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Return to Frequently
Asked Questions page. This Executive Order, signed by President Harry S Truman on 26 July 1948, brought about the desegregation of the Armed Services.
EXECUTIVE ORDER 9981
ESTABLISHING THE PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE ON EQUALITY OF TREATMENT
AND OPPORTUNITY IN THE ARMED SERVICES
WHEREAS it is essential that there be maintained in the armed
services of the United States the highest standards of democracy,
with equality of treatment and opportunity for all those who serve
in our country's defense:
NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President
of the United States, by the Constitution and the statutes of
the United States, and as Commander in Chief of the armed services,
it is hereby ordered as follows:
1. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that
there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons
in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion
or national origin. This policy shall be put into effect as rapidly
as possible, having due regard to the time required to effectuate
any necessary changes without impairing efficiency or morale.
2. There shall be created in the National Military Establishment
an advisory committee to be known' as the President's Committee
on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services,
which shall be composed of seven members to be designated by the
President.
3. The Committee is authorized on behalf of the President to examine
into the rules, procedures and practices of the armed services
in order to determine in what respect such rules, procedures and
practices may be altered or improved with a view to carrying out
the policy of this order. The Committee shall confer and advise
with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Army, the
Secretary of the Navy, and the Secretary of the Air Force, and
shall make such recommendations to the President and to said Secretaries
as in the judgment of the Committee will effectuate the policy
hereof.
4. All executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government
are authorized and directed to cooperate with the Committee in
its work, and to furnish the Committee such information or the
services of such persons as the Committee may require in the performance
of its duties.
5. When requested by the Committee to do so, persons in the armed
services or in any of the executive departments and agencies of
the Federal Government shall testify before the Committee and
shall make available for the use of the Committee such documents
and other information as the Committee may require.
6. The Committee shall continue to exist until such time as the
President shall terminate its existence by Executive order.
HARRY S. TRUMAN
THE WHITE HOUSE,
JULY 26, 1948.
Source: Code of Federal Regulations: Title 3--The President, 1943-1948 Compilation. Washington, D.C.: Federal Register Division, National Archives and Records Service, 1957.
15 October 1998