On July 26, 1948, President Harry Truman ordered “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.” His order “shook the Defense Department to its foundations” and southern segregationists in Congress would organize as Dixiecrats to oppose his civil rights program.

But the president faced racial realities at home and abroad. More than a million blacks had served in the segregated military during World War II, more than half of them overseas. Further segregation tainted the international image of American democracy in the Cold War. Civil rights groups were protesting for equal education, employment, and the right to vote, as the black press, March on Washington Movement, veterans, and others partnered to turn out Democratic voters. Black, labor, and liberal votes indeed helped Truman to win the November presidential election.