A.P.E.X. Presents Author and Historian Spencer McBride

Published: October 27, 2022 | Author: Southern Utah University | Read Time: 2 minutes

Spencer McBrideSouthern Utah University’s A.P.E.X. Events welcomes historian, writer, and podcaster, Spencer McBride on Thursday, November 3, 2022 at 11:30 a.m. in the Great Hall of the Hunter Alumni Center. McBride will talk about his research on Joseph Smith and the Fight for American Religious Freedom. 

McBride’s presentation: Joseph Smith for President, a Portrait of American Dissent discusses the idea that in the history of the United States, no third-party candidate has ever been elected president. But those longshot campaigns matter to American history beyond their electoral viability. Such independent campaigns typically illuminate discontent among certain segments of Americans. Such is the case for Joseph Smith's improbable run for the presidency in 1844. The leader of a religious minority group published a platform that described deep discontent with the political status quo in the United States and proposed a bold plan for the reform of American society. His candidacy serves as a historical window to American discontent in the nineteenth- century.

McBride is the author of multiple books on religion and American politics. His writing discusses the evolving role of religion in American political culture. His works have been featured in publications such as the Washington Post, Deseret News, and several different
scholarly journals. His works include Contingent Citizens: Shifting Perceptions of Latter-day Saints in American Political Culture and Joseph Smith for President: The Prophet, the Assassins, and the Fight for American Religious Freedom. McBride sets out to prove how religion and politics intersect and how separate but similar they can be.

McBride is currently an associate managing historian of the Joseph Smith Papers Project, based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

A.P.E.X. Events is SUU’s premier weekly lecture series, with speakers and presenters invited from all areas of the world. While on campus, guests are invited to interact with students and faculty in multiple ways, with opportunities to connect and network in vast areas of scholarship. All A.P.E.X. Events are free and open to the public. Visit A.P.E.X. Events for more information on this event and for the live stream link.


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