Who achieved more for American Civil Rights, Truman or Eisenhower?

On the one hand, it can be argued that president Truman (in office from 1945-53) achieved far more for Civil Rights than president Eisenhower. In 1947, Truman released a report entitled "To Secure these Rights," which detailed aims and steps to bring about Civil Right reforms. This report received widespread criticism from the conservative South, which opposed Truman's efforts to bring about change. Following the wake of WWII, Truman also combated racism within the US military- in 1948 he issued the Executive Order 9981, a document which abolished discrimination within the armed forces. However, it was not till the early 1950's that the change was instigated. This delay demonstrates the political aversion to integration within the USA. Thus, Truman faced much opposition to his Civil Rights changes, which made it harder for him to enforce them.
Eisenhower, in contrasts faced more pressure to make Civil Rights changes. Eisenhower was the president from 1953-1961, and during his presidency he saw the rise of Cold War tensions, between the Capitalist US and Communist USSR. Thus, the racial tensions within the USA were a source of propaganda from the USSR, who perceived it as a sign of weakness. Furthermore, during the early 1950's, Civil Rights were beginning to take off. 1955 saw the brutal murder of Emmett Till, an innocent African-American boy from Chicago, who was murdered by a group of white men whilst he was visiting relatives in the South. His murder made national headlines, and sparked outrage amongst the African-American community. Due to events such as this, Eisenhower was placed under extreme pressure to make changes. In 1957 Eisenhower released a Civil Rights Act- however, this Act was very insufficient and made little change. Then, in 1960 Eisenhower released a second Civil Rights Act which was slightly more effective at easing race relations, but still had little lasting effect. Yet, despite their ineffectiveness, these Acts were still groundbreaking, being the first Civil Rights legislation since 1875. Furthermore, Eisenhower's presidency oversaw the groundbreaking 1954 "Brown vs. Board of Education" ruling, instigated by Justice Chief Earl Warren. This ruling meant that segregated schools were "unconstitutional," and aimed to integrated the education system. Despite this being a huge leap forwards in Civil Rights, Eisenhower expressed personal disappointment of the ruling, claiming that appointing Earl Warren as a judge was the "biggest damn fool mistake" he ever made. Moreover, the ruling faced lots of opposition, as demonstrated by the 1957 Little Rock High School crisis, wherein 9 black students were barred from entering the school by racist mobs. Eisenhower reluctantly used the National Guard to allow the students to enter the school, and integration had to be federally forced. Thus, this demonstrates that Eisenhower was simply acting on pressure, from the Cold War and rapidly advancing Civil Rights changes. His Civil Rights legislation was quite weak, but he made more progress than Truman, even if he was pressured.

Answered by Zelda F. History tutor

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