(1899-1994) Arch-Conservative Secretary of Agriculture in the Eisenhower Administration (1953-61) & President of the Mormon Church from 1985-94. A farmer, active in the Mormon Church, in 1943 he and Spencer Kimball were both ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles who ran the religion. Had Benson been ordained a few minutes earlier than Kimball he would have become the President of the church 12 years earlier than he did. In 1952 he was given permission by the church to accept the post of Secretary of Agriculture in the Eisenhower Administration. In this post he opposed government price supports and aid to farmers. Although Ike paid little interest to religion, Benson convinced him to begin each cabinet meeting with a prayer, a policy that remained in practice for the eight years of the Administration. An extremist, his hatred of anything he perceived to be favorable to liberals or the Left, caused even members of his own party to call for his removal from the cabinet. This never happened and he served the full eight years as Agriculture Secretary. Although he never officially joined the John Birch Society, his wife was a member and his son was Birch Society Coordinator in Utah. Benson met with the Society's founder Robert Welch, Jr. and praised the organization when he said, "I was convinced that the John Birch Society was the most effective non-church organization in our fight against creeping Socialism and godless Communism." In 1973 he succeeded Spencer Kimball as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and in 1985 became President and Prophet of the church. As President he suffered from very poor health including blood clots on the brain, strokes and heart attacks, all of which left him an invalid, having to be fed by others and never appearing in public. The church was in fact run by several assistants and all church documents were signed by an autopen, a habit he had taken up early in the Eisenhower Administration. Nice Full Signature. A large amount of Benson material is autopen

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