Harold B. Lee

Harold B. Lee, eleventh President of the Church, was ordained and set apart as President on July 7, 1972, at the age of 73.

I was with President Lee on one occasion in New York City, where he had an interview with George Cornell, the senior writer of religion for the Associated Press. As we sat there, George Cornell said to President Lee, “I’d like to talk to you about some of the controversial aspects of your Church.”

As he mentioned one or two of them, Brother Lee said, “George, your readers do not want to hear about that. What your readers want to hear about is the great welfare program of the Church and the outstanding education program of the Church.” Mr. Cornell began to take notes, and as a result an almost full-page story from the Associated Press described our educational effort and our welfare program. No mention whatsoever was made of the controversial subjects of that time. This was the persuasive ability of Harold B. Lee.

President Lee also took time to teach. A lesson I will recount is rather tender. On one occasion our oldest son had a tumor in his leg, and we were naturally very worried, as were the doctors. Our son was in the hospital to have surgery, which could possibly lead to the amputation of his leg. Brother Lee had been my stake president as a boy, so I asked him if he would join me in giving a blessing to our son. He consented, and as we met at the hospital one evening after work, he stopped me before we went up the stairway and said, “Tom, there is nowhere in the world I would rather be, and there is nothing that I would rather be doing than standing by your side in giving a priesthood blessing to your son.” The operation was successful; the tumor was benign. I shall ever be indebted to Harold B. Lee for being where the Lord needed him to be at a particular time.

One of President Lee’s favorite songs was “Praise to the Man”—“who communed with Jehovah!” I’ll pause for a moment and say that when I was first called to the Twelve, I noted that Brother Lee was playing the organ. And he said, “Brother Monson, as our newest apostle, would you choose the song you’d like for us to sing today?” And I chose his favorite, and we all sang it with gusto.

A favorite food of his was bread and milk, and a favorite quotation of his was “Stand ye in holy places, and be not moved.”¹⁰ Remember this. I will repeat it: “Stand ye in holy places, and be not moved.” What would be a guiding principle from him? I would say he would encourage us to be in tune with and to be responsive to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit.

Harold B. Lee served just one and a half years as President of the Church. He passed away on December 26, 1973, at the age of 74.

Thomas S. Monson "Principles From Prophets" September 15 2009 BYU Devotional