When Reed Smoot was elected a Utah Senator in January 1903, the U.S. Senate put up a strong fight to keep him from serving as a senator, opening up what is now known as the Smoot Hearings. At the time, Elder Smoot served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the Senate disliked the idea of having a high-ranking LDS Church leader in their midst. Though polygamy had been abolished almost 15 years ago, many U.S. citizens were still skeptical of the Church and its teachings. “It was during this time of public scrutiny of the Church that Theodore Roosevelt weighed in most consequentially on the side of the Mormons,” (Michael K Winder, Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal “Theodore Roosevelt and the Mormons,” 12).
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