Eisenhower signs "under God" into the Pledge; Flag Day becomes the moment the nation's creed changes

The Cold War gave American officials a new reason to define what separated the United States from the Soviet Union, and religion sat near the top of that list. On June 14, 1954 — Flag Day — President Eisenhower signed a joint resolution of the 83rd Congress adding the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance, making the phrase part of U.S. Flag Code Section 4. The amendment had moved through Congress with unusual speed: Pastor George MacPherson Docherty preached its necessity from the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church pulpit on February 7, and Representative Charles Oakman introduced the bill the very next day. Eisenhower, baptized Presbyterian just the year before, said the change would give American schoolchildren a daily reminder of the nation's "dedication to the Almighty."…