View source for Harry Truman

===Shift in public image on civil rights===
Disgusted by violence against black veterans in the deep South, Truman called for the extension of the wartime Fair Employment Practice Committee (FEPC) program that called for fair employment practices, but Congress refused and it ended. He created the Presidential Commission on Civil Rights in 1946 by executive order (with no congressional approval needed); it recommended desegregation of local public facilities and the removal of restrictive covenants that prevented blacks and Jews from purchasing houses in restricted neighborhoods. The Commission generated attention but no action.<ref>Steven F. Lawson, ed. ''To Secure These Rights: The Report of Harry S. Truman's Committee on Civil Rights.'' (2004)</ref>  Indeed, Congress refused to pass any civil rights legislation before 1957. Truman therefore decided to use his executive powers, and focused on guaranteeing equal opportunity in the military and the civil service.

The Army and Navy operated segregated units, and refused to be part of a "social experiment" in integration.<ref>Bernard C. Nalty, ''Strength For the Fight: A History of Black Americans in the Military'' (1986)</ref> The Air Force, however, was much more willing. Between 1941 and 1951 it went from a segregated force to the first truly integrated service. Key generals became convinced that segregation was a drag on efficiency, and the Air Force decided to integrate in April 1948. before Truman issued his famous Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948, calling for equal opportunity in all the armed services. It allowed segregation but called for "equality of treatment and opportunity."  In the face of opposition from some high-ranking officers, the Air Force moved cautiously, but by 1951 the last black unit was dissolved and the Air Force was completely integrated.<ref>Alan L. Gropman, ''The Air Force Integrates, 1945-1964.'' (2nd ed 1998) [http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/Publications/Annotations/gropmanintegrates.htm online edition].</ref>  Order 9981 created the Fahy Committee to implement the new policy.  Truman's order did not actually integrate the Army—it used segregated units during the Korean War—but it opened the way for integration in the early 1950s.<ref>Richard M. Dalfiume, ''Desegregation of the U.S. Armed Forces: Fighting on Two Fronts, 1939-1953.'' (1969)</ref>  Public opinion was generally favorable except in the deep South (which voted against Truman in 1948).