| Ezra Taft Benson | |
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| 13th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | |
| November 10, 1985 – May 30, 1994 | |
| Predecessor | Spencer W. Kimball |
| Successor | Howard W. Hunter |
| President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles | |
| December 30, 1973 – November 10, 1985 | |
| End reason | Became President of the Church |
| Quorum of the Twelve Apostles | |
| October 7, 1943 – November 10, 1985 | |
| Called by | Heber J. Grant |
| End reason | Became President of the Church |
| LDS Church Apostle | |
| October 7, 1943 – May 30, 1994 | |
| Called by | Heber J. Grant |
| Reason | Deaths of Sylvester Q. Cannon and Rudger Clawson[1] |
| Reorganization at end of term | Jeffrey R. Holland ordained |
| 15th United States Secretary of Agriculture | |
| In office | |
| January 21, 1953 – January 20, 1961 | |
| Preceded by | Charles F. Brannan |
| Succeeded by | Orville Freeman |
| Political party | Republican Party |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 4, 1899 Whitney, Idaho, United States |
| Died | May 30, 1994 (aged 94) Salt Lake City, Utah, United States |
| Resting place | Whitney Cemetery |
| Spouse | Flora Smith |
| Children | 6 |
| Signature | |
Ezra Taft Benson (August 4, 1899 – May 30, 1994) was the thirteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1985 until his death and was United States Secretary of Agriculture for both terms of the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower.
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Born on a farm in Whitney, Idaho, Benson was the oldest of eleven children. He was the great-grandson of Ezra T. Benson, who was appointed by Brigham Young as a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles from 1846 on. Beginning his academic career at Utah State University, he was a 1926 graduate of Brigham Young University (after serving a church mission in Britain from 1921 to 1923). He received his masters degree from Iowa State University and did preliminary work on a doctorate at the University of California at Berkeley, but never completed this degree. Benson pursued a career in agriculture and later served in many church leadership positions. Just after receiving his masters he returned to Whitney to run the family farm, but later became the county agriculture extension agent. In 1926 he married Flora Smith Amussen; they had six children.
In 1939, when he was president of the church's Boise, Idaho, stake and working for the University of Idaho Extension Service, he moved to Washington, D.C. to become Executive Secretary of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, and became the first president of a new LDS Church stake there.
In August 1989, he received the Presidential Citizens Medal from President George H. W. Bush.
On October 7, 1943, both Benson and Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) became members of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, filling two vacancies created by the deaths of apostles that summer. Because Kimball was ordained first, Kimball was given seniority over Benson in the Quorum. Succession to the presidency of the church is by chronological order of ordination to apostleship, allowing Spencer W. Kimball to become president of the church years earlier than Benson. Upon Spencer W. Kimball's death in 1985, Benson became the president of the church.
In 1953, Benson was appointed U.S. Secretary of Agriculture by President Eisenhower. Benson accepted this position with the permission of Church President David O. McKay and therefore served simultaneously in the United States Cabinet and in the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Benson opposed the system of government price supports and aid to farmers which he was entrusted by Eisenhower to administer, arguing that it amounted to unacceptable socialism. Nonetheless, he survived in his cabinet position for all eight years of Eisenhower's presidency. He was selected as the administrator-designate of the Emergency Food Agency, part of a secret group that became known as the Eisenhower Ten. The group was created by Eisenhower in 1958 to serve in the event of a national emergency.
Benson was an outspoken opponent of communism and socialism, and supporter, but not a member, of the John Birch Society, which he praised as "the most effective non-church organization in our fight against creeping socialism and Godless Communism."[2] He published a 1966 pamphlet entitled Civil Rights, Tool of Communist Deception.[3][4] In a similar vein, during a 1972 general conference of the LDS Church, Benson recommended that all Mormons read Gary Allen's New World Order tract "None Dare Call it A Conspiracy".[5]
Benson succeeded Kimball as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1973, and as President of the Church in 1985. During his early years as Church President, Benson brought a renewed emphasis to the distribution and reading of the Book of Mormon, reaffirming this LDS scripture's importance as "the keystone of [the LDS] religion." He is also remembered for his general conference sermon condemning pride.[6]
Benson was a lifelong supporter of Scouting. He started in 1918 as assistant Scoutmaster. On May 23, 1949 he was elected a member of the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America. He received the three highest national awards in the Boy Scouts of America—the Silver Beaver, the Silver Antelope, and the Silver Buffalo—as well as world Scouting’s international award, the Bronze Wolf.[7]
Benson suffered poor health in the last years of his life from the effects of blood clots in the brain, dementia, strokes, and heart attacks, and was rarely seen publicly in his final years. He was hospitalized in 1992 and 1993 with pneumonia.
Benson died May 30, 1994 of congestive heart failure in his Salt Lake City apartment at the age of 94. Funeral services were held June 4, 1994 in the Salt Lake Tabernacle under the direction of Gordon B. Hinckley. He was buried near his birthplace in Whitney, Idaho, at the Whitney City Cemetery.
Benson also wrote the foreword to The Black Hammer, a book by Wes Andrews and Clyde Dalton. In the foreword, Benson alleges that the civil-rights movement is a communist plot for revolution in America.
| The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints titles | ||
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| Preceded by Spencer W. Kimball |
President of the Church November 10, 1985 — May 30, 1994 |
Succeeded by Howard W. Hunter |
| President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles December 30, 1973–November 10, 1985 |
Succeeded by Marion G. Romney |
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| Quorum of the Twelve Apostles October 7, 1943–November 10, 1985 |
Succeeded by Mark E. Petersen |
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| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Charles F. Brannan |
United States Secretary of Agriculture Served under: Dwight D. Eisenhower 1953–1961 |
Succeeded by Orville Freeman |
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