Executive Order 10730: Little Rock Desegregation

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

An executive order is an official directive from the president that has the force of law and that describes certain actions that members of the executive branch should take to enforce the law. Because it is primarily a legal document, an executive order usually lacks the inspiring language that a president might use in a speech to try to explain issues to the American people or to win their support for a program. Instead, it contains references to the specific legal basis for the president's actions and precise instructions about how to carry them out.

Eisenhower begins with a reference to a proclamation he had issued the previous day about the riots that occurred after nine African American students entered Central High School in Little Rock. Once word spread that the students were inside the school, the mob became violent and attacked four African American journalists. School authorities sent the students home in the middle of the day so that they, too, would not become the victims of mob violence. Eisenhower issued his proclamation at the end of that harrowing day and also released a public statement. In the statement, he expressed his distress over the day's “disgraceful occurrences” and pledged that he would not let a “mob of extremists” obstruct law and order in Little Rock. He also promised to use “the full power of the United States,” including “whatever force might be necessary … to carry out the orders of the Federal Court.” He added, however, “It will be a sad day for this country—both at home and abroad—if school children can safely attend their classes only under the protection of armed guards” (Eisenhower, vol. 1957, p. 689).

Eisenhower continues (paragraphs 2–4) by quoting the proclamation that explains the reasons for the action he is about to take. He uses precise, legal language in these paragraphs that begin with “whereas.” He makes clear that the crowd that had driven the nine African American students from Central High had not conducted a legitimate, legal demonstration. The Constitution guarantees the right to peaceful protest. What happened in Little Rock, however, was an “unlawful” assemblage that had engaged in “obstruction of justice.” Those who had participated in the mob that surrounded Central High had violated federal and state law, Eisenhower declares. Their actions had also denied to the black students the constitutional guarantee of “the equal protection of the laws.” That last phrase comes from the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1868 and designed to ensure that African Americans, most of whom had lived in slavery until the end of the Civil War in 1865, would enjoy the rights of citizenship and “the equal protection of the laws.”

In paragraph 5, the president quotes the action that he had taken in the previous day's proclamation. He refers to specific sections of the U.S. Code, a compilation of federal law. The sections that Eisenhower cites deal with the president's authority to protect the rights of citizens in states where violations of law and order, such as domestic violence or insurrection, prevent the enforcement of federal or state law. Title 10, section 334 of the U.S. Code requires the president to issue a proclamation ordering those people who are obstructing justice through their violent actions to stop immediately. That is precisely what Eisenhower does when he commands those persons “to cease and desist therefrom, and to disperse forthwith.”

Further action, however, was necessary. As Eisenhower explains in paragraph 6, his proclamation had not ended the mob violence at Central High. On September 24, the morning after he issued the proclamation, there were even more people at the Little Rock high school who were determined to prevent its desegregation. As a result, Eisenhower was taking further action on the basis of specific sections in the U.S. Code that he cites in paragraph 7. Section 332 gives him authority to use the armed forces to restore order. Section 333 provides authorization to act if state authorities “are unable, fail, or refuse” to ensure people's constitutional and legal rights. Because Faubus had not met his obligation to protect the rights of the African American students, Eisenhower was using his powers under federal law to do so. Throughout his executive order, the president uses the exact language of the sections of the U.S. Code on which he is relying.

In paragraphs 8–11, Eisenhower orders military forces to Arkansas. Their mission is to prevent interference with the U.S. district court order concerning Central High School. Eisenhower gives the secretary of defense the authority to rely on National Guard troops as well as units of the U.S. Army. The secretary used that authority to dispatch to Little Rock soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division, a combat unit that had served in the D-day invasion of Nazi-occupied France during World War II. The soldiers in the 101st Airborne left their base at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and arrived in Little Rock just hours after the president issued his executive order. Eisenhower places no time limit on the deployment of these troops; his executive order allows them to serve for “an indefinite period.”

Additional Commentary by Michael J. O'Neal, Independent Scholar, Moscow, Idaho

Eisenhower begins by making reference to his proclamation of the previous day. (A presidential proclamation has the same force in law as an executive order, but an executive order is directed at people inside the government, ordering them to carry out a policy, whereas proclamations are directed at people outside the government, generally ordering them to comply with the law but sometimes used for ceremonial or symbolic purposes.) In that proclamation he noted that people, either individually or in “combinations” or “conspiracies,” were “wilfully” obstructing justice in matters related to the desegregation of Central High School. He notes that the situation makes it “impracticable” to enforce court orders through ordinary means and that the obstruction of justice denied equal protection under the Constitution to students in Little Rock. Thus, the president as chief executive had constitutional powers to order the citizens of Little Rock to desist from obstructing justice.

The president then notes that obstruction of court desegregation orders continues and threatens to continue. Accordingly, he is states that he is using his powers under the Constitution and the U.S. statutes to take further steps. The first is to authorize the secretary of defense (at the time, Charles Erwin Wilson) to order into active service units of the National Guard and the Arkansas Air National Guard for an indefinite period of time. The second and related step is to authorize the secretary of defense to dispatch these units to Arkansas for the purpose of enforcing court orders related to the desegregation of Little Rock's schools. The secretary of defense is further authorized to activate and deploy units of the armed forces (such as the 101st Airborne Division). The executive order concludes with a provision allowing the secretary of defense to delegate his authority to the secretaries of the army and air force.