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The Political Thought and Activity of Heber J. Grant, Seventh President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

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The Political Thought and Activity of Heber J. Grant, Seventh President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 1965 The Political Thought and Activity of Heber J. Grant, Seventh President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Loman Franklin Aydelotte Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the History Commons, and the Mormon Studies Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Aydelotte, Loman Franklin, "The Political Thought and Activity of Heber J. Grant, Seventh President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" (1965). Theses and Dissertations. 4492. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4492 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. f THE POLITICAL THOUGHT AND ACTIVITY OF HEBER J GRANT SEVENTH PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTERDAYLATTER DAY SAINTS A thesis presented to the department of history brigham young university in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree master of arts by loman franklin aydelotte april 15 1965 this thesis by loman franklin aydelotte is accepted in its present form by the department of history of brigham0 young university as satisfying the thesis requirements for the degree of master of arts april 15 1965 minor committeetlitteeattee member vv acing chairman major depahnpient typed by nola B aydelotte TABLE OF CONTENTS page PREFACE ii chapter I1 CHARACTER AND personality I11 nH POLITICAL ACTIVITY FROM 1882 TO 1901 15 lilliiIII111 CHAMPION OF prohibition 33 IV HEBER J GRANT AND REED SMOOT 54 V THE NEW DEAL 68 VI conclusion 77 bibliography 88 PREFACE thomasthornas carlyle urged the biographer to find out the great men clean the dirt from them and place them on their proper pedestals heber J grant seseventhanthenth president of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints does not require rescue from complete oblivion yet the steady encroachment of time has clouded the significance of his role in one era of utahs history that grant was the presiding leader of so influential an institution as the mormon church for such an extended period of time 27 years suggests that historians studying utah ought to take note of his life furthermore the fact that grants life stretches back in time to the last years of brigham young and forward to include the new deal of franklin D roosevelt and world war II11 suggests to the historian that here is a life meriting critical study how would a man raised under the intimate influence of brigham young in a frontier environment react to the political issues of the nation as it became increasingly industrialized and internationally influential the answer to this question is the thesis of this study which is a political biography attempting to determine the philosophy of grant toward state national and international political issues more ii11 specifically this thesis attempts to determine what factor or factors in grants life and experience molded that philosophy by finding these factors perhaps the philosophy of grant can be understood the word philosophy as used here is synonymous with attitude or view- point rather than meaning a system of beliefs the scope of the thesis encompasses as exhaustive a treatment of grants politics as sources will permit however to realize the desired answers will require attention to factors of his life beyond the narrow scope of things political literary critic samuel johnson fore- told the task when he said that biographers must attend to the little circumstances of a mans life he had in mind education travel profession associates heritage convictions and environment these are the little circumstances that when known aid the biographer in interpreting the motives and actions of his subject although aspects of grants life other than politics will be taken into consideration the treatment will not be all inclusive limitations of the thesis then will be the deliberate exclusion of life incidents which lack relevance to the authors political theme brief reference ought to be made at the outset to source materials and their use the thesis is interpretive in nature and not a detailed narrative and the primary materials letters journals and public speeches are used to that end primary materials have been sufficient in number to permit the testing of the hypothesis with some iii CHAPTERCHAPTERI I1 CHARACTER AND personality to appreciate the attitude heber J grant assumed toward politics it is first necessary to consider more broadly his whole life and to determine those forces motivating him politically I1 by ignoring the confining limits of chronological order and ranging over his long eighty nine years it becomes apparent that a variety of influences contributed to his political philosophy grant reflected both consciously and unconsciously a mormon agrarian background and ideology business affluence a youth of struggle and near poverty and an aggressive personality these factors largely explain and account for his reaction to political issues family BH roberts ascribes grants compelling personality to his father jedediah morgan grant who was the leading figure of the 1856 ithethe sources found to be the most reliable for biographical material on grant are as follows LLDSD S biographical encyclopedia comp andrew jenson salt lake city deseret news 1901 I1 pioneers and prominent men of utah ed frank esshom salt lake city utah pioneers book publishing co 1913 bryant S hinckley heber J grant highlights in the life of a great leader salt lake city deseret book co 1 1951 noble warrum utah since statehood chicago S J clarke publishing co 1919 II11 1 b- 2 2 mormon reformation heber J s father was a counselor to enghambrigham young and was salt lake citescitys first mayor he had faith- fully suffered through the LLDSD S persecutions in missouri and illinois and then participated inin the 1846471846 47 exodus to the great basin but the event which best testifies to his personality and devotion and fore- told his sons own personality was the reformation he inspired to cleanse the church roberts saw in the son the same force and fervor 3 for moral causes which motivated his father in 1856 heber J grant was born to rachel ridgway ivins grant on november 22 1856 the reformation movement had hardly begun but his father pursued the crusade so strenuously that exhaustion rought his demise on december 1 1856 thus the boy never knew his father although grant came to enjoy wealth his early life was marked by poverty and the necessity of contributing to the familysfamilys support his mother because of her husbands death was left tzto care for the family with little means and although he had to work from an early age poor health forced him to rely more on ingenuity than stamina he became familiar with the insurance and banking businesses through athe2thethe reformation which began in september 1856 had as its purpose the orderingreorderingre of the churchschurche members to a stricter standard of righteousness see B H roberts A comprehensive history of the church salt lake city deseret news press 1930 IV 119 bibid3ibidbid VI 48090480 90 confidence by far the most valuable source has been the personal papers of heber J grant housed in the historians office of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints in salt lake city utah although family permission made access to the papers possible their use was still subject to the stringent rules of the churchschurche private library it should also be noted that grants papers are not catalocataloguercataloguedgued or boxed in any order reference is solely by the year to carbon copy letterletterbooksbooks which have been indiscriminately enclosed in boxes the writer encountered reports that grant had kept a journal supposedly in the possession of mrs phillip A bullen of salt lake city however she and grants eldest living daughter mrs lucy grant cannon deny any knowledge of a journal portions of a journal however are to be found among the private papers already noted according to a letter written in december 1937 grant had intended to write an autobiography but was such a procrastinator that it was never accomplished one of his daughters mary grant judd had started to write her fathers history but that too remained unfinished grant wrote that an autobiography should be written for the benefit of his children and grandchildren although acknowledgementsacknowledgements draw little attention their ever predictable appearance is good evidence that authors appreciate the helpheipthey receive dr richard D poll has provided the assistance ivIV and criticism as well as the encouragement necessary and has set the example not only in research and writing but in the study of history generally dr louis midgleysMidgle ys direction and counsel have been readily accepted improving the quality of this work lucy grant cannon daughter of the apostle made it possible to read her fathers correspondence and equally appreciated is my wife nola barrus aydelotte who served as the typist for many hours for the sake of brevity the church of jesus christ of latter day saints commonly referred to as the mormon church will be identified as such or simply as the church april 15 1965 loman franklin aydelotte v 3 clerking and by the time he was twenty he had organized his own insurance agency family circumstances were stringent enough and
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