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prophet6 (prophets who served as counselors in the First Presidency ** )

 Prophets who served as counselors in the First Presidency before serving as President of the Church


Of the seventeen brethren who have served as Presidents of the Church, only seven have served as counselors in the First Presidency before being ordained as the President of the Church. These seven are as follows:

 

                      Prophet                    Served as counselor to whom              When set apart

                    Lorenzo Snow             Counselor to President Brigham Young           08 Apr 1873
                                             Assistant Counselor to Brigham Young           09 May 1874

 
                    Joseph F Smith           Counselor to the 1st Presidency (B Young)      01 Jul 1866
                                             2nd Counselor to John Taylor                   10 Oct 1880    
                                             2nd Counselor to Wilford Woodruff              07 Apr 1889
                                             2nd Counselor to Lorenzo Snow                  13 Sep 1898
                                             1st Counselor to Lorenzo Snow                  06 Oct 1901

                   David O McKay            2nd Counselor to Heber J Grant                 06 Oct 1934
                                             2nd Counselor to George Albert Smith           21 May 1945

                   Joseph Fielding Smith    Counselor in the First Presidency              29 Oct 1965

                   Harold B Lee             1st Counselor to Joseph Fielding Smith         23 Jan 1970

                   Gordon B Hinckley        Counselor to Spencer W Kimball                 23 Jul 1981
                                             2nd Counselor to Spencer W Kimball             02 Dec 1982
                                             1st Counselor to Ezra Taft Benson              10 Nov 1985
                                             1st Counselor to Howard W Hunter               05 Jun 1994

                    Thomas S Monson          2nd Counselor to Ezra Taft Benson              10 Nov 1985
                                             2nd Counselor to Howard W Hunter               05 Jun 1994
                                             1st Counselor to Gordon B Hinckley             12 Mar 1995

Note: Those prophets who did not serve as counselors in the First Presidency before serving as President of the Church are Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Heber J Grant, George Albert Smith, Spencer W Kimball, Ezra Taft Benson, Howard W. Hunter, and Russell M. Nelson.

Note: The presidencies of President Ezra Taft Benson and President Howard W. Hunter are unique among all other First Presidencies.  In these two presidencies, both of the counselors in the presidencies went on to serve as presidents of the Church (President Gordon B. Hinckley and President Thomas S. Monson).


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