Eisenhower Chooses Everett J. Morrow and Val J. Washington as Top-Level White House Advisors

The U.S. presidential elections of 1952 and 1956 occurred in the midst of what has become known as the ‘civil rights movement.’ The Supreme Court handed down its Brown vs. Board of Education decision in May 1954, and the Montgomery bus boycott began in December 1956.

In 1952, the Democratic Party nominated John Sparkman, an avowed segregationist, to its national ticket. Sparkman was the candidate for vice president; the Democratic candidate for president was Adlai Stevenson. The Republican party nominated Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon, who favored integration and desegregation. Black voters were faced with a clear choice.

African-American groups took observable actions: the National Council of Negro Democrats endorsed Eisenhower for president. The Stevenson-Sparkman ticket was shocking to Black voters. Historians at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center write that not only was Eisenhower popular because he was a WW2 hero and projected a friendly and likeable personality, but also that

Eisenhower also cut into Stevenson’s margins in many Democratic constituencies, including African Americans, who voted in larger proportion for the President than for any Republican candidate since Herbert Hoover.

Once in office, Ike moved forward: he appointed Everett Frederic Morrow to an executive office. No Black leader had held a job at a level this high before. On July 10, 1955, the Detroit Free Press ran an AP wire story about Morrow, under the headline “White House Picks Negro for Top Spot,” stating that

He will be administrative officer of the White House “Special Projects Group” which comprises advisers to the President on foreign, economic, disarmament and other problems.

Historian Steve Neal writes that Eisenhower also “established the United States Commission on Civil Rights.” In both 1957 and in 1960, Ike moved the first two civil rights bills of the twentieth century through Congress, against opposition from Democrats like Lyndon Johnson and John Sparkman. Democratic Senator Robert Byrd also opposed the civil rights bills, and opposed desegregation and integration in any form, yet Hillary Clinton called him a “friend and mentor.” Steve Neal writes:

Eisenhower enforced the Court’s decision in sending federal troops into Little Rock, and he went on to establish a civil rights division in the Justice Department in 1957 that committed the federal government to defend the rights of minorities and provided momentum to the civil rights movement.

Eisenhower appointed another African-American, Valores James Washington, to be a top-level advisor in the White House. Given his cumbersome name, he usually asked people to refer to him as Val J. Washington, and he had also worked as one of Eisenhower’s strategists during the 1952 election. He also held various offices within the Republican Party.

African-Americans Acquire Significant Roles in the Eisenhower Administration: Black Leaders Manage Central Duties in Ike’s White House

On July 10, 1955, the Washington Post and Times Herald contained an article headlined “Negro Named to Ike’s Staff.” The article revealed that no previous president had ever appointed an African-American to such an important office:

President Eisenhower yesterday named a Negro for the first time to an important post in his executive office.

On July 12, 1955, the New York Times ran a brief article under the headline, “White House Aide Sworn.” But the small size of the article belied its historical significance.

When Everett Frederic Morrow took his oath of office, he was living proof that President Eisenhower was creating equal opportunities for African-Americans. Never before had a Black man achieved the high standing that Mr. Morrow obtained that day, as the Times stated:

Everett F. Morrow was sworn in today as a White House administrative officer, the first Negro to hold a position of that rank.

Mr. Morrow had experiences and connections from his previous work at the CBS network and in the NAACP.

Ike’s administration had implemented a list of fourteen actions designed to promote and establish civil rights. President Eisenhower also worked to obtain congressional approval for the 1957 Civil Right Bill.

Angered by Ike’s work, Democratic Senator Robert Byrd opposed the Civil Rights Bill by voting against it, while Democratic Senator (and later president) Lyndon Johnson opposed the bill by offering amendments which would prevent its implementation.

Despite such vicious opposition to civil rights, President Eisenhower continued to work in support of civil rights, confirming the decision by the National Council of Negro Democrats to endorse him in the 1952 presidential election. That shocking action was taken by this group because it understood that the Democratic Party’s national candidates offered no meaningful opposition to segregation.

Many leaders in the Democratic Party, like Senators Byrd and Johnson, were infuriated that African-American voters would dare to vote for a Republican candidate like Eisenhower. Black voters, however, defiantly disobeyed the Democratic Party, because they understood that meaningful advances toward civil rights, and meaningful opposition to segregation, would come only from Ike’s administration.

Eisenhower Empowers African-Americans: Blacks in Significant Roles in Ike’s Administration

On July 10, 1955, the New York Times ran an Associated Press article with the dateline July 9, Washington. The AP wire story was headlined “Negro Appointed Eisenhower Aide” and represented a meaningful step forward as African-Americans worked toward full civil rights in the 1950s.

The same day, the Los Angels Times ran the same article under the headline, “Negro Appointed to Top Job in Executive Office.” The article stated that

The White House announced today that Everett Frederic Morrow, a Negro, had been named to a top job in President Eisenhower’s executive office.

Large numbers of Black voters took the news as confirmation of their decision to vote Eisenhower into the presidency in 1952. Groups like the National Council of Negro Democrats had taken the bold step of endorsing Eisenhower’s candidacy. The Democratic Party’s ticket for the national election did not convince African-American voters that the Democrats were solidly opposed to segregation.

The Eisenhower campaign drew up a list of fourteen actions which his administration took once he was inaugurated. The steps toward complete civil rights angered key Democrats like Senator Robert Byrd, whom Hillary Clinton called a “friend and mentor.” Byrd voted against Ike’s 1957 Civil Rights bill.

Concerning Everett Frederic Morrow, who’d graduated from Rutgers Law School, the New York Times stated flatly that

He will be the first Negro of such rank in the executive office.

Another Democratic Party leader, Senator (and later president) Lyndon Johnson, retaliated by offering amendments to the 1957 Civil Rights bill which were designed to make the bill’s provisions unenforceable. Johnson’s opposition was more of a stealth tactic, while Byrd’s was a head-on attack.

Inside the White House, Morrow brought important experiences and connections to the Eisenhower administration from his previous posts at the CBS network and at the NAACP.

Mr. Morrow served on President Eisenhower’s campaign train in 1952. He has been with the Columbia Broadcasting System public relations staff and at one time was field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

It was a powerful statement on Eisenhower’s part that Morrow was placed in a supervisory role over Nelson Rockefeller. To have a Black executive overseeing a member of the wealthy and powerful Rockefeller family was a clear sign of Ike’s commitment to civil rights.

The National Council of Negro Democrats shocked observers by endorsing the Republican presidential candidate, but this group knew that meaningful opposition to segregation would come from President Eisenhower, and not from the Democratic Party’s candidates.

Morrow’s grandfather had been a leader and an educator within the Presbyterian Church. The New York Times noted that

He comes from a family long identified with educational and civic development of Negro life.

Prior this appointment, Morrow had worked in the Eisenhower administration as “an advisor on business affairs to Secretary of Commerce Sinclair Weeks.”