Gordon B. Hinckley

Gordon B. Hinckley
15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
March 12, 1995 (1995-03-12) – January 27, 2008 (2008-01-27)
Predecessor	Howard W. Hunter
Successor	Thomas S. Monson
President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (with Boyd K. Packer as Acting President)
June 5, 1994 (1994-06-05) – March 12, 1995 (1995-03-12)
Predecessor	Howard W. Hunter
Successor	Thomas S. Monson
End reason	Became President of the Church
First Counselor in the First Presidency
June 5, 1994 (1994-06-05) – March 3, 1995 (1995-03-03)
Called by	Howard W. Hunter
Successor	Thomas S. Monson
End reason	Dissolution of First Presidency on the death of Hunter
First Counselor in the First Presidency
November 10, 1985 (1985-11-10) – June 5, 1994 (1994-06-05)
Called by	Ezra Taft Benson
Predecessor	Marion G. Romney
End reason	Dissolution of First Presidency on the death of Benson
Second Counselor in the First Presidency
December 2, 1982 (1982-12-02) – November 5, 1985 (1985-11-05)
Called by	Spencer W. Kimball
Predecessor	Marion G. Romney
Successor	Thomas S. Monson
End reason	Dissolution of First Presidency on the death of Kimball
Counselor in the First Presidency
July 23, 1981 (1981-07-23) – December 2, 1982 (1982-12-02)
Called by	Spencer W. Kimball
End reason	Called as Second Counselor in the First Presidency
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
October 5, 1961 (1961-10-05) – July 23, 1981 (1981-07-23)
Called by	David O. McKay
End reason	Called as a Counselor in the First Presidency
Apostle
October 5, 1961 (1961-10-05) – January 27, 2008 (2008-01-27)
Called by	David O. McKay
Reason	Hugh B. Brown added to First Presidency
Reorganization at end of term	D. Todd Christofferson ordained
Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
April 6, 1958 (1958-04-06) – October 5, 1961 (1961-10-05)
Called by	David O. McKay
End reason	Called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Personal details
Born	Gordon Bitner Hinckley (1910-06-23)June 23, 1910 Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Died	January 27, 2008(2008-01-27) (aged 97) Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Cause of death	"Causes incident to age"
Resting place	Salt Lake City Cemetery 40°46′28″N 111°51′49″W / 40.774497°N 111.86348°W / 40.774497; -111.86348
Alma mater	University of Utah (B.A.)
Spouse(s)	Marjorie (Pay) Hinckley (m. 1937, d. 2004)
Children	Kathleen Richard (b. 1941) Virginia (b. 1945) Clark Jane
Awards	Presidential Medal of Freedom Silver Buffalo Award
Website	gordonbhinckley.org
Signature

Gordon Bitner Hinckley (June 23, 1910 – January 27, 2008) was an American religious leader and author who served as the 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from March 12, 1995, until his death. Considered a prophet, seer, and revelator by church members, Hinckley was the oldest person to preside over the church in its history.^[1]

Hinckley's presidency was noted for the building of temples, with more than half of existing temples being built under his leadership.^[2] He also oversaw the reconstruction of the Nauvoo Illinois Temple and the building of the 21,000 seat Conference Center. During his tenure, "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" was issued and the Perpetual Education Fund was established. At the time of his death, approximately one-third of the church's membership had joined the church under Hinckley's leadership.

Hinckley was awarded ten honorary doctorate degrees, and in 2004, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George W. Bush. Hinckley also received the Boy Scouts of America's highest award, the Silver Buffalo, and served as chairman of the Church Boards of Trustees/Education.^[3] Hinckley died of natural causes on January 27, 2008, and was survived by his five children. His wife, Marjorie Pay, died in 2004. He was succeeded as church president by Thomas S. Monson, who had served as his first counselor in the First Presidency, and, more importantly, was the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; therefore, according to LDS doctrine and practice, Monson was Hinckley's anticipated successor.

Early years

The child of a multi-generational Latter-day Saint,^[4] Hinckley was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to prominent LDS writer and educator Bryant S. Hinckley and Ada Bitner Hinckley. He graduated from LDS High School in 1928. He grew up on a residential farm in East Millcreek. His home library contained approximately a thousand volumes of literary, philosophical and historical works.^[5] Hinckley was known for his optimism and plain-speaking. Hinckley attended the University of Utah, where he earned an undergraduate degree in English, and minored in ancient languages. He studied Latin and could read ancient Greek.^[6] Hinckley became a missionary for the LDS Church, an unusual occurrence for Depression-era Latter-day Saints. He served in the London-based British Mission from 1933 to 1935. He would later write the words for LDS hymn no. 135, "My Redeemer Lives".^[7]

Church employment

Hinckley returned to the United States in 1935 after completing a short tour of the European continent, including preaching in both Berlin and Paris. He was given an assignment by his mission president, Joseph F. Merrill, to meet with the church's First Presidency and request that better materials be made available to missionaries for proselytizing. As a result of this meeting, Hinckley received employment as executive secretary of the church's Radio, Publicity and Missionary Literature Committee (he had received schooling as a journalist in college). Hinckley's responsibilities included developing the church's fledgling radio broadcasts and making use of the era's new communication technologies.

One of the projects Hinckley oversaw in the late 1930s was development of the church's exhibit for the Golden Gate International Exposition.^[8]

Starting in 1937, he served on the Sunday School General Board. After the Second World War, during which he left full-time LDS Church employ to work for a time with the Rio Grande Western Railroad, Hinckley served as executive secretary to the church's Missionary Committee. He also served as the church's liaison to Deseret Book, working with Deseret Book's liaison to the church, Thomas S. Monson.^[9] At various times, especially in the late 1940s, Hinckley was also a reporter for the Church News, a publication of the Deseret News.

In the early 1950s, Hinckley was part of a committee that considered how to present the temple ordinances at the Swiss Temple. The concern was how this could be done when a need existed to provide them in at least 10 languages; the concern was eventually solved through the use of a film version of the endowment.^[10] Hinckley's background in journalism and public relations prepared him well to preside over the church during a time when it has received increasing media coverage.

Family

On April 29, 1937, Hinckley married Marjorie Pay (November 23, 1911 – April 6, 2004) in the Salt Lake Temple. They had five children, including Richard G. Hinckley, an LDS Church general authority since 2005, and Virginia Hinckley Pearce, a former member of the church's Young Women general presidency.

Another of their daughters, Kathleen Hinckley Barnes Walker, co-authored several books with Virginia, and ran an events company. Her first husband, Alan Barnes, died in 2001 and in 2004 she married M. Richard Walker. The Walkers served from 2005 to 2008 as president and matron of the Salt Lake Temple^[11] and lived in Preston, England, from 2011 to 2013, while Richard served as president of the Missionary Training Center.^[12]

Hinckley's other son, Clark, has also served in several church leadership positions, including stake president,^[13] as president of the church's Spain Barcelona Mission (2009 to 2012),^[14][15] and as the first president of the Tijuana Mexico Temple since December 2015.^[16]

LDS Church service

Local leadership

After returning to East Millcreek at the end of employment with the railroad, Hinckley was called as a counselor in the presidency of the church's East Millcreek Stake. He later served as president of that stake, until his call as an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. During his time as stake president Hinckley oversaw the building of several chapels.^[17]

General authority

In April General Conference of 1958, Hinckley became a church general authority in the now-discontinued position of Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. One of his first assignments as a general authority was participating in the dedication of the Hamilton New Zealand Temple that same month.^[18] In August 1958 Hinckley traveled to England where he was involved in the London Temple open house and dedication.^[19] As a general authority Hinckley continued to work with the missionary department, and after the death of Richards worked closely with Henry D. Moyle.^[20]

In early 1960 Hinckley was given responsibility for overseeing LDS Church operations in Asia.^[20] His first tripp there in the Spring of 1960 lasted two months and involved going to Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and the Philippines. In the last country he worked on getting government approval for missionaries to be sent.^[21] He returned to Asia on a second trip in April 1961 in which among other things he held a meeting to inagurated missionary work in the Philippines.^[22] During this trip he also was in Seoul, South Korea during the May 16 coup. Hinckley wired a story on the coup to the Deseret News.^[23]

In June 1961 Hinckley was one of the general authority presenters at the first Missionary President training seminar, and was involved in the presentation of the first standardized missionary lesson plan.^[24]

In September 1961, Hinckley became an apostle in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He filled a vacancy created by Hugh B. Brown being added to the First Presidency as the third counselor to David O. McKay.

After his call as an apostle Hinckley continued to be a leader in the missionary department, with Boyd K. Packer serving as one of his key aids.^[25] Hinckley was also appointed the chair of the all Church coordinating council's children's section.^[26]

Hinckley also continued to oversee LDS operations in Asia. In February 1962 he made the first trip to Asia on which he was accompanied by his wife, Marjorie. On this trip they visited the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea^[27] On his return he held training seminars with missionaries in California and Illinois in cooperation with Henry D. Moyle and then later held training seminars in all 23 missions in Europe.^[28] These seminars were credited with being the main force behind higher rates of conversion over the coming summer.^[29]

Member of First Presidency

On July 23, 1981, Hinckley became a counselor in the First Presidency. As the 1980s progressed, the health of church president Spencer W. Kimball and his aging counselors, N. Eldon Tanner and Marion G. Romney, led to Hinckley being the only healthy member of the First Presidency. When Tanner died in 1982, Romney succeeded him as first counselor and Hinckley succeeded Romney as second counselor. Because of the ill health of Kimball and Romney, Hinckley had increased responsibility for much of the day-to-day affairs of the First Presidency.^[9]

The Mark Hofmann document forgeries, bombings, and investigation occurred during this time. "The news interest was global" and "the whole episode achieved epic proportions."^[30] Several books^[31] describe the arrangements for acquiring supposed historical documents for the church by Hinckley and others. For example, using $15,000 of Church funds,^[32] Hinckley purchased the Stowell document describing Joseph Smith’s “money-digging pursuits” ^[33] from Hofmann on the promise of confidentiality.^{[34][35][36][37][38][39]} However, two years later, Hofmann leaked its existence to the Mormon history community.^[40][41] Upon press inquiries, Hinckley acknowledged the purchase and released the document.^[42][43][44] Bombing investigators later proved that Hofmann forged the document.

After Kimball's death in November 1985, Ezra Taft Benson, who had been President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, became President of the Church and named Hinckley as first counselor, with Thomas S. Monson of the Twelve as second counselor. For several years, all three members of the First Presidency were able to perform their duties. In the early 1990s, however, Benson developed serious health problems that removed him from public view, leaving Hinckley and Monson to carry out many of the duties of the First Presidency until Benson died in 1994.

After Benson’s death, Howard W. Hunter became President and retained Hinckley and Monson as counselors in the First Presidency. At the same time, Hinckley became President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles by virtue of seniority.

President of the church

Hinckley and his counselors meet with George W. Bush, August 31, 2006, in the Church Administration Building in Salt Lake City, Utah.

When Hunter died after a presidency of nine months, Hinckley succeeded to the presidency of the church at the age of 84, on March 12, 1995. On November 2, 2006, Hinckley surpassed David O. McKay to become the oldest LDS Church president in history.^[1]

Hinckley was known for accelerating the building of temples. When he became president, there were 47 operating temples in the church; at the time of his death, there were 124, over two-thirds of which had been dedicated or rededicated under Hinckley, with 14 others announced or under construction.^[2] Hinckley oversaw other significant building projects, including the construction of the Conference Center and extensive renovations of the Salt Lake Tabernacle.

On September 23, 1995, Hinckley released "The Family: A Proclamation to the World", a statement of belief and counsel regarding the sanctity of the family and marriage prepared by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve.^[45] In February 1996, church membership in countries other than the United States surpassed that of the U.S.^[46] Also in 1996, 60 Minutes aired an interview of Hinckley by Mike Wallace during a segment on the LDS Church. In 1998, Hinckley was a guest on CNN's Larry King Live. Hinckley maintained a friendship with both Wallace and King until his death.

In November 2000, Hinckley spoke to the youth of the church and gave them six traits to work on, named the "Six Be's" (Be Grateful, Be Smart, Be Clean, Be True, Be Humble, Be Prayerful), which were first introduced in his New York Times Bestseller Standing for Something^[47] and later expanded on in Way to Be.

On March 31, 2001, Hinckley announced the creation of the Perpetual Education Fund, an endowment that provides loans to students in developing nations.^[48] On October 22, 2002, Hinckley participated in the dedication of the Gordon B. Hinckley Building at Brigham Young University–Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho. This was the first building at BYU–Idaho to be named for a living church president.^[49]

Gordon B. Hinckley Building at BYU-Idaho

In April 2003, Hinckley gave a sermon that addressed the ongoing War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War, which had started just two weeks earlier. He said, "as citizens we are all under the direction of our respective national leaders. They have access to greater political and military intelligence than do the people generally," adding, "[f]urthermore, we are a freedom-loving people, committed to the defense of liberty wherever it is in jeopardy." He also noted that "[i]t may even be that [the Lord] will hold us responsible if we try to impede or hedge up the way of those who are involved in a contest with forces of evil and repression."^[50]

In March 2005, Hinckley, together with Thomas S. Monson and James E. Faust, celebrated their tenth anniversary as the First Presidency—the first time in the history of the church that a First Presidency had continued for such a period of time without personnel changes.

On January 24, 2006, Hinckley underwent surgery to remove cancerous growths from his large intestine.^[51] He was also diagnosed with diabetes at that time.^[52] In June 2006, Hinckley traveled to Iowa City, Iowa, to speak at a commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the start of the Mormon handcart companies. On June 23, 2006 (his 96th birthday), Hinckley participated in a groundbreaking ceremony at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, for a new building that was to be named in his honor. The building was named the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center and was completed and dedicated on Hinckley's 97th birthday.^[3]

On March 31, 2007, Hinckley rededicated the Salt Lake Tabernacle after extensive renovation.^[53] Hinckley's last public appearance was on January 4, 2008, when he offered the prayer at the rededication of the Utah State Capitol.^[54]

During his tenure as president, Hinckley gave over 2,000 speeches;^[55] he traveled nearly a million miles over a lifetime to more than 160 countries, as he met with church members and dedicated meetinghouses and temples.^[56]

Hinckley's annual speeches at BYU were the subject of a study by the National Center for Voice and Speech at the University of Utah to analyze how the human voice changes with age. Thirty-six speeches by Hinckley were analyzed, ranging from 1958, when he was 47-48, to 2007, the year prior to his death. The study showed how his voice started dropping in pitch in his 50s and continued until he was 70, after which he began to develop a higher, thinner "old person" voice. By his 80s, his voice became increasingly wavery and the rate of his speech began to slow and by his 90s, he would slur words. Hinckley was a good subject for the study as the annual addresses were meticulously recorded and transcribed, in addition he did not smoke, drink, sing, or engage in other activities that would put unnatural strain on his voice.^[57]

Temple dedications

At the time Hinckley became president of the church, he had dedicated 23 of the church's 47 temples and had rededicated four of the remaining 24.^[2] While president of the church, Hinckley presided at the dedication of 65 additional temples.^[2][58] Hinckley also rededicated five temples while president of the church, four of which he had dedicated initially. In all, Hinckley dedicated or rededicated 92 different temples—70 as president of the church—at 97 different dedicatory services.

Awards

Hinckley receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from U.S. President George W. Bush in 2004

On June 23, 2004 (Hinckley's 94th birthday), U.S. President George W. Bush awarded Hinckley the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a ceremony at the White House. The press release put forth by the White House stated: "Gordon B. Hinckley ... has inspired millions and has led efforts to improve humanitarian aid, disaster relief, and education funding across the globe."

Hinckley received many educational honors, including the Distinguished Citizen Award from Southern Utah University, Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Utah, and 10 honorary doctorates from schools including Westminster College, Utah State University, Utah Valley University, University of Utah, Brigham Young University, Brigham Young University–Idaho, Weber State University, and Southern Utah University. He received the Silver Buffalo Award, which is the highest honor bestowed by the Boy Scouts of America, and was honored by the National Conference for Community and Justice for his contributions to tolerance and understanding in the world.

Death

On January 27, 2008, Hinckley died at the age of 97 while surrounded by family in his Salt Lake City apartment.^[56][59] According to a church spokesman, the death was due to "causes incident to age." The Deseret Morning News reported that Hinckley had just gone through a treatment of chemotherapy a few days earlier, and had "worked until the very end."^[60] The day following Hinckley's death, thousands of LDS youth in six states organized a social network campaign to dress in "Sunday Best" to honor Hinckley.^[61] Thomas S. Monson became the presidential successor on February 3, 2008.^[62] Funeral services were held on February 2, 2008, at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, to which tens of thousands attended.^[63] Hinckley was buried at the Salt Lake City Cemetery next to his wife, who had died almost four years earlier. Some of the soil that was used to bury him was imported from the grounds of the Preston England Temple in Lancashire; this was done because Hinckley had been a missionary in this region of England.^[64]

Publications

• Hinckley, Gordon B. (2016). Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Gordon B. Hinckley. LDS Church.  LDS Church publication number 08862.
• —— (2008). My Dear Sisters: Inspiration for Women from Gordon B. Hinckley. Covenant Communications. ISBN 1-59811-595-2 
• —— (2006). One Bright Shining Hope: Messages for Women from Gordon B. Hinckley. Deseret Book. ISBN 1-59038-355-9 
• —— (2005). "Discourses of President Gordon B. Hinckley" (2 vols. ed.). Deseret Book , ISBN 1-59038-431-8 (vol. 1), ISBN 1-59038-518-7 (vol. 2)
• —— (2002). Way to Be!: Nine Ways to Be Happy and Make Something of Your Life. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-3830-3 
• —— (2001). "Truth Restored: A Short History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Revised ed.). LDS Church. OCLC 49300018 . Reprint in part of What of the Mormons?
• —— (2001). Stand a Little Taller. Eagle Gate. ISBN 1-57008-767-9 
• —— (2000). Standing for Something: Ten Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes. Times Books. ISBN 0-8129-3317-6 
• —— (1997). Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley. Deseret Book. ISBN 1-57345-262-9 
• —— (1989). Faith: The Essence of True Religion. Deseret Book. ISBN 0-87579-270-7 
• —— (1981). Be Thou An Example. Deseret Book. ISBN 0-87747-899-6 
• —— (1951). "James Henry Moyle, the story of a Distinguished American and an honored churchman". Deseret Book. OCLC 13963049 
• —— (1947). "What of the Mormons? A Brief Study of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". LDS Church. OCLC 7241540 
• —— (1943). "A Brief Statement of Principles of the Gospel Based Largely Upon the Compendium (Richards/Little) with Excerpts from Other Writings: Including Also Church Chronology, Priesthood Ordinances, Selected Hymns". LDS Church. OCLC 13965791 

See also

• Alonzo A. Hinckley, uncle who was also an LDS apostle
• May Green Hinckley, stepmother

Notes

Further reading

• Dew, Sheri L. (1996). Go Forward with Faith: The Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book. ISBN 1-57345-165-7. 
• McCune, George M. (1996). Gordon B. Hinckley: Shoulder For The Lord. Salt Lake City, Utah: Hawkes Publishing. ISBN 0-89036-583-0. 
• Garff, Melinda T. (1998). Gordon B. Hinckley: Fifteenth President of the Church. Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft. ISBN 1-57008-534-X. 

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• Obituary, The Times, January 29, 2008 (paywall)
• Official Church History - Basic Facts about Gordon B. Hinckley
• A biography of three recent Church Presidents: Ezra Taft Benson, Howard W. Hunter and Gordon B. Hinckley
• Larry King Live - Gordon Hinckley: Distinguished Religious Leader of the Mormons (Aired December 26, 2004 on CNN)
• Transcript: National Press Club Q&A with President Gordon B. Hinckley (Questions from Jack Cushman, The New York Times)
• Feature story — President Gordon B. Hinckley on lds.org
• Official Church tribute to Gordon B. Hinckley
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• Gordon B. Hinckley at Find a Grave