In December 1946, President Truman issued an executive order that established a committee on civil rights. He was outraged about the number of racial incidents across the United States aimed at controlling the behavior of black veterans. His note to Attorney General Tom Clark about the reports of a black veteran blinded by police in South Carolina specifically asked for action. The Committee on Civil Rights pressured Truman to institute a civil rights bill and to review its discriminatory practices in the armed forces. This idea for expanded civil rights, especially in the form of integration of military personnel, was ripe after black troops had fought to end fascism and racism around the world during the Second World War.
Shortly after the Democratic Party Convention in July 1948, Truman executed his presidential prerogative and issued two executive orders on the same day. EO 9980 called for fair employment practices in the federal government, and EO 9981 specifically addressed equality of opportunity in the armed forces. A few days after the executive orders, when generals and other military leaders expressed their belief that EO 9981 did not really mean the end of segregation, Truman issued a press release indicating that his executive order meant the end of segregated service and, indeed, the beginning of equality of opportunity in the armed forces.
EXECUTIVE ORDER 9981
Establishing the President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity In the Armed Forces.
WHEREAS it is essential that there be maintained in the armed services of the United States the highest standards of democracy, with equality of treatment and opportunity for all those who serve in our country’s defense:
NOW THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, by the Constitution and the statutes of the United States, and as Commander in Chief of the armed services, it is hereby ordered as follows:
1. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. This policy shall be put into effect as rapidly as possible, having due regard to the time required to effectuate any necessary changes without impairing efficiency or morale.
2. There shall be created in the National Military Establishment an advisory committee to be known as the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services, which shall be composed of seven members to be designated by the President.
3. The Committee is authorized on behalf of the President to examine into the rules, procedures and practices of the Armed Services in order to determine in what respect such rules, procedures and practices may be altered or improved with a view to carrying out the policy of this order. The Committee shall confer and advise the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Secretary of the Air Force, and shall make such recommendations to the President and to said Secretaries as in the judgment of the Committee will effectuate the policy hereof.
4. All executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government are authorized and directed to cooperate with the Committee in its work, and to furnish the Committee such information or the services of such persons as the Committee may require in the performance of its duties.
5. When requested by the Committee to do so, persons in the armed services or in any of the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall testify before the Committee and shall make available for use of the Committee such documents and other information as the Committee may require.
6. The Committee shall continue to exist until such time as the President shall terminate its existence by Executive order.
Harry Truman
The White House, July 26, 1948
Source: Executive Order 9981, H.S. Truman, [Electronic Record] National Archives, RG 11, 1948, also available digitally at Harry S Truman Presidential Library, www.trumanlibrary.org/9981a.htm.
Questions