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Come January, all adult Mormons will spend a year studying the religious teachings of their 13th church president: Ezra Taft Benson.

But those members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will hear little or nothing about Benson's right-wing political views — despite the fact that he was the only Mormon apostle ever to serve in a U.S. president's Cabinet, a staunch opponent of any organization he deemed "communist" and an advocate of conservative polices espoused by the John Birth Society,

The political side of Benson's long life may be discussed Nov. 13 at 7 p.m., when biographer Sheri Dew presents a lecture, "Serving Church and Country: President Ezra Taft Benson," at the LDS Assembly Hall on Temple Square.

The lecture, free and open to the public, is part of the Men and Women of Faith series hosted by the LDS Church History Library.

Dew, chief executive officer of LDS Church-owned Deseret Book Co. and a former member of the women's Relief Society general presidency, will share stories illustrating Benson's "love of family and conviction to principles that guided his ministry," the church says in a news release, "such as loyalty to truth, devotion to freedom, abiding faith and lifelong service.

"My experience with President Benson personally revealed a much different person than the stern, unbending image many projected of him," Dew says. "He was kind, thoughtful and compassionate in so many ways. His strong statements about freedom perhaps at times obscured the greatness of the inner man."

Dew, recently named as executive vice president of Deseret Management Corp., also penned a biography of the late church President Gordon B. Hinckley.

For those who cannot attend Thursday's lecture, the release says, this lecture will be streamed live on the Church History Library Facebook page: facebook.com/churchhistorylibrary.

Peggy Fletcher Stack