Changes

McAteer was converted to [[Jesus Christ]] at the age of fourteen.<ref name=bpnews/> He attended but did not graduate from the University of Memphis, then known as Memphis State University, and briefly enrolled at a law school.<ref name=nyt/> He served in the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]] and was a survivor of the first ship sunk by a [[Japan]]ese [[kamikaze]] plane in 1945. He was a former Golden Gloves boxer in Memphis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.memphisflyer.com/JacksonBaker/archives/2004/10/06/ed-mcateer-christian-conservative|title=Ed McAteer: Christian Conservative: Genial activist had friendships across social and political lines|publisher=''Memphis Flyer''|date=October 6, 2004|accessdate=May 27, 2016}}</ref>

McAteer was converted to [[Jesus Christ]] at the age of fourteen.<ref name=bpnews/> He attended but did not graduate from the University of Memphis, then known as Memphis State University, and briefly enrolled at a law school.<ref name=nyt/> He served in the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]] and was a survivor of the first ship sunk by a [[Japan]]ese [[kamikaze]] plane in 1945. He was a former Golden Gloves boxer in Memphis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.memphisflyer.com/JacksonBaker/archives/2004/10/06/ed-mcateer-christian-conservative|title=Ed McAteer: Christian Conservative: Genial activist had friendships across social and political lines|publisher=''Memphis Flyer''|date=October 6, 2004|accessdate=May 27, 2016}}</ref>

For more than twenty years, McAteer was  a sales manager for the southeastern states for Colgate-Palmolive. He left the firm in 1976 to devote full time to conservative causes.<ref name=nyt/>

For more than twenty years, McAteer was  a sales manager for the southeastern states for Colgate-Palmolive. He left the firm in 1976 to devote full-time to conservative causes.<ref name=nyt/>

McAteer and his wife, the former Faye Carter (born November 26, 1924), had two sons living in the Memphis area, Edward, Jr. (born October 1, 1949), of Murfreesboro in Rutherford County, and Timothy Darryl McAteer (born March 13, 1953) of Bartlett in Shelby County, and six grandchildren.<ref name=nyt>{{cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/10/obituaries/us/edward-e-mcateer-78-empowered-christian-right.html?_r=0|title=Edward E. McAteer, 78; Empowered Christian Right|author=Margalit Fox|date=October 10, 2004|publisher=''[[The New York Times]]''|accessdate=May 26, 2016}}</ref>

McAteer and his wife, the former Faye Carter (born November 26, 1924), had two sons living in the Memphis area, Edward, Jr. (born October 1, 1949), of Murfreesboro in Rutherford County, and Timothy Darryl McAteer (born March 13, 1953) of Bartlett in Shelby County, and six grandchildren.<ref name=nyt>{{cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/10/obituaries/us/edward-e-mcateer-78-empowered-christian-right.html?_r=0|title=Edward E. McAteer, 78; Empowered Christian Right|author=Margalit Fox|date=October 10, 2004|publisher=''[[The New York Times]]''|accessdate=May 26, 2016}}</ref>

==Legacy==

==Legacy==

On McAteer's death of cancer in East Memphis at the age of seventy-eight, independent conservative journalist [[Joseph Farah]] said that he had never "met a more fervent and zealous friend of Israel than Ed McAteer – and that includes all of my Jewish acquaintances."<ref name=jfarah>{{cite web|url=http://www.wnd.com/2004/10/26980/|title=My Friend, Ed McAteer|publisher=[[WND]]|date=October 12, 2004|accessdate=May 26, 2016}}</ref> Farah said that McAteer should have been appointed United States Ambassador to Israel in 1989 or again in 2001, but he was snubbed by both Presidents Bush.<ref name=jfarah/> In 2001, McAteer was featured as "the godfather of the Christian right" in the segment "Zion's Christian Soldiers" of ''60 Minutes'', the [[CBS]] news magazine. At the time, conservatives were pushing without success for the second President Bush to name McAteer as the U.S. ambassador to Israel.<ref name=bpnews>{{cite web|url=http://www.bpnews.net/19304|title=Ed McAteer, pioneer for faith in public policy, dies at 78|date=October 7, 2004|publisher=''Baptist Press News''|author=Art Toalston|accessdate=May 26, 2016}}</ref>Thougn neither Bush appointed McAteer as an ambassador, George W. Bush named McAteer's former election rival, Victor Ashe, as United States Amabasador to Poland.

On McAteer's death of cancer in East Memphis at the age of seventy-eight, independent conservative journalist [[Joseph Farah]] said that he had never "met a more fervent and zealous friend of Israel than Ed McAteer – and that includes all of my Jewish acquaintances."<ref name=jfarah>{{cite web|url=http://www.wnd.com/2004/10/26980/|title=My Friend, Ed McAteer|publisher=[[WND]]|date=October 12, 2004|accessdate=May 26, 2016}}</ref> Farah said that McAteer should have been appointed United States Ambassador to Israel in 1989 or again in 2001, but he was snubbed by both Presidents Bush.<ref name=jfarah/> In 2001, McAteer was featured as "the godfather of the Christian right" in the segment "Zion's Christian Soldiers" of ''60 Minutes'', the [[CBS]] news magazine. At the time, conservatives were pushing without success for the second President Bush to name McAteer as the U.S. ambassador to Israel.<ref name=bpnews>{{cite web|url=http://www.bpnews.net/19304|title=Ed McAteer, pioneer for faith in public policy, dies at 78|date=October 7, 2004|publisher=''Baptist Press News''|author=Art Toalston|accessdate=May 26, 2016}}</ref> Thougn neither Bush appointed McAteer as an ambassador, George W. Bush named McAteer's former election rival, Victor Ashe, as United States Amabasador to Poland.

Andy Groveman, president of the Memphis Jewish Federation, described McAteer as "a close friend to the Memphis Jewish community, and his love and loyalty for the state of Israel is unequaled.” Each year, McAteer organized the “International Christian Prayer Breakfast in Honor of Israel,” held in Memphis. Featured speakers over the years included such conservative figures as [[Roy Moore]], the former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court<ref name=bpnews/>and a U.S. Senate candidate in the special election in [[Alabama]] in 2017. 

Andy Groveman, president of the Memphis Jewish Federation, described McAteer as "a close friend to the Memphis Jewish community, and his love and loyalty for the state of Israel is unequaled.” Each year, McAteer organized the “International Christian Prayer Breakfast in Honor of Israel,” held in Memphis. Featured speakers over the years included such conservative figures as [[Roy Moore]], the former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court<ref name=bpnews/> and a U.S. Senate candidate in the special election in [[Alabama]] in 2017. 

Richard Land, then president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said of McAtter in a statement to ''The Baptist Press'':

Richard Land, then president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said of McAtter in a statement to ''The Baptist Press'':