Nine others with ties to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have sought the U.S. presidency. They were a colorful bunch, and they covered the gamut of political perspectives. Their diverse campaigns and party affiliations belie the LDS Church's image as a homogenous Republican haven with members in lockstep with their conservative leaders, Newell G. Bringhurst and Craig L. Foster write in a new book, The Mormon Quest for the Presidency."

In addition, the ramifications of their failed attempts to reach the White House extend beyond the10 and the faith they embraced.

"If a Mormon cannot be elected president because of religion, what about other groups considered to be even further on the fringes of American society, including members of the Unification Church, Scientologists, Muslims and atheists?" the authors ask.

Yet they see in the history a glimmer of hope.

"Each helped pave they way," they write, "for a future Latter-day Saint to overcome the Mormon question and become president."

Joseph Smith

During his vigorous 1844 campaign, Smith addressed the salient issues of the day. The man considered a "prophet, seer and revelator" by the Mormon faithful, sought the presidency in part as political redress for persecution against his church but also on behalf of other religious and ethnic minorities. He opposed slavery, for example, and imprisonment for debt. He advocated reducing the U.S. Congress by two-thirds, eliminating court-martial for desertion from the armed forces, and using road work as punishment for crimes.

Smith's candidacy was cut short when an Illinois mob murdered him on June 27, 1844.

The Mormon prophet had little chance of being elected, Bringhurst writes, but he might have pulled a significant number of votes in the closely contested swing state of Illinois where most Mormons lived.

"What is clear is that Joseph Smith's abortive campaign for president led directly to his assassination," he writes.

Parley Christensen

In 1920, Christensen, who was not a baptized member of the LDS Church but grew up in a Mormon family, was the nominee of the left-wing Farmer-Labor Party. His platform called for "full political and social equality for African-Americans, democratic control of industries, public ownership of all utilities and natural resources, the right of all workers to strike, a maximum standard eight-hour work day, and U.S. withdrawal from all of its overseas territories. . .Such bold proposals notwithstanding, Christensen presented himself as a reformer rather than a revolutionary to distinguish himself from the Socialists."

Ezra Taft Benson

In 1966, a group known as "The 1976 Committee" launched an effort to nominate Ezra Taft Benson, then an LDS apostle and later church president, on an independent ticket with South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond for vice president. With the tacit support of Benson's candidacy by LDS President David O. McKay, supporters mailed thousands of packets, sold bumper stickers and wrote letters to newspapers touting the Mormon apostle's candidacy. By August 1967, however, their efforts were abandoned in deference to former Alabama Gov. George Wallace's self-styled third party bid, Bringhurst writes.

Eldridge Cleaver

Cleaver was not a Mormon at the time of his 1968 candidacy on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket, but his political and religious odyssey from militant Black Panther Party leader in the 1960s to conservative Mormon Republican in the 1980s is fascinating, Bringhurst says.

"Cleaver's abrupt about-face reflected that of the larger American society during his period," Bringhurst writes. "Also, Cleaver's willingness to present his conservative political views as an unabashed believing Christian paralleled that of the Christian right, which emerged as a potent political force during the late 1970s."

Although Cleaver did not remain an active Mormon, he retained an admiration for Mormonism until his death in May 1998.

Sonia Johnson

The only woman, Johnson was a Mormon feminist leader who gained national notoriety as a vocal leader of "Mormons for Equal Rights Amendment," resulting in her excommunication from the LDS Church in 1979. Continuing her political activism, she received the left-wing Citizens Party's nomination in 1984.

But the nomination of Geraldine Ferraro as Democratic candidate Walter Mondale's running mate hurt Johnson's chances as the only unabashed feminist running that year, Bringhurst says. She received only 71,947 votes or .08 percent of the total vote.

James Gordon

"Bo" Gritz

Gritz, who received the right-wing Populist Party nomination in 1992, was a highly decorated Vietnam War veteran,

"Gritz (who had converted to Mormonism in the mid-1980s) campaigned heavily in the LDS community, appealing to the millenarian-apocalyptic aspect of Mormonism," Bringhurst says. "He linked into Mormonism's subculture of people who were preparing for the end of the world."

Gritz's approach caused so much alarm among Mormon authorities that he faced church discipline, which ultimately led him to resign from the church.

George Romney

Like his son Mitt, George Romney made his name as a successful businessman at the helm of American Motors in Detroit, then went on to be a popular governor of Michigan in 1960. He was considered a moderately progressive Republican willing to work with opposition Democrats, Bringhurst writes.

George Romney entered the presidential arena in 1968, trying to win the Republican nomination. His failure was largely due to a "changing, confusing position on Viet Nam," Bringhurst writes.

Mormonism was also a factor in his unsuccessful bid, he writes. Romney countered the LDS Church's policy at the time of denying men of African descent to hold the priesthood with his personal support of the civil rights movement and Detroit's black community. But his pious persona did not seem to match the average person in the 1960s counter-culture, he writes.

Morris K. "Mo" Udall

Raised in a strong and influential LDS family in Arizona, Mo Udall rejected Mormonism in his teens, but did appreciate what he saw as its positive values. In 1960, Udall was elected to fill a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives vacated when John F. Kennedy tapped his brother, Stewart Udall, as Secretary of the Interior.

After 15 successful years as a Congressman, Udall sought the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination. Though his ties to Mormonism were tenuous, he was nonetheless criticized for the church's black policy which did cost him some votes in the MIchigan primary. His defeat was primarily due, however, to "bad planning and bad budgeting--by bad staff work and bad guesswork," one reporter

Today the Udall legacy lives on in three relatives currently serving in the federal government - his oldest son Mark Udall, a Congressman from Colorado's Second District, a nephew, Tom Udall, representing New Mexico's Third District, and distant cousin. Gordon Smith, U.S. Senator from Oregon.

Orrin Hatch

The Mormon issue featured prominently in Orrin Hatch's failed 2000 quest for the Republican nomination, Bringhurst writes. Part of that was due to Hatch's own injection of his faith into the campaign by courting Iowa LDS voters. It was also due to increased attention on religion during that election, with candidates such as George W. Bush making "continuing, direct, and frequent references to personal faith," Bringhurst writes.

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PEGGY FLETCHER STACK can be contacted at pstack@sltrib.com or 801-257-8725. Send comments about this story to religioneditor@sltrib.com.