Deconstructing Harry: Harry Truman and the Cold War

the University of Southern Mississippi-Gulf Coast | Deconstructing Harry | Harry S. Truman and Civil Rights during the Cold War | | | | |

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Exploring the Impact of Cold War Politics on Executive Order 9981
When President Truman and his adminstartion desegregated the military by Executive Order 9981 in 1948, he was seizing the unique opportunity presented by the changing nature of race and its influence on politics at the close of WWII to elevate the nation above the crippling racism that had permeated its history since Liconln’s failed reconstruction. The authors of Foxholes and Color Lines: also noted that “a new, more liberal perspective on racial issues gained enough strength within the white general public to become an important element in national culture and political debate during the war years.” The changing attitudes about race in Armed Services after their exposure to European culture after WWII, the changing role of race in foreign policy and the increasingly powerful influence of race on international affairs during the Truman Adminstation compelled Truman to follow the advice of his The report entitled, “To Secure These Rights” was issued on 29 October 1947 and detailed the deplorable status of race relations in America at the time. It admitted the failure of ‘separate but equal” tolerated Northern states stood out in prominence and federal intervention was judged the only solution. They recommended federal measures to protect the civil rights of African-Americans in the Post WWII society. Federal intervention in the form of would protect African-Americans from continued disenfranchisement in the Jim Crow south and curtail the renewed lynching activities of the KKK. Truman is also credited with also credited with in iating the legacy of Plessy V Fergusson in public education and federal employment. President Truman’s legislative actions in desegregating the military and federal service set the precedent of active federal

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