The words “In God We Trust” are stamped on US paper currency because of the efforts of one man.
Matthew Rothert Sr., an Arkansas Presbyterian furniture manufacturer and avid coin collector was attending a Chicago church in June 1953, when he believed the Holy Spirit impressed upon him the idea that “In God We Trust” should feature on American banknotes as it did on coins.
That’s according to his daughter, Alice Rothert Nelson who told The Christian Post that her father’s providential story shows how “one person, with the Lord’s help, can make a difference.”
PUSH TO HAVE ‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ ENGRAVED ON AMERICAN COINS
“In God We Trust” was first engraved on US coins during the American Civil War, after Mark Richards Watkinson, a Baptist pastor from Pennsylvania, petitioned the Treasury Secretary at the end of 1861 — to promote “the recognition of the Almighty God in some form in our coins” — amid the fading illusion of a short, relatively bloodless conflict.
“You are probably a Christian. What if our Republic were now shattered beyond recognition?” wrote Pastor Watkinson.
“Would not the antiquaries of succeeding centuries rightly reason from our part we were a heathen nation?” he asked.
Expressing hope that honouring God in such a public way “would relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism,” the pastor declared: “This would place us openly under the divine protection we have personally claimed.”
ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S LAST POLITICAL ACT WAS TO APPROVE THE WORDS ON ALL COINS
“From my heart I have felt our national shame in disowning God as not the least of our present national disasters.”
Pastor Watkinson’s heartfelt plea ultimately led the US Congress to pass a law in April 1864 allowing “In God We Trust” on one- and two-cent pieces.
It passed another law in March 1865 to place the words on all gold and silver coins, which was the last act President Abraham Lincoln signed before his assassination.
NEARLY A CENTURY LATER MATTHEW ROTHERT PUSHES FOR ‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ ON NOTES
Nearly a century later, the motto gained renewed attention when the US found itself embattled again during the global tensions of the Cold War.
Seeing its simple declaration of faith as a necessary contrast to the atheist communism that animated the Soviet Union, businessman Matthew Rothert followed Pastor Watkinson’s example.
He gave speeches, rallied support and fired off many letters to officials, including President Dwight D. Eisenhower, urging them to add the phrase to paper money.
MATTHEW ROTHERT’S CAMPAIGN FELT PUSHED BY GOD
“The Lord seemed to tell me to do this.”
“He put the idea so strongly in my mind that I worked on it until I accomplished my goal,” Mr. Rothert said during a 1987 interview with the National Enquirer when he was 83.
“I realised the circulation of American coins was limited to the boundaries of the country, while US paper money circulated worldwide.
“It looked like Americans were saying they trusted in God only a few cents’ worth!”
A BIPARTISAN CONGRESS FAST TRACKS A BILL TO GET THE WORDS ON BANKNOTES
“Daddy wrote lots of letters, Mother wrote lots of letters. He knew the right people in the right places,” said Alice Rothert Nelson, who remembers her mother, Janet, typing up thousands of letters for her father to send.
But he was advised it would require an act of Congress to get the words on the banknotes.
However, Matthew Rothert was well-connected with influential Senators and Congressmen who were already working on legislation.
In an unusually swift and bipartisan action, the bill was on President Eisenhower’s desk by July 1955.
‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ APPEARS ON BANKNOTES IN 1957
Changing the master dies and printing plates at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to include “In God We Trust” would typically have been too cost-prohibitive, but they were already set to be replaced that year to accommodate a new printing process.
“In God We Trust” which Congress unanimously went on to establish as the official national motto in 1956, first appeared on $1 silver certificates in October 1957.
Mathew Rothert’s daughter, Hope Rothert Taft, suggested to the Christian Post that her father’s connections, the political position of his friends and the remarkable timing could only have been orchestrated by God.
“You can see how all the stars aligned perfectly to make this happen,” she said.
“Who would have ever thought that a small businessman from the small state of Arkansas could make something so big happen?”
“THIS STORY SHOWS THAT PEOPLE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE LIKE MY FATHER DID”
Hope, who married into the famous Taft political family and served as first lady of Ohio from 1999 to 2007, said when she tells her father’s story to others, she offers a dollar bill as an object lesson in how God can use anyone to accomplish His purposes.
“I use it as an encouragement to let people know that they can make a difference.”
“It doesn’t matter where they come from or what size of a family, or whether they’re well-known or not.”
“They can make a difference, like my father did.”
AMERICAN PAPER MONEY PIERCED THE IRON CURTAIN DURING THE COLD WAR
Matthew Rothert Sr. wrote that his efforts were inextricably linked with evangelising those who lived under a God-hating Communist regime.
He noted that American paper money “was one item that easily pierced the Iron Curtain and could carry the message throughout the entire world, to all nations.”
“I’m immensely proud of the role I played, but I give all the credit to the Lord because He put it in my mind,” he told a national newspaper.
‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ CAMPAIGNER WOULD WANT AMERICANS TO LIVE OUT THAT MOTTO
His children noted that their father grew concerned before his death in 1989 that the US was increasingly pushing God to the periphery.
Matthew Rothert Jr. believes that if his father was alive for next month’s 250th anniversary of their independence, he would unabashedly remind Americans to gratefully live out the national motto he championed.
“Personally, I think that my Dad would be outspoken about serving the Lord and realising that all we have comes from Him, regardless of what the people against Him would say,” he said.
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