On July 2, 1964, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed
into law the historic Civil Rights Act in a nationally televised
ceremony at the White House.
The most sweeping civil rights legislation passed by Congress
since the post-Civil War Reconstruction era, the Civil Rights
Act prohibited racial discrimination in employment and
education and outlawed racial segregation in public places
such as schools, buses, parks and swimming pools.
On June 27, 1950, President Harry S. Truman announced he is
ordering U.S. air and naval forces to South Korea to aid the
democratic nation in repulsing an invasion by communist
North Korea.
The United States was undertaking the major military operation,
he explained, to enforce a United Nations resolution calling for
an end to hostilities, and to stem the spread of communism in
Asia.
In addition to ordering U.S. forces to Korea, Truman also deployed
the U.S. 7th Fleet to Formosa (Taiwan) to guard against invasion
by communist China and ordered an acceleration of military aid
to French forces fighting communist guerrillas in Vietnam.
The total U.S. dead in the Korean War
numbers 36,516.
On June 26, 1948, U.S. and British pilots began delivering food
and supplies by airplane to Berlin after the city was isolated by
a Soviet Union blockade.
As a result, beginning on June 24 the western section of Berlin
and its 2 million people were deprived of food, heating fuel and
other crucial supplies.
Though some in U.S. President Harry S. Truman’s administration
called for a direct military response to this aggressive Soviet
move, Truman worried such a response would trigger another
world war. Instead, he authorized a massive airlift operation.
The first planes took off from England and western Germany on
June 26, loaded with food, clothing, water, medicine and fuel.
Harry S. Truman (1884 – 1972). The 33rd
president of the United States, serving
from 1945 to 1953.
On June 22, 1944, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed
the G.I. Bill, an unprecedented act of legislation designed to
compensate returning members of the armed services—known
as G.I.s—for their efforts in World War II.
As the last of its sweeping New Deal reforms, Roosevelt’s
administration created the G.I. Bill (officially the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944) hoping to avoid a relapse into the
Great Depression after the war ended.
Over 50 years, the impact of the G.I. Bill was enormous, with
20 million veterans and dependents using the education
benefits and 14 million home loans guaranteed, for a total
federal investment of $67 billion.
June 18, 1812: The day after the Senate followed the House
of Representatives in voting to declare war against Great
Britain, President James Madison signed the declaration
into law—and the War of 1812 began.
With an American victory on Lake Champlain, on December
24, 1814, the Treaty of Ghent was signed, formally ending
the War of 1812.
James Madison (1750 – 1836)
Madison served as the fourth president of the United
States from 1809 to 1817.
He had pivotal role in drafting and promoting the
Constitution of the United States and the Bill of
Rights.
