David O. McKay Biography (Prince) - Prophets, Seers, Revelators

[Arcturus]

I remember hearing in a podcast with either Greg Prince being interviewed or D Michael Quinn (maybe both of them said this). But it was said that David O. McKay changed the LDS paradigm such that the top 15 would be given the designation - prophets, seers, and revelators - whereas before then this wasn't the case at all. I know Quinn has said something to the effect, quoting Brigham Young, that although the people questioned whether he was a prophet for the church, there was no question that he had been "profitable" for the church as president. This statement by BY gives credence to the idea that the members (before McKay?) didn't view the top 15 quite like they do today...

Supposedly this change McKay made in titles/designations is documented in Prince's biography of McKay? Can anyone expand on this or provide the quotation from the book if you happen to have it and can readily reference it? Thanks!

[Ghost]

This might not be exactly what you are looking for, but it's a passage from Quinn's The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power (p. 363):

By the mid-1950s a change was underway in Mormonism that profoundly affected its political influence. The hierarchy and church publications encouraged an unprecedented adoration of church president David O. McKay. His "graceful, witty manner, his imposing physical appearance, his deep warmth, all made people see him as THE prophet, to be classed with Joseph Smith and Brigham Young." Extensive television broadcasts of two general conferences annually after 1953 heightened McKay's personal and ceremonial impact on members of the church. By the late 1960s LDS publications and speakers routinely identified McKay as z'the Prophet," "our Prophet," and "beloved Prophet." Those terms had previously applied to the martyred prophet, Joseph Smith, while the living LDS president had simply been "the President."

That changing devotional status of the LDS president can be dated precisely through the official Church News. Published weekly by the Deseret News since 1931, every headline reference of Church News to each LDS president referred to him as "President" until 1955. During those twenty-four years no headline referred to the living LDS president as "prophet," and that term was used exclusively to refer to Joseph Smith or to prophets of the Bible and Book of Mormon. In February 1955 the Church News published the first headline reference to the living LDS president as the "Prophet."

[Arcturus]

This might not be exactly what you are looking for, but it's a passage from Quinn's The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power (p. 363):

By the mid-1950s a change was underway in Mormonism that profoundly affected its political influence. The hierarchy and church publications encouraged an unprecedented adoration of church president David O. McKay. His "graceful, witty manner, his imposing physical appearance, his deep warmth, all made people see him as THE prophet, to be classed with Joseph Smith and Brigham Young." Extensive television broadcasts of two general conferences annually after 1953 heightened McKay's personal and ceremonial impact on members of the church. By the late 1960s LDS publications and speakers routinely identified McKay as z'the Prophet," "our Prophet," and "beloved Prophet." Those terms had previously applied to the martyred prophet, Joseph Smith, while the living LDS president had simply been "the President."

That changing devotional status of the LDS president can be dated precisely through the official Church News. Published weekly by the Deseret News since 1931, every headline reference of Church News to each LDS president referred to him as "President" until 1955. During those twenty-four years no headline referred to the living LDS president as "prophet," and that term was used exclusively to refer to Joseph Smith or to prophets of the Bible and Book of Mormon. In February 1955 the Church News published the first headline reference to the living LDS president as the "Prophet."

Thank you Ghost. This is along the lines of what I'm looking for.