President Howard W. Hunter was unique among his peers as President of the Church. Not only was he, to date, the only lawyer to have filled that position, his early life differed from presidents in recent memory as well. Raised in a part-member home, he carried with him throughout his long service to the Church as an Apostle and as President of the Church a keen awareness of an empathy for those who come to the gospel through conversion.In Howard W. Hunter: Man of Thought and Independence, Prophet of God, author Francis M. Gibbons shows us the varied facets of President Hunter's personality. From his teenage tour of the Orient with his swing band, Hunter's Croonaders, to his family's struggles to make ends meet through the Great Depression, and his subsequent education and career as a lawyer, we see various qualities develop in him that would mark his tenure as President of the Church: Hard work, ingenuity, and empathy for his fellow Saints. While he did not serve as President for long, his service as President was epitomized by those traits — a willingness to do what the Lord wanted of him, an increased focus on the blessings not only of the temple, but of being temple-worthy, whether or not a member lived close enough to attend, and a love for the Saint in every land.Howard W. Hunter: Man of Thought and Independence, Prophet of God gives us a clear view of both the struggles and the successes that made President Hunter a beloved example to the Latter-day Saints.Contents:AcknowledgmentsIntroductionThe Awakening — Tracing Ancestral RootsThe Boise Years — Family TiesGrowing in a New PlaceA Wife and a New LifeNew Horizons — The UniversityFull Steam AheadAn Interval of PeacePresident of the Pasadena StakeCall to the Quorum of the TwelveVariety in Apostolic ServiceThe Imperious MandateThe Razor's EdgePresident of the TwelvePresident of the ChurchSourcesIndex