Religions of the cabinet

February 23, 2005 7:15 PM

Is there some way to determine the religion of the various members of President Bush's cabinet? It seems like information that should be readily available, but Google is failing me.
posted by dpx.mfx to law & government (8 comments total)

The Google-fu to use is something like name attends church. That gets results like "Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns, who attends St. Mary Parish in Lincoln, Nebr." And then you can Google for what type of church that is.

The "problem" you'll run into is that if someone is not outspoken about their religion, it rightfully won't be written about.
posted by smackfu at 8:33 PM on February 23, 2005

...or if their religion doesn't include churches.
posted by bingo at 9:06 PM on February 23, 2005

You could ask us all to google around. Here's a start.

Project Vote Smart returns the following in the "Religion" field for each cabinet member:

Mike Johanns: Catholic
Gale Norton: blank
Carlos Gutierrez: blank
Alberto Gonzales: blank
Donald Rumsfeld: blank
Elaine Chao: blank
Margaret Spellings: blank
Condoleezza Rice: blank
Samuel W. Bodman: blank
Norman Mineta: blank
Michael O. Leavitt: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
John Snow: blank
Michael Chertoff: blank
Jim Nicholson: blank

So vote not so smart if religion is what you want to know.

Other sources:

The Layman (Nov 2000): "[Rice] is also 45, single, black, attractive, Southern, Republican, evangelical, Presbyterian, an expert on Russia, a classical pianist and wannabe commissioner, yes indeed, of the National Football League. In short, she is multi-talented – a conservative who conquers with charm and a mind of steel."

USINFO.STATE.GOV: "In 1999, Nicholson [former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican] was honored by induction as a Knight in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, one of the highest honors awarded to a Roman Catholic. "

But I grow weary.
posted by pracowity at 1:48 AM on February 24, 2005

Gonzales is Catholic.

Here's Rummy. This site might be good for more searching:

NNDB: Religion: Protestant
posted by CunningLinguist at 5:32 AM on February 24, 2005

If Googling doesn't turn up anything for the more obscure ones, you can always call up the press office of the department in question.

(That way, you can also hear what it sounds like when someone rolls their eyes at you over the phone.)
posted by Vidiot at 6:27 AM on February 24, 2005

Thanks for the suggestions. I had been googling each name with different religions that I could think of, and that was quite unhelpful. The NNDB had quite a few of them, and I've googled around with "attends." Hopefully I'll get to play more later. In case you're curious, so far I've got:

Mike Johanns: Catholic
Gale Norton: blank
Carlos Gutierrez: Catholic
Alberto Gonzales: Catholic
Donald Rumsfeld: Protestant
Elaine Chao: blank
Margaret Spellings: blank
Condoleezza Rice: Presbyterian
Samuel W. Bodman: blank
Norman Mineta: Methodist
Michael O. Leavitt: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
John Snow: blank
Michael Chertoff: Jewish
Jim Nicholson: Catholic
Don Evans: Methodist (fmr. Dept. of Commerce)
posted by dpx.mfx at 7:22 AM on February 24, 2005

You might check your local public or academic library for Who's Who, which lists religious affiliations where known. They may even be able to answer your question over the phone. Who's Who is also available online through Dialog, although that's a pay service--again, it may be available through a public or academic library.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 8:04 AM on February 24, 2005

Elaine Chao's husband, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), is Baptist. I suspect in this case husband and wife have similar beliefs.
posted by Alylex at 3:03 PM on February 24, 2005