The First Mormon Candidate — Thomas B. Allen

Mitt Romney is not the first Mormon to run for President. That distinction was claimed by Joseph Smith, who was in fact the first Mormon. Smith, who founded what became the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, announced his candidacy in January 1844 on a platform based on tenets of the Mormon faith. His announcement was a fateful decision for him and the future of his religion, and a fascinating moment of forgotten American history.