Last updated: April 15, 2021
Person
Dwight Eisenhower and the Central High Crisis
White House Albums, National Park Service (Abbie Rowe)
Quick Facts
Significance:
34th President of the United States
Place of Birth:
Denison, Texas
Date of Birth:
October 4, 1890
Place of Death:
Walter Reed Army Hospital
Date of Death:
March 28, 1969
Place of Burial:
Abilene, Kansas
Cemetery Name:
Eisenhower Presidential Library
“Eisenhower never wished to become a crusader on behalf of civil rights. The issue made him uncomfortable, and he often expressed his opinion privately that black activists wanted too much change, too quickly. But the president also refused to allow local school boards and state politicians to defy the rulings of the Supreme Court.”
“The Age of Eisenhower – The Struggle for Civil Rights”, The Miller Center at the University of Virginia © Copyright 2021. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
Since “Ike” had taken office in 1953, several notable moments in the timeline of the civil rights movement had occurred: Brown v. Board of Education, the formation of White Citizens’ Councils across the South, the murder of Emmett Till, the arrest of Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Southern Manifesto and the formation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. During the initial stages of the crisis in Little Rock, President Eisenhower signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1957 - the first federal civil rights legislation passed by the United States Congress since the Civil Rights Act of 1875.
Three years after Brown, President Dwight D Eisenhower found himself amid a direct challenge to federal authority and enforcement not seen since post-Civil War Reconstruction.
Interspersed with timeline entries, read excerpts of Eisenhower’s words (in italics) and follow the narrative of his actions and reactions to the events in Little Rock and at Central High School.
September 2, 1957 - Labor Day is the final day of summer vacation for all Little Rock students. Governor Orval Faubus interrupts the “I Love Lucy Show” on local television to announce that he has received reports detailing “caravans” of white supremacists bound for Little Rock with the intention of preventing integration at Central High School. In order to prevent “blood in the streets,” he has called out the Arkansas National Guard (ANG) to preserve order at Central High. He says that the state militia will act not as segregationists or integrationists, but as "soldiers called to active duty to carry out their assigned tasks."
September 3 - Eisenhower Press Conference: I have been in contact with the Attorney General’s office. They are taking a look at it. They are going to find out exactly what has happened, and discuss this with the Federal Judge.
Now, time and again, a number of people – I, among them – have argued that you cannot change people’s hearts merely by laws. Laws are presumably – express the conscience of a nation and its determination or will to do something. But the laws here are to be executed gradually, according to the dictum of the Supreme Court, and I understand that the plan worked out by the school board of Little Rock was approved by the district judge.
September 4 - 10 African American students attempt to enter Central High for the first time. Daisy Bates had then called the families of the students to inform them of the logistics for that Wednesday morning: do not come to Central High alone, but meet near the school around 8:30 a.m. where a group of local African American and white ministers would escort the students to the high school.
Elizabeth Eckford does not receive notice about this plan of action - the Eckfords do not have a telephone. Elizabeth rides a bus to Central, approaches the school just before 8:00 a.m. and sees the soldiers of the Arkansas National Guard surrounding the school. Barred by the soldiers in several failed attempts to be allowed past their ranks, Elizabeth finds herself in the throes of an angry mob of protesters numbering over 300+ on Park Street. Chants ["Two, four, six, eight! We don't want to integrate!"], racial epithets, terroristic threats and spit descend down on this fifteen-year old student as she attempts to make her way to the end of Park Street where perceived safety awaits her at another bus stop.
The remaining nine students arrive after 8:00 a.m. at the corner of Park and 13th Streets as originally planned by Daisy Bates (Terrence Roberts and Melba Pattillo walk separately to Central); joining them as scheduled are local African American and white ministers there to escort the students safely to the school. As the group approaches Central High School, they hear the crowds that had previously accosted Elizabeth Eckford and witness the Arkansas National Guard (ANG) standing their ground surrounding the high school. When one of the ministers leading the students approaches the Guard, he is met by Lt. Colonel Marion Johnson, the commanding officer of the ANG. Johnson tells the group that on the orders of Governor Faubus, the students are not to be permitted to enter the school. 10 students have come for an education that day - 10 students have been denied entry in direct violation of federal law.
Governor Orval Faubus reveals in an evening press conference that he had ordered the National Guardsmen surrounding Central High School to not permit the 10 students to enter. He tells newsmen that he does not consider this a violation of federal court orders to proceed with integration. Faubus also states that the command was issued from him to maintain peace and order, a responsibility of his as the chief executive of the state of Arkansas. Immediately after the press conference, Governor Faubus leaves his office - his aides will not tell the press where he has gone. "The new order was based on the situation as it existed, the tension and unrest and in my judgment the real danger of disorder and violence and bodily harm to persons in the area." - Orval Faubus, Arkansas Democrat newspaper
September 6 - Faubus has telegrammed President Dwight D Eisenhower with a willingness to provide evidence to the federal government justifying his use of the National Guard to “preserve the public peace." Eisenhower's response indicates, among other issues, that there is "no basis of fact" that federal authorities have considered taking Governor Faubus into custody.
September 7 - Federal District Judge Ronald Davies denies a petition from the Little Rock School Board to delay integration at Central High School; his ruling orders that desegregation begin on Monday, September 9.
September 7 - Telegram to Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus: When I became President, I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. The only assurance I can give you is that the Federal Constitution will be upheld by me by every legal means at my command.
September 11 - Telegram to Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus: Would it suit your convenience to come to my office on the Naval Base at Newport…?
September 14 - Press Release from Newport visit with Governor Faubus: The Governor stated his intentions to respect the decisions of the United States District Court and to give his full cooperation in carrying out his responsibilities in respect to these decisions. In so doing, I recognize the inescapable responsibility resting upon the Governor to preserve law and order in his state.
I am gratified by his constructive and cooperative attitude at our meeting. I have assured the Governor of the cooperation of Federal officials.
[Diary notes dictated by President Eisenhower from meeting with Faubus] - So I suggested to him that he (Governor Faubus) go home and not necessarily withdraw his National Guard troops, but just change their order to say that having been assured that there was no attempt to do anything except to obey the Courts and that the Federal government was not trying to do anything that had not been already agreed to by the School Board and directed by the Courts; that he should tell the Guard to continue to preserve order but to allow the Negro children to attend Central High School.
I further said that I did not believe it was beneficial to anybody to have a trial of strength between the President and a Governor because in any area where the Federal government had assumed jurisdiction and this was upheld by the Supreme Court, there could be only one outcome – that is, the State would lose, and I did not want to see any Governor humiliated.
September 16 - Daisy Bates expresses concern at the "double talk" that comes out of the Faubus/Eisenhower conference in Rhode Island, noting that she was "very disappointed" that these two politicians laid out no "straightforward" explanations.Eisenhower is strongly criticized by the Democratic Advisory Council, the policy-making arm of the Democratic National Committee. This 24-member group whose members include former President Harry S Truman and twice defeated presidential candidate Adlai E. Stevenson (both losses to Eisenhower, 1952/1956) said that Eisenhower "failed in his duty to make the principle clear to all of the country that the first responsibility of a Governor is to uphold the Federal Constitution." - Washington Post and Times Herald
September 20 - Federal District Judge Ronald Davies, during an injunction hearing, rules that Governor Orval Faubus had not used Arkansas National Guard troops to prevent violence.
"The petition of the United States of America as amicus curiae for a preliminary injunction against Governor Faubus, General Clinger and Colonel Johnson, and all others named in the petition is granted; and such injunction shall issue without delay, enjoining those respondents from obstructing or preventing, by use of the National Guard or otherwise, the attendance of Negro students at Little Rock Central High School under the plan of integration approved by this Court and from otherwise obstructing or interfering with orders of this Court in connection with the plan of integration."
After being notified that the four attorneys representing him had walked out of the injunction hearing, Governor Faubus says, "Now begins the crucifixion. There will be no cross-examination, no evidence presented for the other side." Three hours after the hearing ends, Faubus goes on television to announce the removal of the Arkansas National Guard from Central High School as members of the Little Rock Police Department assume duties around the high school campus. He leaves for the Southern Governor's Conference in Sea Island, Georgia.
September 20 - Press Release:
In the last few hours three events of major importance have occurred in the City of Little Rock.
- The Governor of Arkansas has withdrawn the contingent of Arkansas National Guard at Central High School.
- The Little Rock School Board has announced its intention to proceed to carry into effect its plans for school admissions.
- The local law enforcement agencies have announced that they are prepared to maintain law and order.
All parents must have a sympathetic understanding of the ordeal to which the nine Negro children who have been prevented from attending Central High School have been subjected. They and their parents have conducted themselves with dignity and restraint. As I said this morning, I am confident that the citizens of the City of Little Rock and the State of Arkansas will welcome this opportunity to demonstrate that in their city and in their state proper orders of a United States Court will be executed properly and without disorder.
September 23 - An angry mob of over 1,000 whites gathers in front of Central High School, while nine African American students are escorted inside. The students enter Central High under protection of the Little Rock police and state troopers armed with riot guns and tear gas. The crowd outside becomes very threatening and attacks three out-of-state news reporters. Three and one-half hours after their entrance, school authorities and police remove the African American students through a side door and speed away in police cars. Reporters describe the crowds outside as "hysterical." Little Rock Mayor Woodrow Mann sends an afternoon telegram to the White House in which he says that the "mob that gathered was no spontaneous assembly" and that it was "agitated, aroused, assembled by a concerted plan of action." Governor Faubus tells the press that he is keeping touch by phone with Lt. Governor Nathan Gordon and that he has "no plans at the moment to return to Little Rock" from Georgia.
September 23 - Proclamation 3204
Whereas certain persons in the State of Arkansas, individually and in unlawful assemblages, combinations, and conspiracies, have willfully obstructed the enforcement of orders of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas with respect to matters relating to enrollment and attendance at public schools, particularly at Central High School, located in Little Rock School District, Little Rock, Arkansas; and
Whereas such willful obstruction of justice hinders the execution of the laws of that state and of the United States, and makes it impracticable to enforce such laws by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings; and
Whereas such obstruction of justice constitutes a denial of the equal protection of the laws secured by the Constitution of the United States and impedes the course of justice under those laws:
Now, Therefore, I, Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States, under and by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the United States, including Chapter 15 of Title 10 of the United States Code, particularly sections 332, 333 and 334 thereof, do command all persons engaged in such obstruction of justice to cease and desist therefrom, and to disperse forthwith.
September 24 - Mayor Woodrow Mann telegrams the President "pleading.in the interest of humanity, law and order, and the cause of democracy worldwide to provide the necessary federal troops" to as the "mob is armed and engaging in fisticuffs and other acts of violence." He says the "situation is out of control and police cannot disperse the mob." A release from the Governors' Conference in Georgia asks that President Eisenhower "notify the Governor of Arkansas that the maintenance of law and order in that State is considered to be the responsibility of the Governor of Arkansas, and that the Federal government will not attempt to exercise Federal responsibility in this matter so long as State and local authorities are able properly to perform this function."
September 24 - Executive Order 10730
WHEREAS the command contained in that Proclamation has not been obeyed and willful obstruction of enforcement of said court orders still exists and threatens to continue:
NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Statutes of the United States, including Chapter 15 of Title 10, particularly sections 332, 333 and 334 thereof, and section 301 of Title 3 of the United States Code, It is hereby ordered as follows:
SECTION 1. I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of Defense to order into the active military service of the United States as he may deem appropriate to carry out the purposes of this Order, any or all of the units of the National Guard of the United States and of the Air National Guard of the United States within the State of Arkansas to serve in the active military service of the United States for an indefinite period and until relieved by appropriate orders.
SEC. 2. The Secretary of Defense is authorized and directed to take all appropriate steps to enforce any orders of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas for the removal of obstruction of justice in the State of Arkansas with respect to matters relating to enrollment and attendance at public schools in the Little Rock School District, Little Rock, Arkansas. In carrying out the provisions of this section, the Secretary of Defense is authorized to use the units, and members thereof, ordered into the active military service of the United States pursuant to Section 1 of this Order.
SEC. 3. In furtherance of the enforcement of the aforementioned orders of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, the Secretary of Defense is authorized to use such of the armed forces of the United States as he may deem necessary.
SEC. 4. The Secretary of Defense is authorized to delegate to the Secretary of the Army or the Secretary of the Air Force, or both, any of the authority conferred upon him by this Order.
September 24 - Letter to General Alfred M. Gruenther: The Federal government has ample resources with which to cope with this kind of thing. The great need is to act calmly, deliberately, and giving every offender opportunity to cease his defiance of Federal law and to peaceably obey the proper orders of the Federal court. In this way the actions of the Executive in enforcing the law – even if it becomes necessary to employ considerable force – are understood by all, and the individuals who have offended are not falsely transformed into martyrs.
September 24 - Text of White House Address to the Nation: For a few minutes I want to speak to you about the serious situation that has arisen in Little Rock. For this talk I have come to the President’s office in the White House. I could have spoken from Rhode Island, but I felt that, in speaking from the house of Lincoln, of Jackson, and of Wilson, my words would more clearly convey both the sadness I feel in the action I was compelled today to take and the firmness with which I intend to pursue this course until the orders of the Federal Court at Little Rock can be executed without unlawful interference.
In that city, under the leadership of demagogic extremists, disorderly mobs have deliberately prevented the carrying out of proper orders from a Federal court. Local authorities have not eliminated that violent opposition and, under the law, I yesterday issued a proclamation calling upon the mob to disperse.
This morning the mob again gathered in front of the Central High School of Little Rock, obviously for the purpose of again preventing the carrying out of the Court’s order relating to the admission of Negro children to the school.
Whenever normal agencies prove inadequate to the task and it becomes necessary for the Executive Branch of the Federal Government to use its powers and authority to uphold Federal Courts, the President’s responsibility is inescapable.
In accordance with that responsibility, I have today issued an Executive Order directing the use of troops under Federal authority to aid in the execution of Federal law at Little Rock, Arkansas. This became necessary when my Proclamation of yesterday was not observed, and the obstruction of justice still continues.
It is important that the reasons for my action be understood by all our citizens.
As you know, the Supreme Court of the United States has decided that separate public educational facilities for the races are inherently unequal and therefore compulsory school segregation laws are unconstitutional.
Our personal opinions about the decision have no bearing on the matter of enforcement; the responsibility and authority of the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution are clear. Local Federal Courts were instructed by the Supreme Court to issue such orders and decrees as might be necessary to achieve admission to public schools without regard to race -- and with all deliberate speed.
During the past several years, many communities in our Southern States have instituted public school plans for gradual progress in the enrollment and attendance of school children of all races in order to bring themselves into compliance with the law of the land.
They thus demonstrated to the world that we are a nation in which laws, not men, are supreme.
I regret to say that this truth -- the cornerstone of our liberties -- was not observed in this instance.
It was my hope that this localized situation would be brought under control by city and State authorities. If the use of local police powers had been sufficient, our traditional method of leaving the problem in those hands would have been pursued. But when large gatherings of obstructionists made it impossible for the decrees of the Court to be carried out, both the law and the national interest demanded that the President take action.
Here is the sequence of events in the development of the Little Rock school case.
In May of 1955, the Little Rock School Board approved a moderate plan for the gradual desegregation of the public schools in that city. It provided that a start toward integration would be made at the present term in the high school, and that the plan would be in full operation by 1963. Here, I might say that in a number of communities in Arkansas integration in the schools has already started and without violence of any kind. Now this Little Rock plan was challenged in the courts by some who believed that the period of time as proposed in the plan was too long.
The United States Court at Little Rock, which has supervisory responsibility under the law for the plan of desegregation in the public schools, dismissed the challenge, thus approving a gradual rather than an abrupt change from the existing system. It found that the school board had acted in good faith in planning for a public school system free from racial discrimination.
Since that time, the court has on three separate occasions issued orders directing that the plan be carried out. All persons were instructed to refrain from interfering with the efforts of the school board to comply with the law.
Proper and sensible observance of the law then demanded the respectful obedience which the nation has a right to expect from all its people. This, unfortunately, has not been the case at Little Rock. Certain misguided persons, many of them imported into Little Rock by agitators, have insisted upon defying the law and have sought to bring it into disrepute. The orders of the court have thus been frustrated.
The very basis of our individual rights and freedoms is the certainty that the President and the Executive Branch of Government will support and insure the carrying out of the decisions of the Federal Courts, even, when necessary with all the means at the President’s command.
Unless the President did so, anarchy would result.
There would be no security for any except that which each one of us could provide for himself.
The interest of the nation in the proper fulfillment of the law’s requirements cannot yield to opposition and demonstrations by some few persons.
Mob rule cannot be allowed to override the decisions of our courts.
Let me make it very clear that Federal troops are not being used to relieve local and state authorities of their primary duty to preserve the peace and order of the community. Nor are the troops there for the purpose of taking over the responsibility of the School Board and the other responsible local officials in running Central High School. In the present case the troops are there, pursuant to law, solely for the purpose of preventing interference with the orders of the Court.
The proper use of the powers of the Executive Branch to enforce the orders of a Federal Court is limited to extraordinary and compelling circumstances. Manifestly, such an extreme situation has been created in Little Rock. This challenge must be met and with such measures as will preserve to the people as a whole their lawfully-protected rights in a climate permitting their free and fair exercise.
The overwhelming majority of our people in every section of the country are united in their respect for observance of the law -- even in those cases where they may disagree with that law.
They deplore the call of extremists to violence.
The decision of the Supreme Court concerning school integration affects the South more seriously than it does other sections of the country. In that region I have many warm friends, some of them in the city of Little Rock. I have deemed it a great personal privilege to spend in our Southland tours of duty while in the military service and enjoyable recreational periods since that time.
So from intimate personal knowledge, I know that the overwhelming majority of the people in the South -- including those of Arkansas and of Little Rock -- are of good will, united in their efforts to preserve and respect the law even when they disagree with it.
They do not sympathize with mob rule. They, like the rest of our nation, have proved in two great wars their readiness to sacrifice for America.
A foundation of the American way of life is our national respect for law.
In the South, as elsewhere, citizens are keenly aware of the tremendous disservice that has been done to the people of Arkansas in the eyes of the nation, and that has been done to the nation in the eyes of the world.
At a time when we face grave situations abroad because of the hatred that Communism bears toward a system of government based on human rights, it would be difficult to exaggerate the harm that is being done to the prestige and influence, and indeed to the safety, of our nation and the world.
Our enemies are gloating over this incident and using it everywhere to misrepresent our whole nation. We are portrayed as a violator of those standards of conduct which the peoples of the world united to proclaim in the Charter of the United Nations. There, they affirmed "faith in fundamental human rights and in the dignity and worth of the human person" and did so "without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion."
And so, with confidence, I call upon the citizens of the State of Arkansas to assist in bringing to an immediate end all interference with the law and its processes. If resistance to the Federal Court order ceases at once, the further presence of Federal troops will be unnecessary and the City of Little Rock will return to its normal habits of peace and order and a blot upon the fair name and high honor of our nation in the world will be removed.
Thus will be restored the image of America and of all its parts as one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
September 25 - At 9:22 a.m., the Little Rock Nine are escorted through the front doors of Little Rock Central High School by more than 20 members of the 101st Airborne Infantry Division. As the Nine enter the main entrance under the care of 22 men, an Army helicopter circles overhead, 350+ paratroopers are surrounding the school's perimeter, and a crowd of students outside the building chant "2, 4, 6, 8, we ain't gonna integrate" in protest.
September 26 - Governor Orval Faubus appears on television to address the people of Arkansas. He declares that “We are now in an occupied territory. Evidence of the naked force of the Federal Government is here apparent, in these unsheathed bayonets in the back of school girls.