Michael Levy: Truman and Lessons for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
[Michael Levy is Britannica's Executive Editor. He received a bachelor’s degree (1991) in political science from the University of North Carolina and a doctorate (1996) in international relations and comparative politics from the University of Kentucky.]
Leadership is doing the right thing, even when it’s not popular. Indeed, especially when it’s not popular.
And, 62 years ago today, on July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman showed true leadership, doing something that flew in the face not only of public opinion but the strong opposition of white servicemembers. He issued Executive Order 9981 (first page pictured left), thereby ending racial segregation in the military.
When I began writing this post celebrating that anniversary, it was a far different piece than the one that follows. It changed primarily after reading carefully the recently uncovered internal surveys that the military conducted on attitudes of enlisted men and officers toward African American soldiers and Jews in the 1940s, as well as the survey that the military is currently conducting of soldiers regarding Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (Adam Amel Rogers, writing for gayrights.change.org, has lambasted the survey’s five most offensive questions, while Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com has said that the survey, which asks troops whether they suspect they know someone is gay or that others think is gay, is an exercise in testing troops’ gaydar).
Unlike in the 1940s, when both public opinion and that of white servicembers (along, even, with a large number of African American soldiers) was squarely opposed to the military’s integration, today’s public is overwhelmingly supportive–usually around 70% but as high as 78% in one survey–of allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. This, of course, is public opinion but not necessarily prevailing opinion within the military....
Read entire article at Britannica (Blog)
Leadership is doing the right thing, even when it’s not popular. Indeed, especially when it’s not popular.
And, 62 years ago today, on July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman showed true leadership, doing something that flew in the face not only of public opinion but the strong opposition of white servicemembers. He issued Executive Order 9981 (first page pictured left), thereby ending racial segregation in the military.
When I began writing this post celebrating that anniversary, it was a far different piece than the one that follows. It changed primarily after reading carefully the recently uncovered internal surveys that the military conducted on attitudes of enlisted men and officers toward African American soldiers and Jews in the 1940s, as well as the survey that the military is currently conducting of soldiers regarding Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (Adam Amel Rogers, writing for gayrights.change.org, has lambasted the survey’s five most offensive questions, while Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com has said that the survey, which asks troops whether they suspect they know someone is gay or that others think is gay, is an exercise in testing troops’ gaydar).
Unlike in the 1940s, when both public opinion and that of white servicembers (along, even, with a large number of African American soldiers) was squarely opposed to the military’s integration, today’s public is overwhelmingly supportive–usually around 70% but as high as 78% in one survey–of allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. This, of course, is public opinion but not necessarily prevailing opinion within the military....