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President Harry S. Truman’s attempt to dismantle segregation in the United States was monumental in igniting political shifts in the federal bureaucracy. It was soon followed by national changes in marriage laws and school segregation policies. In 1948, Truman issued Executive Order 9981 mandating the desegregation of the US Armed Forces.100 His executive action came in response to criticism from the Soviet Union that the US government enforced racial policies like those of the defeated Nazi regime.
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Martha Menchaca (The Mexican American Experience in Texas: Citizenship, Segregation, and the Struggle for Equality (The Texas Bookshelf))
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The second executive order—9981—was the historic one. With the swipe of a pen, Truman desegregated the United States military. The move was entirely unexpected; it “caught almost everyone off guard,” recalled Clark Clifford.
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A.J. Baime (Dewey Defeats Truman: The 1948 Election and the Battle for America's Soul)