Ezra Taft Benson clearly wasn’t a fan of civil rights and called it a communist conspiracy. But his counselor in the First Presidency, Gordon B. Hinckley, made peace with the NAACP and helped name a
Ezra Taft Benson wanted to run for U.S. President. Dr. Matt Harris describes a few attempts by Benson to run for POTUS, and how Church leaders finally put an end to Benson’s political aspirations. Matt:
Ezra Taft Benson was a sharp critic of the civil rights movement and called it a communist conspiracy. Why was that? Dr. Matt Harris details the red scare, and why Benson was so opposed to
If you were born after 1975, you may not have heard of the John Birch Society. Dr. Matt Harris tells us more about this group, and President Benson’s allegiance to this anti-communist group. Check out
Ezra Taft Benson joined Eisenhower to be his Agriculture Secretary in 1952. Benson didn’t even vote for Eisenhower! But President McKay allowed apostle Benson to serve for eight years in the Eisenhower administration. Dr. Matt
Dr. Matt Harris has uncovered that apostle Bruce R. McConkie wrote Official Declaration 2, which allowed for the first time in 120 years, open ordination of black church men, and allowed blacks access to the
In our next episode with Dr. Matt Harris, we will talk about how President Kimball persuaded the apostles to lift the priesthood and temple ban on black church members. It turns out the Brazil Temple
Despite several attempts to end the ban in the 1960s, Hugh B. Brown made one final attempt in 1969 and almost succeeded. However, the attempt was nixed by Harold B. Lee. Dr. Matt Harris will
The United States were grappling with the Civil Rights Movement during the tumultuous 1960s. In our next conversation with Matt Harris, we will talk about key events in the 1960s that affect the LDS Church’s
Dr. Matthew Harris’ focus is on religion and the law, church, and state and Mormon Studies. He received a BA and MA in history from Brigham Young University and an MPhil and Ph.D. in history from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. Dr. Harris has appeared on Gospel Tangents many times and is the author of many books and articles. He won the Vera Jean and J. Talmage Jones Award from the Mormon History Association in 2014. His work has been featured on C-SPAN.
