Ezra Taft Benson | |
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Personal details | |
Born | Ezra Taft Benson August 4, 1899 |
Died | May 30, 1994 |
Ezra Taft Benson (August 4, 1899 – May 30, 1994) was President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1985 until his death. Earlier he served as United States Secretary of Agriculture for both of the administrations of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Born on a farm in Whitney, Idaho, he was the oldest of 11 children. Began his academic career at Utah State University, he was a 1926 graduate of Brigham Young University (after serving a church mission in Britain from 1921 to 1923), he pursued a career in agriculture and later served in many church leadership positions.
In 1939, when he was president of the church's Boise, Idaho stake and working for the University of Idaho Extension Service, he moved to Washington, D.C. to become Executive Secretary of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, and became the first president of a new LDS Church stake there.
On October 7 1943, both he and Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) were ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, filling two vacancies created by the deaths of Apostles that summer. Because Kimball was the older of the two, he was ordained first. Succession to the presidency of the church is by chronological order of ordination to apostleship, allowing Spencer W. Kimball to became president of the church years earlier than Benson. Upon Spencer W. Kimball's death in 1985, Benson was Ordained as President and Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In 1953 Benson was appointed U.S. Secretary of Agriculture by President Eisenhower perhaps to appease Robert Taft supporters of which he was one,[citation needed] and he accepted this position with the permission of Church President David O. McKay. He retained his United States Cabinet place throughout the two terms of the Eisenhower Administration without yielding his position in the Quorum of the Twelve. In office, he was criticized for his opposition to government price supports and such aid to farmers. Upon starting his service in this office, he suggested starting each cabinet meeting with a prayer. President Eisenhower agreed to the suggestion and kept the prayer as the opening event to every cabinet meeting during his administration.
As Secretary of Agriculture, Benson was predicted by the press to be the first man of the cabinet to be ousted, and even Congressional Republicans felt he was too high a liability for the party, given his severely anti-socialist stance. Benson prevailed, which has been termed one of the great "political mysteries" of the 20th century[citation needed]; he served the full two terms. Secretary Benson grew to have a hatred for communism. He spoke to and electrified audiences with his anti-communist speeches,(some samples here) warning repeatedly, over and over again of the threat of the socialist-communist conspiracy. In the 1960s he stated to the BYU student body:
In his political and ecclesiastical life, Benson was intensely conservative. He was an ardent evangelist of American exceptionalism, and a vitriolic opponent of Communism and Socialism. In the early 1960s, Benson met Robert W. Welch Jr., founder of the John Birch Society. While Benson never joined the Society, his wife Flora joined, and his son Reed was the Society's Utah state coordinator. His reasons for not joining may have related to incompatibility with his position as an Apostle; however, he had read the Society's Blue Book and was very sympathetic to the cause, stating that he "was convinced that the John Birch Society was the most effective non-church organization in our fight against creeping Socialism and godless Communism."
While Benson later attributed his longevity to his unorthodox diet and his religious faith, his eating habits became the source of constant ribbing in the 1970s when his conservative friends began a series of "Ezra Roasts" to poke fun at Benson as a means of fund raising to finance campaigns against the Equal Rights Amendment.
Benson succeeded Kimball as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1973, and as President of the Church in 1985. Known in his early years for his ultra-conservative and right libertarian political views, he was comparatively moderate once he attained the church's highest office. During his early years as Church President he brought a renewed emphasis on the distribution and reading of the Book of Mormon, reaffirming the LDS scripture's importance as "the keystone of [the Mormon] religion."
In the years before his death President Benson suffered from poor health, suffering from blood clots in the brain, strokes, and heart attacks. During this time, Benson almost never appeared in public, and First Counselor Gordon B. Hinckley took on many of Benson's official duties, as he had done as Second Counselor in Kimball's last years. Joining Hinckley in this task was Thomas S. Monson, and the two of them received legal power of attorney to act in Benson's behalf in LDS corporate affairs. Important ecclesiastical and family documents continued to be signed in Benson's name, with the aid of a signature machine.
There was some controversy as to whether Benson's actual mental health during this time was accurately portrayed. According to Church spokesman Don LeFevre, Hinckley and Monson reviewed major church decisions with Benson in his home, where he was attended by a staff of nurses. According to Benson's grandson Steve Benson, who later became a vocal, anti-Mormon critic, by 1993 Benson was living in a sweatsuit, fed by others, and incapable of recognizing others or speaking coherently. Steve Benson is not considered to be an official spokesman for the Benson family or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Family members have shied away from Steve Benson's remarks.
Benson was buried in Whitney, Idaho.
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(help)Preceded by Spencer W. Kimball |
President of the LDS Church November 10 1985 — May 30 1994 |
Succeeded by Howard W. Hunter |
Preceded by Spencer W. Kimball |
President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles December 30 1973–November 10 1985 |
Succeeded by Marion G. Romney |
Preceded by Spencer W. Kimball |
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles October 7 1943–November 10 1985 |
Succeeded by Mark E. Petersen |
Preceded by Charles F. Brannan |
United States Secretary of Agriculture 1953–1961 |
Succeeded by Orville Freeman |