ABSTRACT
Presidents Kennedy and Johnson laid the foundation for twentieth- and twenty-first-century approaches to civil rights. Both presidents issued executive orders (EO 10925) in the case of Kennedy and EO 11246 in the case of Johnson) that required affirmative action but Johnson was able to institute a framework for enforcement that Kennedy, whose term was tragically cut short, could not. This chapter also discusses the personal views of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson on civil rights.
