How Obama’s Battle Against Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Mirrors Truman’s Efforts to End Segregation in the Military

On February 2, 1948 President Harry Truman delivered a Special Message to Congress on the issue of civil rights. On that day Truman said,

In the State of the Union Message on January 7, 1948, I spoke of five great goals toward which we should strive in our constant effort to strengthen our democracy and improve the welfare of our people. The first of these is to secure fully our essential human rights.

Truman went on to outline ten specific civil rights proposals that he wished Congress to address, they ranged from anti-lynching legislation to processing the evacuation claims of formerly interred Japanese-Americans. After his call to action to the legislative branch Truman enumerated the steps that his executive branch would unilaterally undertake to advance the cause of civil rights,

During the recent war and in the years since its dose we have made much progress toward equality of opportunity in our armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. I have instructed the Secretary of Defense to take steps to have the remaining instances of discrimination in the armed services eliminated as rapidly as possible. The personnel policies and practices of all the services in this regard will be made consistent.

Truman was up for election in 1948 and his firm stand for civil rights was source of great controversial during that July’s Democratic National Convention. The southern delegates walked out of the Philadelphia convention during a stirring speech from Minneapolis Mayor Hubert Humphrey, eventually those delegates nominated Strom Thurmond as their “Dixiecrat” candidate.  Returning to Washington, D.C. from the convention Truman didn’t back down on the issue.

On July 26 he issued Executive Order 9981 declaring “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.”

President Truman’s Special Message and subsequent Executive Order did not materialize out of thin air, rather they were the result of a long and deliberative process which helped to legitimize the Executive Order. In the fall of 1945 the Secretary of War formed an internal commission to review the military’s segregation policy. The Gillem Board issued a report 9 months later recommending an incremental policy – still separate but ideally equal. The President’s Committee on Civil Rights issued their report on the status of civil rights in the nation late in October of 1947 and all the while activists continued to pressure the President to end segregation in the military.

It is in the footsteps of Harry Truman that President Obama is now walking as he works to bring an end to the military’s unconscionable and discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. One should note that Truman’s Executive Order called for action that was deliberate and orderly. As bold as Truman’s actions were (especially in an election year) he understood the precarious position of his bold reforms. Giving the military time to implement such a drastic policy change would ultimately legitimize integration in the eyes of soldiers and citizens alike. Likewise Obama has not called for an immediate end to the DADT policy, opting for a deliberative and methodical process that closely mirrors Truman’s actions over 60 years ago.

This past Tuesday Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mike Mullen and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates expressed their public support for ending DADT to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Their strong public support is critical if Obama hopes to end DADT. The White House cannot be seen as foisting a radical change in policy on the military. Instead, like Truman before him, Obama has followed a prudent process – gaining support from within the military establishment and only now moving forward with what is his own great civil rights initiative.

We’re not quite to the finish line yet but 62 years to the day after Executive Order 9981 President Obama has taken up the torch of civil rights in the United States military from Truman.

Photo by cliff1066â�¢