The destiny of America was divinely decreed, taught President Ezra Taft Benson. “The events which established our great nation were foreknown to God and revealed to prophets of old. As in an enacted drama, the players who came on the scene were rehearsed and selected for their parts. Their talents, abilities, capacities, and weaknesses were known before they were born. As one looks back upon what we call our history, there is a telling theme which recurs again and again in this drama. It is that God governs in the affairs of this nation. ”
President Benson also explained: “No man, however brilliant and perceptive, shall have a complete perspective of our nation's history without this understanding and conviction. He must be persuaded by God's truth if he is to obtain a true and complete picture of our nation's origin and destiny. Secular scholarship, though useful, provides an incomplete and sometimes inaccurate view of our history. The real story of America is one which shows the hand of God in our nation's beginning.” (“God's Hand in Our Nation's History,” pp. 298, 301.)