U.S. Presidents, from a range of religious backgrounds, have frequently quoted the Bible in speeches, acknowledging the influence of the Bible in their lives.
Our sixth president, John Quincy Adams, wrote a series of letters to his son on the Bible and its teachings, which were published in 1850. He said: “I have myself . . . made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year . . . to read five chapters every morning . . . seems to me the most suitable manner of beginning the day.”
And he wrote that his sons should learn their duties and obligations from the Bible, quoting Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength, and thy neighbor as thyself!”
