Dallin H. Oaks is expected to become the 18th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints following the passing of Russell M. Nelson. Oaks taught at the University of Chicago, became president of Brigham Young University, and served on the State of Utah Supreme Court prior to being called as an Apostle. In this interview, biographer Richard E. Turley discusses the life and personality of the 93-year-old President Oaks.
Don’t Miss Our Latest Interviews!
Be part of a growing community exploring topics like Dallin H. Oaks quotes and David A. Bednar quotes.
How were you chosen to be the biographer of Dallin H. Oaks?
More than four years ago before he had become a member of the First Presidency, Elder Oaks invited me to his office one day and asked if I would consider writing his biography. He didn’t want me to answer immediately, I think because he didn’t want me to feel any pressure. He suggested that I think about the suggestion and respond later.
But I knew from the moment he asked that it was something I wanted to do. He was in many ways a biographer’s dream: someone who lived a fine life and had kept remarkable records.
How would you describe Dallin H. Oaks’s private journals?
President Dallin H. Oaks is one of the most documented Church leaders in history. I used his personal history, his journals, his correspondence, his talks, and a host of other materials ranging from newspaper articles to photographs.
I would characterize his journals as being among the best ever kept by a Church leader.
Why is President Oaks’s personality more apparent in his biography than in his public speeches?
There are two reasons why President Oaks’s personality is more apparent in his biography than in his public addresses:
First, when Dallin H. Oaks speaks in formal settings, he seeks to fulfill his calling and takes his responsibilities very seriously. When I read Jacob 1 in the Book of Mormon—especially verses 7, 17, and 19—I can hear his voice.
Second, President Oaks is extraordinarily well-rounded as a person, and yet most people see only the side he presents at the pulpit. I tried in the biography to capture the whole person.
You’ve known President Oaks for a long time. What most surprised you when writing his biography?
Although I have known him for most of my life, I did not know him in his youth and childhood. I was deeply impressed to learn how difficult those periods were for him and how he overcame challenges through hard work and determination.
People sometimes think Church leaders are born with all the mature characteristics they exhibit in their senior years. But that is not true. Like the Savior, we all must grow from “grace to grace” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:13, 20).
What was Dallin H. Oaks’ schedule like when he accepted a call to serve in his stake mission that required 40-plus hours per month?
Arguably, Dallin H. Oaks’s life was fully occupied at that time, and he could easily have rationalized that his work would not allow him to accept or fulfill that new responsibility.
Instead, he exercised faith that God would provide a way for him to fulfill his new calling without neglecting his family or his work.
His faith preceded miraculous blessings that made it possible for him to fulfill his calling and be a good family man and worker.
It also started him down a path leading to where he is today.
What did Edward Levi say was the one thing that stood in the way of Dallin H. Oaks getting a seat on the Supreme Court?
At the time, Edward Levi, his longtime mentor and friend, was serving as U.S. Attorney General and did not specify what it was.
Later, Elder Oaks learned that President Gerald Ford did not want to appoint a Latter-day Saint, fearing opposition from civil rights groups because of perceived concerns about race and gender.
Don’t Miss Our Latest Interviews!
Stay connected with fresh content and scholarly insights every week.
What professional positions were realistic opportunities at the time of Dallin H. Oaks’s call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles?
If he had wanted it, Dallin H. Oaks could have been appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, a position seen as a stepping stone to becoming a member of the U.S. Supreme Court. His name ended up on lists of potential Supreme Court appointees.
He let his friend Antonin Scalia take one such opportunity that might have been his, and Scalia was later appointed to the Supreme Court.
What did Dallin H. Oaks see as the difference between being a judge who had been called to be an Apostle—and an Apostle who used to be a judge?
President Oaks did not serve a full-time mission as a young man because of the Korean War. And although he had served as a member of a stake presidency and as a regional representative, he lacked some of the Church experiences that many general authorities had.
He had never been a bishop, a stake president, a mission president, or a seventy. Most of his professional experience was as a lawyer, including time as a judge.
Lacking deep Church experience, he could have remained in his comfortable legal cocoon, attempting to fulfill his new calling from there. But he knew that fulfilling his responsibility well meant leaving his comfort zone and starting up a steep learning curve that would be very uncomfortable at times.
That is what President Oaks chose to do, and over time, he succeeded.
In what context did Dallin H. Oaks say that doubt can be a virtue?
Doubt can lead to questions that lead to revelation. If we handle doubt that way, it can be a blessing.
Most of the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants came in response to a question. So did the First Vision.
How was Dallin H. Oaks selected as a counselor in the First Presidency?
President Russell M. Nelson took the unprecedented step of interviewing all the living apostles and seeking their input before praying and selecting his counselors as he felt inspired to do.
How might your life have been different if Dallin H. Oaks hadn’t acted on a spiritual impression to hire you at the Church History Department?
Following his impression made it possible for me to serve in Church departments where I was able to join with Church leaders, staff, and missionaries in pushing forward the work of the Lord.
I look back with fondness on the decades of coordinated effort that brought us the new Church History Library, the Joseph Smith Papers, the Church Historian’s Press, a worldwide Church history presence, a strong historic sites program, FamilySearch, FamilySearch Indexing, the Be One celebration, the production of Saints, and many other projects in which I was privileged to participate.
Had he not followed his spiritual impression, I might have missed those opportunities.
Want More Scholar Interviews in Your Inbox?
Get new interviews and articles from leading scholars delivered straight to your inbox.
Further Reading
- Dallin H. Oaks Quotes From Every General Conference
- How Was Henry B. Eyring Called Into the First Presidency?
- What’s the Relationship Between Women and the Priesthood?
- How Did President Kimball Receive the 1978 Priesthood Revelation?
- What Was the Council of Fifty’s Constitution for the Kingdom of God?
- Is Bruce R. McConkie Treated Unfairly?
Dallin H. Oaks First Presidency Resources
- In the Hands of the Lord: The Life of Dallin H. Oaks (Deseret Book)
- Statement from Dallin H. Oaks, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (Church Newsroom)
- Who Is Dallin H. Oaks, the Likely Next in Line to Lead the LDS Church? (KUER)
- When Might Dallin Oaks Officially Become Next LDS President? Whom Might He Pick for His Counselors? (Salt Lake Tribune)
- Former Judge Is Likely the Next Leader of the Mormon Church and Its 17 Million Members (AP News)
Select BYU Devotionals and General Conference talks by Dallin H. Oaks
- Covenants and Responsibilities (Link)
- Good, Better, Best (Link)
- Push Back Against the World (Link)
- Racism and Other Challenges (Link)
- Our Strengths Can Become Our Downfalls (Link)
- President Dallin H. Oaks, Elder Clark G. Gilbert (Link)
- The Plan and the Proclamation (Link)
- Trust in the Lord (Link)
Dallin H. Oaks Quotes
Strengths can become our downfall
Satan can cause our spiritual downfall by corrupting us through our strengths as well as by exploiting our weaknesses.
Good, better, best
Some uses of individual and family time are better, and others are best. We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families.
Desires lead to actions
Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions.
Continuous commitment
Following Christ is not a casual or occasional practice but a continuous commitment and way of life that applies at all times and in all places.
Satisfaction
You can never get enough of what you don’t need, because what you don’t need won’t satisfy you.
Questions and answers
There is not a right and a wrong answer to every question.
The Lord’s timing
Faith in the Lord is trust in the Lord. We cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord’s will and in the Lord’s timing.
Citation Information
This post was originally published on March 29, 2021. The most recent update on October 2, 2025, includes updated headers, links, and resources, as well as an improved online reading experience.
