FDR seen as the antichrist.

• Position: Franklin D. Roosevelt - USA Yesterday - Brief article

Was Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt the Antichrist? Matthew Avery Sutton asks that question in the Journal of American History while exploring the reaction of Christian conservatives to the election and policies of FDR. Sutton, associate professor of history at Washington State University, Pullman, argues that the rise of the Christian right as a powerful force in late 20th-century U.S. politics is rooted in the 1930s anti-New Deal activism of influential Protestant Fundamentalists.

"Fundamentalists began mobilizing against the expanding state at the very moment of the New Deal's inception," he indicates. "They helped foment conservative opposition to Roosevelt, lay the foundations for postwar religious mobilization, and create the political world view that subsequent generations of religious conservatives adopted and used to shape American politics."

While religious opposition to FDR mirrored broader conservative fears about socialism and...