On July 26, 1948, President Harry Truman issued two of his most important Executive Orders 9980 and 9981 desegregating the federal work force and desegregating the armed forces. Although Truman was born in Jim Crow Missouri and was clearly a racist in his youth, he emerged as one of the greatest champions of civil rights to ever live. His actions could not be to get votes as there were not that many registered black voters, but instead Truman knew it was simply the right thing to do. The world is a different place and clearly a better place because of Harry S Truman.
When Colin Powell led peace talks at the Little White House in 2001, he reminded all of us that had it not been for President Truman he would have been a cook!
