Black Cadets at the Coast Guard Academy When President John F. Kennedy was ready to break the color barrier at the last of the nation's military service academies, London Steverson was ready to answer the call. President Kennedy's new frontier was to push the envelop in areas of national life that had not been reached during the terms of President Harry S. Truman or President Dwight D. Eisenhower. A Presidential Executive Order 9981 issued by President Truman had desegregated the armed forces on July 26, 1948, but the service academies were lagging in officer recruiting. |