President+Eisenhower

=President Eisenhower=

14th October 1890 - 28th March 1969
Dwight David Eisenhower (born on 14th October, 1890 in Denison, Texas) was the 34th President of the United States of America between 1953 and 1961, playing a decisve role in the struggle for civil rights during a pivotal decade.

Although Eisenhower raised in an era of blatant white supremacy in American society, Nichols maintains that he brought to his presidency in 1953 a deep commitment to values of equality and freedom. It was Eisenhower who implemented Truman's Executive Order 9981, requiring equal opportunity for African-Americans in the US military, thereby achieving "in less than two years what President Truman had failed to accomplish in seven - even though Truman is routinely credited for this achievement in American history textbooks"

The Civil Rights Act of 1957 kick-started Eisenhower’s stance in regards to civil rights legislation, which was followed by the Voting Rights Act in 1965. But rather than lead the country on the issue, Eisenhower had to respond to problems such as in Little Rock. He was never outspoken in his support of the civil rights movement believing that you could not force people to change their beliefs; such changes had to come from the heart of the people, not as a result of government legislation. However, The 1957 Civil Rights Bill aimed to ensure that all African Americans could exercise their right to vote. It established a new division within the federal Justice Department to monitor civil rights abuses and ordered a joint report to be conducted by representatives of both major political parties on the issue of race relations. Eisenhower, perhaps shocked by the news broadcasts of Little Rock Nine, publicly supported the bill (it was, after all, his Attorney-General who had produced the bill). However, the final act became a much watered done affair due to the lack of support among the Democrats. The Senate leader, Lyndon Baines Johnson, was a Democrat, and he realised that the bill and its journey through Congress, could tear apart