steady hand, but his story gets sharper when you connect his World War II leadership to the ideological battle that followed.

We talk through Eisenhower’s role as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces and why seeing Europe up close left him convinced that communism, socialism, and Marxism carried a spiritual cost. That conviction didn’t stay private. Just days after taking office, he chose to be baptized, and soon after he went to Congress to advocate a change that still echoes in classrooms, ballparks, and public meetings across America.

Along the way, we reflect on what public God-language is doing when it shows up in civic life: is it unity, reassurance, a line drawn in the Cold War, or a complicated mix of all three? We also connect Eisenhower’s choice to Ronald Reagan’s later warning about what happens when a country forgets its moral center.

If you care about American history, Cold War politics, church and state debates, or the meaning behind the Pledge of Allegiance, listen and decide where you land. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review with your take on “one nation under God.”

• Eisenhower’s role as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in World War II
• His firsthand exposure to Marxism, socialism, and communism and their impact on religion
• The decision to be baptized 10 days after his inauguration
• The push to add “Under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance as a statement of national difference
• Ronald Reagan’s later warning about forgetting “one nation under God”

Transcript

Remembering Dwight D. Eisenhower

SPEAKER_00 0:00

His name was President Dwight D. Eisenhower. You can tell a guy that I really admire a lot, that history's kind of

Supreme Commander In World War II

SPEAKER_00 0:08

pushed away. I'm not sure why, but he was actually the commanding general, the supreme commander of the Allied forces in World War II. That'd be the British, Canadian, Australian, and remnants of the French and Polish armies. And the last country to enter World War II was the United States of America. But he was the supreme commander.

Seeing Communism’s Spiritual Cost

SPEAKER_00 0:27

And he was an eyewitness. He saw firsthand the evils of Marxism and socialism and communism in Europe and parts of Asia. He saw what Marxism and socialism had corrupted religion, the atheism that impacted communism, and the atheism that impacted socialism.

Baptized After Taking Office

SPEAKER_00 0:47

It impacted Eisenhower so much that when he was elected president, 10 days after his inauguration, he asked to be baptized. The first and only president to be baptized when he was president. Again, 10 days after his inauguration.

Adding “Under God” To The Pledge

SPEAKER_00 1:06

But then he did more. He went to Congress, and just for a reference, not a political comment, he was the first Republican president in 20 years, and he had a Democrat-majority House and majority Senate. But back then you could still work together. He said, I noticed in our pledge, I want you to add two words to our official pledge. You know what those two words are? Under God. Under God. Again, Eisenhower wanted to tell the whole world, tell the Marxists, tell the socialists, tell the communists that we are different. We are one nation under God. Twenty years later, another president, Ronald Reagan, would famously say that the day we forget that we are one nation under God, that day we shall be one nation gone under. So thank you, President Dwight Eisenhower. Again, you're an eyewitness, how it changed your life to the point you want

Reagan’s Warning And A Final Salute

SPEAKER_00 2:08

to be baptized. And then when you went to the Congress and you asked to add two words to our pledge that had not been there before. One nation under God. This is Ken Mercer saluting President Dwight David Eisenhower.