President Truman's Contributions To The Civil Rights Movement

Words: 1047
Pages: 5

The Civil Rights Movement was one of the greatest accomplishments in American history. All throughout the past in America, blacks had been discriminated against. African Americans could not work the same jobs, have the same pay, equal education, or decent places to live. In the year of 1945, things started to changed with the Civil Rights Movement. The Brown v. Board of Education kicked off the movement by desegregating schools. After this, the African American community wanted more rights for themselves which they truly deserved. The movement had help from many presidents including Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and even the presidential candidate Nixon. These men greatly influenced the movement by helping. While they did help the movement these people did help the movement, they also hurt the movement for many different reasons.
President Truman had big contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. He ended segregation in the armed forces which did help him win votes for his presidency. Truman had a committee on civil rights and wanted to act on many things. He wanted to end racial inequality. Truman and the committee created a permanent civil rights division
…show more content…
During the presidential campaign against John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, Martin Luther King Jr. was jailed. While Kennedy solicitously called Coretta King, Nixon did nothing. Nixon was eyeing white southern votes and declined to comment on the arrest of King Jr. and avoided any communication with Mrs. King. In 1957 and 1959, Eisenhower proposed a civil rights bill to enforce the fifteenth Amendment to give southern blacks a vote. Richard Nixon did not play a substantial role in the Civil Rights Movement, but chose to stay far away from it due to his white southern supporters. Due to his lack of involvement, he had a negative effect on the movement but also did not affect it at