Believe it or not, the Pledge of Allegiance has experienced several revisions since its first version in 1885. Building off of a piece written by former Union Officer, George Thacher Balch, Francis Bellamy gave us the baseline version we are all used to today. After a few slight modifications, the US Congress authorized the addition of "Under God" into the text in 1954. President Dwight Eisenhower commented on the change stating, "These words will remind Americans that despite our great physical strength we must remain humble. They will help us to keep constantly in our minds and hearts the spiritual and moral principles which alone give dignity to man, and upon which our way of life is founded."