This dissertation explains how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints became part of the Religious Right. While most scholars have pointed to the Church's response to 1960s cultural revolutions, Kelley traces the origins of their political conservativism back to the 1930s. During this period, Church leaders vehemently opposed President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal policies. They developed their own internal "Welfare Plan" so they could simultaneously help destitute Saints and push back against the "welfare state" at every turn. It is a paradoxical story that offers insight into both religious studies and twentieth-century American history.