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A Matter of Justice: Eisenhower and the Beginning of the Civil Rights Revolution
Fifty years after President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce a federal court order desegregating the city's Central High School, a leading authority on Eisenhower presents an original and engrossing narrative that places Ike and his civil rights policies in dramatically new light.Historians such as Stephen Ambrose and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., have portrayed Eisenhower as aloof, if not outwardly hostile, to the plight of African-Americans in the 1950s. It is still widely assumed that he opposed the Supreme Court's landmark 1954 "Brown v. Board of Education" decision mandating the desegregation of public schools, that he deeply regretted appointing Earl Warren as the Court's chief justice because of his role in molding "Brown," that he was a bystander in Congress's passage of the civil rights acts of 1957 and 1960, and that he so mishandled the Little Rock crisis that he was forced to dispatch troops to rescue a failed policy.
In this sweeping narrative, David A. Nichols demonstrates that these assumptions are wrong. Drawing on archival documents neglected by biographers and scholars, including thousands of pages newly available from the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Nichols takes us inside the Oval Office to look over Ike's shoulder as he worked behind the scenes, prior to "Brown," to desegregate the District of Columbia and complete the desegregation of the armed forces. We watch as Eisenhower, assisted by his close collaborator, Attorney General Herbert Brownell, Jr., sifted through candidates for federal judgeships and appointed five pro-civil rights justices to the Supreme Court and progressive judges to lower courts. We witnessEisenhower crafting civil rights legislation, deftly building a congressional coalition that passed the first civil rights act in eighty-two years, and maneuvering to avoid a showdown with Orval Faubus, the governor of Arkansas, over desegregation of Little Rock's Central High.
Nichols demonstrates that Eisenhower, though he was a product of his time and its backward racial attitudes, was actually more progressive on civil rights in the 1950s than his predecessor, Harry Truman, and his successors, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Eisenhower was more a man of deeds than of words and preferred quiet action over grandstanding. His cautious public rhetoric -- especially his legalistic response to "Brown" -- gave a misleading impression that he was not committed to the cause of civil rights. In fact, Eisenhower's actions laid the legal and political groundwork for the more familiar breakthroughs in civil rights achieved in the 1960s.
Fair, judicious, and exhaustively researched, "A Matter of Justice" is the definitive book on Eisenhower's civil rights policies that every presidential historian and future biographer of Ike will have to contend with.
In this sweeping narrative, David A. Nichols demonstrates that these assumptions are wrong. Drawing on archival documents neglected by biographers and scholars, including thousands of pages newly available from the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Nichols takes us inside the Oval Office to look over Ike's shoulder as he worked behind the scenes, prior to "Brown," to desegregate the District of Columbia and complete the desegregation of the armed forces. We watch as Eisenhower, assisted by his close collaborator, Attorney General Herbert Brownell, Jr., sifted through candidates for federal judgeships and appointed five pro-civil rights justices to the Supreme Court and progressive judges to lower courts. We witnessEisenhower crafting civil rights legislation, deftly building a congressional coalition that passed the first civil rights act in eighty-two years, and maneuvering to avoid a showdown with Orval Faubus, the governor of Arkansas, over desegregation of Little Rock's Central High.
Nichols demonstrates that Eisenhower, though he was a product of his time and its backward racial attitudes, was actually more progressive on civil rights in the 1950s than his predecessor, Harry Truman, and his successors, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Eisenhower was more a man of deeds than of words and preferred quiet action over grandstanding. His cautious public rhetoric -- especially his legalistic response to "Brown" -- gave a misleading impression that he was not committed to the cause of civil rights. In fact, Eisenhower's actions laid the legal and political groundwork for the more familiar breakthroughs in civil rights achieved in the 1960s.
Fair, judicious, and exhaustively researched, "A Matter of Justice" is the definitive book on Eisenhower's civil rights policies that every presidential historian and future biographer of Ike will have to contend with.
- GenresHistoryAmerican History
368 pages, Hardcover
First published September 4, 2007
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October 28, 2025
Eisenhower And Civil Rights
When Dwight Eisenhower completed his two terms as president in 1961, it appeared that historians would treat him unkindly for his allegedly weak, somnolescent leadership. As president, Eisenhower lacked the charisma and forcefulness of his two immediate successors. With the passage of time, historians have become much kinder to Eisenhower and have recognized the deft character of his leadership and the nature of his accomplishments. But Eisenhower's reputation still tends to be tarnished by what is perceived as his indifference to civil rights.
David Nichols' book, "A Matter of Justice: Eisenhower and the Civil Rights Revolution" (2007) is a close study the accomplishments and the deficiencies of Eisenhower's approach to civil rights. Nichols does not try to turn the received account of Eisenhower entirely on its head. Rather, he offers a well-document judicious portrayal of Eisenhower which shows that he deserves substantially more credit for his civil rights accomplishments that he generally receives. Nichols is a historian and a former dean at Southwestern College, Kansas. This book on Eisenhower was Nichols' first since 1978, when he wrote a book on Lincoln's Indian policy, "Lincoln and the Indians". In 2011, Nichols continued his late career exploration of Eisenhower with a book on the president's handling of the Suez crisis of 1956, "Eisenhower 1956: The President's Year of Crisis--Suez and the Brink of War". Nichols' two books on Eisenhower cover, of course, much of the same time period and can usefully be read together to understand Nichols' picture of the Eisenhower administration.
For Nichols, Eisenhower's civil rights policy emphasized action rather than rhetoric. This was both its strength and its weakness. Eisenhower was a "gradualist", for Nichols, who also preferred to work quietly for what he saw as right as opposed to touting and politicizing his civil rights accomplishments. Thus, upon assuming the presidency, Eisenhower quietly but decisively desegregated the District of Columbia, which was under Federal authority, and completed the work of desegregating the military which had been begun by his predecessor, President Truman. Eisenhower also worked towards desegregating the Federal work force and Federal contracting.
Eisenhower appointed cabinet members who were committed to ending discrimination, including his Attorney General, Herbert Brownell. Brownell filed strong briefs in the Supreme Court in favor of the plaintiffs in "Brown v. Board of Education" and in favor of stronger, faster remedial action than the Court eventually adopted. Eisenhower was actively consulted and approved the positions and the language of the briefs. Eisenhower and Brownell also made strong judicial appointments that supported the cause of civil rights. The first of these was Chief Justice Warren, although Eisenhower may have had second thoughts about this appointment. Eisenhower's remaining four Supreme Court appointments also were supportive of civil rights. Equally important, Eisenhower appointed strong Federal appellate judges in the Southern circuits who were to play a pivotal role in desegregation.
Eisenhower was more aggressive in pursuing civil rights legislation than is usually appreciated. The 1957 civil rights act was the first such legislation in 80 years. It was a weak act, but Congress, including Lyndon Johnson, had gutted strong provisions in the administration's proposed legislation. A 1960 statute, late in Eisenhower's presidency was far stronger in providing protection for voting rights.
Eisenhower's finest hour in civil rights occurred in 1957 when he sent troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to protect the judicially-recognized rights of nine African American students to attend Central High School. Although he was criticized both by segregationists and by liberals at the time, Eisenhower's approach to this situation gets a strong defense in Nichols' account. Eisenhower acted courageously and decisively to uphold the law and respect for the decisions of the courts.
In Nichols' account and in many others, Eisenhower's weakness was in his failure to use the office of the presidency as a "bully pulpit" to speak boldly of the importance of civil rights. Eisenhower failed to publicly endorse the Brown decision but instead couched his actions in the legalistic terms of upholding judicial decisions and the rule of law. (In the Brown judicial proceedings, Eisenhower and the administration had strongly supported ending school desegregation.) Eisenhower did not take an active role in securing compliance with Brown: his legal options may have been limited in the absence of legislation. Eisenhower, regrettably, did not speak out following the Emmett Till murder in 1955, although he partially made amends by speaking out in a somewhat similar tragedy four years later. Whether from his own personal reservations or from the belief that activist rhetoric would have been polarizing and unproductive, Eisenhower was not an effective spokesman for civil rights during his presidency. His administration had some solid accomplishments which up until 1963-64 compared well with the accomplishments of his successors and paved the way for them
Nichols has written a thoughtful, sympathetic study of Eisenhower's civil rights record. He writes (p. 273): "Eisenhower was a 'gradualist' but so were most other politicians of the time. Martin Luther King. Jr. was morally correct to contend that 'justice delayed is justice denied' but Eisenhower was attempting to govern, not score debating points. An immediate and complete end to segregation was not politically feasible in the 1950s. Too often, the 'gradualist' label is used to close off serious analysis. The purpose of this book has been to clarify what Eisenhower intended and accomplished. Once that record is corrected, a more constructive dialogue about his leadership will be possible. To do that with integrity, the myth that he did nothing must be put to rest."
I have learned from reading Nichols' two books on Eisenhower, written late in his career. They reinforced my admiration for our nation's 34th president. More importantly the books reminded me of the values of American life and of the complexity in their realization, of the importance of openness to different opinions in working towards social justice, and of the rashness of rushing to preordained conclusions in historical inquiry.
Robin Friedman
When Dwight Eisenhower completed his two terms as president in 1961, it appeared that historians would treat him unkindly for his allegedly weak, somnolescent leadership. As president, Eisenhower lacked the charisma and forcefulness of his two immediate successors. With the passage of time, historians have become much kinder to Eisenhower and have recognized the deft character of his leadership and the nature of his accomplishments. But Eisenhower's reputation still tends to be tarnished by what is perceived as his indifference to civil rights.
David Nichols' book, "A Matter of Justice: Eisenhower and the Civil Rights Revolution" (2007) is a close study the accomplishments and the deficiencies of Eisenhower's approach to civil rights. Nichols does not try to turn the received account of Eisenhower entirely on its head. Rather, he offers a well-document judicious portrayal of Eisenhower which shows that he deserves substantially more credit for his civil rights accomplishments that he generally receives. Nichols is a historian and a former dean at Southwestern College, Kansas. This book on Eisenhower was Nichols' first since 1978, when he wrote a book on Lincoln's Indian policy, "Lincoln and the Indians". In 2011, Nichols continued his late career exploration of Eisenhower with a book on the president's handling of the Suez crisis of 1956, "Eisenhower 1956: The President's Year of Crisis--Suez and the Brink of War". Nichols' two books on Eisenhower cover, of course, much of the same time period and can usefully be read together to understand Nichols' picture of the Eisenhower administration.
For Nichols, Eisenhower's civil rights policy emphasized action rather than rhetoric. This was both its strength and its weakness. Eisenhower was a "gradualist", for Nichols, who also preferred to work quietly for what he saw as right as opposed to touting and politicizing his civil rights accomplishments. Thus, upon assuming the presidency, Eisenhower quietly but decisively desegregated the District of Columbia, which was under Federal authority, and completed the work of desegregating the military which had been begun by his predecessor, President Truman. Eisenhower also worked towards desegregating the Federal work force and Federal contracting.
Eisenhower appointed cabinet members who were committed to ending discrimination, including his Attorney General, Herbert Brownell. Brownell filed strong briefs in the Supreme Court in favor of the plaintiffs in "Brown v. Board of Education" and in favor of stronger, faster remedial action than the Court eventually adopted. Eisenhower was actively consulted and approved the positions and the language of the briefs. Eisenhower and Brownell also made strong judicial appointments that supported the cause of civil rights. The first of these was Chief Justice Warren, although Eisenhower may have had second thoughts about this appointment. Eisenhower's remaining four Supreme Court appointments also were supportive of civil rights. Equally important, Eisenhower appointed strong Federal appellate judges in the Southern circuits who were to play a pivotal role in desegregation.
Eisenhower was more aggressive in pursuing civil rights legislation than is usually appreciated. The 1957 civil rights act was the first such legislation in 80 years. It was a weak act, but Congress, including Lyndon Johnson, had gutted strong provisions in the administration's proposed legislation. A 1960 statute, late in Eisenhower's presidency was far stronger in providing protection for voting rights.
Eisenhower's finest hour in civil rights occurred in 1957 when he sent troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to protect the judicially-recognized rights of nine African American students to attend Central High School. Although he was criticized both by segregationists and by liberals at the time, Eisenhower's approach to this situation gets a strong defense in Nichols' account. Eisenhower acted courageously and decisively to uphold the law and respect for the decisions of the courts.
In Nichols' account and in many others, Eisenhower's weakness was in his failure to use the office of the presidency as a "bully pulpit" to speak boldly of the importance of civil rights. Eisenhower failed to publicly endorse the Brown decision but instead couched his actions in the legalistic terms of upholding judicial decisions and the rule of law. (In the Brown judicial proceedings, Eisenhower and the administration had strongly supported ending school desegregation.) Eisenhower did not take an active role in securing compliance with Brown: his legal options may have been limited in the absence of legislation. Eisenhower, regrettably, did not speak out following the Emmett Till murder in 1955, although he partially made amends by speaking out in a somewhat similar tragedy four years later. Whether from his own personal reservations or from the belief that activist rhetoric would have been polarizing and unproductive, Eisenhower was not an effective spokesman for civil rights during his presidency. His administration had some solid accomplishments which up until 1963-64 compared well with the accomplishments of his successors and paved the way for them
Nichols has written a thoughtful, sympathetic study of Eisenhower's civil rights record. He writes (p. 273): "Eisenhower was a 'gradualist' but so were most other politicians of the time. Martin Luther King. Jr. was morally correct to contend that 'justice delayed is justice denied' but Eisenhower was attempting to govern, not score debating points. An immediate and complete end to segregation was not politically feasible in the 1950s. Too often, the 'gradualist' label is used to close off serious analysis. The purpose of this book has been to clarify what Eisenhower intended and accomplished. Once that record is corrected, a more constructive dialogue about his leadership will be possible. To do that with integrity, the myth that he did nothing must be put to rest."
I have learned from reading Nichols' two books on Eisenhower, written late in his career. They reinforced my admiration for our nation's 34th president. More importantly the books reminded me of the values of American life and of the complexity in their realization, of the importance of openness to different opinions in working towards social justice, and of the rashness of rushing to preordained conclusions in historical inquiry.
Robin Friedman
July 1, 2012
I first visited the Eisenhower Presidential Library in 1994. At that time, I walked into a little corner and found a small area showing some of the images related to Ike's work on civil rights. I was interested to see that he was the first president to actually have "Negro" leaders visit in the White House (including MLK). I began researching Ike's involvement in civil rights and returned many times to the library. I wanted to write a book on the subject. Then I found this book by Nichols and was so impressed that I stopped my own research. I felt that someone needed to tell the story that the history books neglect (meglected largely because Ike was in the "wrong" party and his administration did lots of the heavy lifting that JFK and LBJ were not inclined to do).
I find not only the story of Ike's support of the civil rights agenda to be compelling but also the way in which we learn that, at least in the 1950s, LBJ was an obstructionist and Vice President Nixon was a champion, of the civil rights agenda. These are critical pieces of biographical history that too many biographers and historians discount because of politics, ignorance or just the desire to caricature these men based upon selected actions in their lives. I recommend this book to all people who are interested in getting a good take on the civil rights movement in the 1950s, want to better understand Ike, LBJ, Nixon and various other characters during a time that they are not necessarily tied to in the prevailing popular history found in most schools.
I find not only the story of Ike's support of the civil rights agenda to be compelling but also the way in which we learn that, at least in the 1950s, LBJ was an obstructionist and Vice President Nixon was a champion, of the civil rights agenda. These are critical pieces of biographical history that too many biographers and historians discount because of politics, ignorance or just the desire to caricature these men based upon selected actions in their lives. I recommend this book to all people who are interested in getting a good take on the civil rights movement in the 1950s, want to better understand Ike, LBJ, Nixon and various other characters during a time that they are not necessarily tied to in the prevailing popular history found in most schools.
July 28, 2008
For several generations of Americans now, civil rights have always existed — by law if not necessarily in practice. Those of us of a certain age (and I count myself in this category) know the sit-ins, the marches, the speeches and the terrible violence of the civil rights movement only secondhand. We may know about these events, but we didn’t live them. As such, our knowledge is shaped by who’s telling the facts. And those telling the facts haven’t given President Dwight D. Eisenhower much of a role in establishing civil rights for this country.
That changes with David A. Nichols’ book. Nichols says at the start of the book that he used to be one of the historians who considered Eisenhower’s role in the civil rights to be one of benign neglect. But he changed his mind after reading through numerous private documents, some released only in the past couple of years, concerning Eisenhower and civil rights.
Nichols lays out Eisenhower’s actions as a candidate and as president in a clear, readable presentation, using endnotes for documentation so the text isn’t cluttered. He focuses not on Eisenhower’s public speeches, but on his actions and his thoughts as expressed in letters, memos and diaries. The result is a thorough, detailed look at an underrated legacy and the people who aided Eisenhower in the area of civil rights.
That changes with David A. Nichols’ book. Nichols says at the start of the book that he used to be one of the historians who considered Eisenhower’s role in the civil rights to be one of benign neglect. But he changed his mind after reading through numerous private documents, some released only in the past couple of years, concerning Eisenhower and civil rights.
Nichols lays out Eisenhower’s actions as a candidate and as president in a clear, readable presentation, using endnotes for documentation so the text isn’t cluttered. He focuses not on Eisenhower’s public speeches, but on his actions and his thoughts as expressed in letters, memos and diaries. The result is a thorough, detailed look at an underrated legacy and the people who aided Eisenhower in the area of civil rights.
May 16, 2011
This book attempts to portray President Eisenhower as more complicated than his public image (boring, unengaged), and particularly tries to credit him with much more activism in the civil rights arena. While the author's efforts make a case that Eisenhower was more engaged than is generally thought, he doesn't succeed in his stated aim. True, Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, when the Governor and the state actively opposed integration of the school system, but legally he had little choice. Even by the author's own standards it appears that the real activist was Ike's Attorney General, Herbert Brownell. While Eisenhower may or may not have supported the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education, his statements that Blacks should be patient and wait for people to get used to the idea of integration are a pretty good indicator of his feelings. This book is a good recap of the civil rights movement in the 1950s, but fails in its attempt to make Eisenhower the activist.
July 12, 2017
I hope this author never stops writing about Ike. Yet another illuminating and engrossing dissection of the most underrated president of the 20th century by David Nichols! The author does his usual splendid job of unearthing great detail hitherto undetected by previous biographies of Ike that regurgitate the conventional wisdom that the 34th president was as inert as he was bland. This volume is particularly provocative in its persuasive argument that DDE had a civil rights legacy that was far more substantive than that of his predecessors or his successors (possibly excepting LBJ). This is superb and valuable revisionist history that demolishes the biased Ike bios of the past and gives credit where it is rightly due. Very much worth reading for those interested in the presidency, civil rights, and the deceptively fascinating figure that was Dwight D. Eisenhower.
December 14, 2023
An excellent summation of the Eisenhower civil rights record. Highly recommend to anyone that wants to understand the history of civil rights in America. Deeds, not words.
May 5, 2016
Did President Eisenhower create the political environment of the modern civil rights movement? Or did he purposefully undermine the Supreme Court’s decision in “Brown v. Board?” Was Eisenhower committed to equal justice? Most historians tend to favor the notion that President Eisenhower was at best a reluctant supporter of civil rights. “In A Matter of Justice: Eisenhower and the Beginning of the Civil Rights Revolution” author David Nichols successfully explores the many ways that the historical record supports a broader understanding of President Eisenhower’s role in shaping and support the civil rights movement. What I found particularly interesting in this work was the role that his Vice-President – the much maligned Richard Nixon - played in advancing Eisenhower’s legislative agenda. Overall I found this book to be well researched and informative although a bit dry. Still for an alternative take on the conventional historical wisdom about the Eisenhower presidency this book is well worth the time.
March 3, 2013
Other presidents are often given credit for civil rights legislation and de-segregation of the American society. Eisenhower was actually the first modern era president to do so, during a period when racial unrest was just beginning. Yet another fascinating study of a great American...setting the record straight!
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January 14, 2009973.9 Nic
April 29, 2013
Excellent discussion of Eisenhower's contribution to the Civil Rights movement.
December 19, 2015
A successful effort to defend President Eisenhower's record on civil rights.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews