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Truman's Executive Orders
On July 26, 1948, President Truman issued Executive Order 9981 establishing equality of treatment and opportunity in the Armed Services. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
On September 9, 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Originally proposed by Attorney General Herbert Brownell, the Act marked the first occasion since Reconstruction that the federal government undertook significant legislative action to protect civil rights. -
JFK's Executive Orders
Executive Order 10988 was issued by President John F. Kennedy in 1962 and recognizes the rights of federal employees to bargain with management. It established a broad government-wide labor relations policy for the first time. -
Twenty-fourth Amendment
Constitutional amendment ratified in 1964 to outlaw the poll tax. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Law that made discrimination illegal in a number of areas, including voting, schools, and jobs -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Law aimed at reducing the barriers that prevented African Americans from voting, in part by increasing the federal government's authority to register voters