Powers and Policy of the U.S. Government

by Joseph Smith Jr., Latter-day Strengths (Editor), Bryan A. Hunt (Narrator)

It's 1844 and only 4 months before the martyrdom of the prophet Joseph Smith. Just one month prior to this publication, as a Lt. General, Joseph Smith announced his intent to run for the President of the United States. In the politically charged paper written by the presidential candidate, read the political views of Joseph Smith on such topics as slavery, policies, his opinion of the state of the union, and the inaugural addresses of the nation's forefathers.

Genres: History, Politics, Religion, Nonfiction

27 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1886

About the author

Joseph Smith, Jr. was the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, also known as Mormonism, and an important religious and political figure during the 1830s and 1840s. In 1827, Smith began to gather a religious following after announcing that an angel had shown him a set of golden plates describing a visit of Jesus to the indigenous peoples of the Americas. In 1830, Smith published what he said was a translation of these plates as the Book of Mormon, and the same year he organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

For most of the 1830s, Smith lived in Kirtland, Ohio, which remained the headquarters of the church until Smith began encouraging members to gather the church to a Latter Day Saint settlement in Missouri. There, tensions between Mormons and non-Mormons resulted in the expelling of the Mormons. Smith and his people then settled in Nauvoo, Illinois where they began building a new temple aided by new converts from Europe. He was assassinated by a mob of non-Mormons at the age of 38.

Smith's followers consider him a prophet and have canonized some of his revelations as sacred texts on par with the Bible. His legacy as a leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been recognized by millions of adherents.

Reviews

[Jeff Stockett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot. None of the politics was particularly profound, but I enjoyed it more as a glimpse into the mind of Joseph Smith. This book strays from all of his prophetic writing. This writing was strictly as a citizen of the United States, expressing his views on government.

It's split into two sections. The first section is an essay that he wrote and distributed as a part of his campaign for the Presidency of the United States. It expresses what he would do as President. One of the things I found most interesting was that he was an abolitionist but he felt it would be most fair for the United States government to compensate slave owners.

Here are a few quotes from the first section:
On slavery:
"were I the President of the United States...when that people petitioned to abolish slavery in the slave States, I would use all honorable means to have their prayers granted, and give liberty to the captive by paying the Southern gentleman a reasonable equivalent for his property, that the whole nation might be free indeed!"

On National Debt:
"General Jackson's administration may be denominated the acme of American glory, liberty, and prosperity: for the national debt, which in 1815, on account of the late war, was $125,000,000 and being lessened gradually, was paid up in his golden day...and that august patriot, to use his own words in his farewell address, retired, leaving 'a great people prosperous and happy, in the full enjoyment of liberty and peace, honored and respected by every nation of the world.'"


The second section is a series of letters written to several Presidential candidates as well as their responses. He asks them how they would deal with the situation of the Saints, as they had been driven from Missouri. Their responses are quite noncommittal and so Joseph sends them some fairly rebuking letters. Here are a few quotes from his letters:

On the state of our nation:
"for the glory of America has departed, and God will set a flaming sword to guard the tree of liberty, while such mint-tithing Herods as Van Buren, Boggs, Benton, Calhoun and Clay are thrust out of the realms of virtue as fit subjects for the kingdom of fallen greatess;"

On the selfishness of politicians:
"Away with such self-important, self-aggrandizing and self-willed demagogues! Their friendship is colder than polar ice, and their profession meaner than the damnation of hell."

All in all, I enjoyed this book. Joseph had a way with words that was very powerful. He also gets into some other interesting ideas such as how to deal with prisoners, how he's concerned that individuals in the government have gotten too much power (imagine how he would feel today) and how the government doesn't properly protect its citizens. ("Gentlemen, your cause is just, but I can do nothing for you" - Martin Van Buren, speaking about the mob actions in Missouri)

It is a worthwhile read and I would recommend it to anyone interested in politics, or in learning more about Joseph Smith.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Campaign pamphlet for Joseph Smith's 1844 presidential bid, primarily written by WW Phelps. A very interesting historical artifact; of note is a particular excoriation of Martin Van Buren, who refused the LDS Church's claims for redress after being expelled from Missouri.

As populist as it gets: The rich get richer. Every man has his price. Power corrupts. Elect another rich & powerful white guy and he will solve all your problems! ;)

Smarter people than me have debated whether Joseph Smith's fluid stance on abolition was because of conviction or political advantage, so I won't opine on that.

Some other political positions: release all prisoners & tell them to go and sin no more, no imprisonment for debt (as happened to Joseph Sr), grant a national bank, give the president full power to suppress mobs (again the sting from Missouri showing), make all lawyers become preachers (your theocracy is showing, Joseph!), no court martials for desertion; annex Oregon, Texas, Canada and Mexico!

[Cory · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this little pamphlet at the Red Brick store in Nauvoo. It was pretty interesting, and basically outlined Joseph Smith's ideas and how he felt about U.S. leaders and what he would have done or what he would do in the future.

Anybody who feels that Joseph Smith was in any way a racist man should read this pamphlet because his views on slavery show that he is obviously not.

There were some pretty good quotes in this pamphlet, and I was surprised with Joseph's use of sayings from other languages. Perhaps they are things he learned in the School of Prophets.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't really know the context of this book, I didn't look into it. While his writing is not as sharp as his religious writings, I thought that it was fascinating to hear Joseph Smith's views on politics in a number of different areas. He speaks of military tribunals, expansion of the country, a federal reserve, and Martin van Buren's presidency, among other things. A very short read, but enlightening and fun to read. I'm glad to have found it on mormontextsproject.org and will probably read it a few more times in the future.

[James Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few things that I really liked about this pamphlet.

1) To be party-minded is rediculous. (ie, republican & democrat)
2) The Constitution is inspired of God. Amen.

[Darryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stuff. This is Joseph Smith's platform pamphlet for his presidential run. He had some wonderful ideas laid out here, esp. his solution to slavery and prisons and banking. So worth the read.