Joseph Smith for President: The Prophet, The Assassins, and the Fight for American Religious Freedom

Summary

By the election year of 1844, Joseph Smith, the controversial founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had amassed a national following of some 25,000 believers. In less than twenty years, Smith had helped transform the American religious landscape and grown his own political power substantially. Unable to garner federal protection, Smith decided to take matters into his own hands, launching his own bid for the presidency. While many scoffed at the notion that Smith could come anywhere close to the White House, others regarded his run—and his religion—as a threat to the stability of the young nation. Hounded by mobs throughout the campaign, Smith was ultimately killed by one—the first presidential candidate to be assassinated.

Though Joseph Smith's run for president is now best remembered for its gruesome end, the renegade campaign was revolutionary. Smith called for the total abolition of slavery, the closure of the country's penitentiaries, and the reestablishment of a national bank to stabilize the economy. But Smith's most important proposal was for an expansion of protections for religious minorities. At a time when the Bill of Rights did not apply to individual states, Smith sought to empower the federal government to protect minorities when states failed to do so.