“Communism introduced into the world a substitute for true religion. It is a counterfeit of the gospel plan.”

American farmer and religious leader, secretary of agriculture and church president

Ezra Taft Benson was an American farmer, federal government official, and religious leader. He served as the 15th United States Secretary of Agriculture under Dwight D. Eisenhower and later became the 13th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He held the agriculture post throughout both Eisenhower administrations. In church leadership, he served from 1985 until his death in 1994. His public life centered on agriculture, government service, and religious leadership.