In Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? We read the following:
On August 31, 1856, Brigham
Young stated: “In the days of Joseph it was considered a great privilege to be
permitted to speak to a member of Congress, but twenty-six years will not
pass away before the Elders of this Church will be as much thought
of as the kings on their thrones” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 4,
p. 40).
To those who have studied
Mormon history, it is obvious that this prophecy did not come to pass. (Jerald Tanner
and Sandra Tanner, Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? [5th ed.; Salt Lake
City: Utah Lighthouse Ministry, 1987, 2008], 195)
In his review of
Bob Witte's Where Does It Say that?, Elden Watson, responding to
this same criticism, wrote:
What Mr. Witte
wants this to say is that within 26 years the Elders of the Church will be as
highly respected as kings on their thrones, but there is another meaning of “as
much thought of,” and that is “as frequently thought of.” The period of 26
years from 1856 brings us to 1882, and the Forty-seventh United States Congress
with it’s passage of the Edmunds Tucker Act of 1882. The newspapers of the
United States were a hotbed of controversy over Mormonism. Rather than just
being permitted to speak to a member of Congress, George Q. Cannon addressed
Congress himself. In returning to Washington after 8 days at home, George Q.
Cannon stopped at a hotel in Chicago to take a bath.
What! Is this the famous Mr. Cannon of Utah?” asked the clerk.
“I am Mr. Cannon of Utah, whether I am famous or not,” he replied. Being a
celebrity was not new to him, but his notoriety had grown in the wake of the
huge newspaper publicity of 1882. “There was a great deal of curiosity among
the people in the hotel to see me,” he wrote, “and this has been the case
during the entire trip.” (Davis Bitton, George Q. Cannon, A Biography,
Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1999, p 260)
Because
of the huge newspaper publicity, the Mormon Elders were certainly more
frequently thought of than Kings on their thrones, and perhaps by many as
highly regarded.
Instead of being a false prophecy, this was a prediction (note: it
was not couched as based on divine revelation, so it was not a "prophecy" to begin with [unlike the Tanners, I try my best to be fair and accurate]) that was fulfilled.