The Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s recording of “Battle Hymn of the Republic” reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959. That chart position offers one measure of the song’s reach as readers debate which music should represent the nation. The Atlantic’s October 13, 2026, letters section gathered arguments for several songs, including “America the Beautiful,” “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and “Amazing Grace.” It reported no revenue figures and proposed no change to the official anthem.
Who Gets Heard
Owen Jansson of Ann Arbor, Mich., argued that “America the Beautiful” should become the national anthem. He wrote that it celebrates the country’s grandeur and evokes the principles of its founding documents. His letter responded to Jake Lundberg’s July issue essay, “Never Call Retreat,” which described the United States as having two national anthems: the official “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the unofficial but sacred “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
Donna Jane Krupkin of Nashville, Tenn., said Lundberg had left out “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” often called the Black national anthem. She said James Weldon Johnson composed it as a poem in 1900, and his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, set it to music. Krupkin wrote that the song makes no reference to war and embraces the sorrow and majesty of shared American life. Her church sings it as an opening hymn once a month.
Jerry Albritton of Brandenburg, Ky., proposed “Amazing Grace” as a spiritual national anthem that prompts introspection about the country’s struggle to abolish slavery. He described “Battle Hymn” as a battle cry for abolitionist action and “Amazing Grace” as a soulful anthem for people seeking freedom. Albritton wrote that he hoped renewed attention to both songs would lead the nation toward “real freedom for all Americans.”
These letters bring songs associated with abolition, Black life, religion, war, and national identity into one public argument. They offer competing accounts of what national representation should mean, but the section reports readers’ views, not an official decision about the anthem.
Songs, Institutions and Reach
Laura Cardinal of Hereford, Ariz., said the July issue cover featuring the music for “Battle Hymn of the Republic” sat on her piano, where it played loudly and often. Sandy Shapiro of Washington, D.C., described Elaine Showalter’s biography of the hymn’s author, Julia Ward Howe, titled “The Civil Wars of Julia Ward Howe.” Shapiro said Showalter wrote in an inscription, “Julia's motto was 'Up to Date!' Good words for us as well.” Shapiro added that The Atlantic had celebrated Howe again 164 years after first publishing her poem.
Jeanette Condie Pearson of Salt Lake City, Utah, said her father, Richard P. Condie, directed the Mormon Tabernacle Choir from 1957 to 1974. She recalled his work with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra on a Columbia Records recording of “Battle Hymn.” Condie Pearson said her father called Ormandy at 2 a.m. to ask him to consider the score. Ormandy initially said he wasn’t “excited” by the idea and doubted it would work, but later agreed at Condie’s insistence.
The recording became a hit in 1959, reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, and brought the choir and orchestra prominence, Pearson said. Condie won a Grammy for the performance the following year. Pearson said the recording began a collaboration and friendship between her father and Ormandy.
The Public Meaning of the Hymn
Nigel Clements of Mississauga, Canada, recalled first hearing “Battle Hymn” while watching Winston Churchill’s funeral at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on January 30, 1965. He said a huge choir performed it at Churchill’s request. The experience, he recalled, was moving and unforgettable.
Lundberg replied that Howe wrote “Battle Hymn of the Republic” at the end of 1861, addressing the country’s gravest crisis in the dire biblical idiom familiar to many Northerners. He said Abraham Lincoln gave fullest expression to that idiom in his second inaugural address four years later. Lundberg called the hymn a “capacious vessel for arguments over the American idea,” and acknowledged its stark, violent imagery and the dark interpretations it has prompted.
In its best application, Lundberg wrote, Howe’s words, set to a marching song about the militant abolitionist John Brown, call people to uphold their highest ideals, particularly in moments of crisis. Pearson urged the nation to overcome hatred, evil, and vengeance with forgiveness, love, and charity. “Then, I think, we could say with confidence that 'His truth is marching on.'”