Religious Discourse in American Political Speeches

Abstract

This study aims at evaluating the impact of religious discourse in American political speeches. It contributes to the scholarship on American political and religious history by deriving from key theoretical works of Domke and Koe‘s The God Strategy: How Religion Became a Political Weapon in America developing an argument about the manner in which religious discourse might influence presidential rhetoric. Through examining speeches of Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon Johnson to illuminate the importance of the Jeremiad as a religious discourse , this article suggests that the intentional use of God in presidential rhetoric remains significant even today especially during times of crisis to invoke words of spiritual strength and refuge in God as encouragement to the nation.