Eisenhower and the Beginning of the Civil Rights Revolution

"A Matter of Justice is a fascinating and important book. Unbeknownst to most Americans, the Eisenhower administration presided over major civil rights advances, paving the way for the better-known breakthroughs of the 1960s. David Nichols vividly narrates this crucial but hitherto unappreciated aspect of the civil rights revolution." -- Fred I. Greenstein, author of The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader"A Matter of Justice is superb. This generation needs to appreciate just what more >>

"A Matter of Justice is a fascinating and important book. Unbeknownst to most Americans, the Eisenhower administration presided over major civil rights advances, paving the way for the better-known breakthroughs of the 1960s. David Nichols vividly narrates this crucial but hitherto unappreciated aspect of the civil rights revolution." -- Fred I. Greenstein, author of The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader"A Matter of Justice is superb. This generation needs to appreciate just what President Eisenhower did to bring about a major revolution in this country, especially in his appointment of Earl Warren and great federal judges in the South. Few recognize the difficult decision he had to make in putting federal troops into Little Rock, but that action made the difference in the success of school desegregation." -- William T. Coleman, Jr., co-author of the Brown v. Board of Education brief and former Secretary of Transportation"David Nichols has mastered the last frontier of Eisenhower revisionism -- civil rights. "A Matter of Justice" is a triumph."

-- Daun van Ee, editor of "The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower""David Nichols makes a fascinating and persuasive case that President Eisenhower, for all his rhetorical flubs, made great contributions to the advance of civil rights. Deeds, not words, as Nichols puts it."

-- Anthony Lewis, former "New York Times" columnist and author of "Gideon's Trumpet""David A. Nichols has written an important, revealing book about Eisenhower's extensive civil rights record. "A Matter of Justice" will be indispensable to future Eisenhower biographers."

-- James F. Simon, Martin Professor of Law at New York Law School and author of "Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney""This is revisionist history at its best -- provocative yet unbiased. With anyone else in the White House during the 1950s, the civil rights movement would have emerged more slowly. Nichols's brisk account is also a terrific character study of Eisenhower as a misunderstood but effective politician."

-- Jonathan Alter, author of "The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope""Eisenhower is one of the unsung heroes of the quest for civil rights and racial justice, and David Nichols captures the essence of his quiet leadership in this compelling, well-researched, and judicious book. Fifty years after his deft handling of the Little Rock crisis, Eisenhower gets his due in this important and readable work."

-- Walter Isaacson, author of "Einstein: His Life and Universe"""A Matter of Justice" is a fascinating and important book. Unbeknownst to most Americans, the Eisenhower administration presided over major civil rights advances, paving the way for the better-known breakthroughs of the 1960s. David Nichols vividly narrates this crucial but hitherto unappreciated aspect of the civil rights revolution."

-- Fred I. Greenstein, author of "The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader"""A Matter of Justice" is superb. This generation needs to appreciate just what President Eisenhower did to bring about a major revolution in this country, especially in his appointment of Earl Warren and great federal judges in the South. Few recognize the difficult decision he had to make in putting federal troops into Little Rock, but that action made the difference in the success of school desegregation."

-- William T. Coleman, Jr., co-author of the "Brown v. Board of Education" brief and former Secretary of TransportationOn the 50th anniversary of the Little Rock school desegregation crisis, a leading authority on the Eisenhower presidency mines historical archives to show that Ike boldly advanced the cause of civil rights and laid the groundwork for breakthroughs that would follow.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 narr << less