Enter the Dixiecrats

Black Americans were beneficiaries of Democratic policies, including President Truman's 1948 signing of Executive Order 9981, committing the U.S. government to integrating a long-segregated military.

Civil rights programs under President Kennedy and, more dramatically, under President Johnson (the Great Society program and his role in the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act) further cemented the relationship between blacks and Democrats.

But by then, the split that started between the Democrats and many of their white southern counterparts — who bristled at Truman's 1948 desegregation order and the Democrats' subsequent support of the civil rights movement — had widened into a chasm.

The Dixiecrats — those disaffected Democrats who bolted to the Republican party in 1964 — were pivotal to the success of Richard Nixon's “southern strategy” in 1968, and formed the nucleus of what would ultimately become the modern GOP.

MORE FROM POLITICS

Politics Section Front

For Obama, defining China is a challenge Source: U.S. envoy objects to troop increase Official: Obama rejects war options Obama honors veterans at Arlington cemetery Palin's book tour steers clear of major cities Sources: Reid eyes payroll tax rise on high earners Catholic bishops shape health care bill Husband of retired Justice O'Connor dies White House seeks to fix ailing airline industry Of bats and billions: Following stimulus funds Politics Section Front   Add Politics headlines to your news reader: