The purpose of this book is to critically examine the Americanist and anti-communist elements of the public theology of John Courtney Murray and to assess their impact on his social ethics. The book argues that Murray's overarching agenda for his entire theological career can be understood as an attempt to reconcile his beloved American political philosophy with his equally cherished Roman Catholic religious tradition. Murray sets out to realize this reconciliation in spite of the clear discontinuities and open animosities that existed between these two traditions during the 1940's and 50's. Murray was fortunate enough to see his great labors bear fruit in the election of John F. Kennedy to President of the United States, and in the Second Vatican Council, for which he drafted the Declaration on Religious Liberty.