Double V

Executive Order 9981, issued by President Harry Truman on July 26, 1948, desegregated all branches of the United States military by decree. EO 9981 is often portrayed as a heroic and unexpected move by Truman. But in reality, Truman''s history-making order was the culmination of more than 150 years of legal, political, and moral struggle.

?Beginning with the Revolutionary War, African Americans had...