nd the White House group, the meeting produced several notable
agreements. For his part, Johnson, accepting the recommendations of
Fahy and Reid, agreed to reject the Army's latest response and (p. 361)
order the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff to confer
informally with the committee in an attempt to produce an acceptable
program. At the same time, Johnson made no move to order a common
enlistment standard; he told Fahy that the matter was extremely
controversial and setting such standards would involve rescinding
previous interdepartmental agreements. On the committee's behalf, Fahy
agreed to reword the recommendation on schooling for all qualified
Negroes within eighteen months of enlistment and to discuss further
the parity issue.[14-68]

[Footnote 14-68: Min, PPB Mtg, 2 Jun 49; Ltr, Fahy to
Johnson, 25 Jul 49, FC file.]

[Illustration: PRESS NOTICE. _Rejection of the Army's second proposal
as seen by the Afro-American, June 14, 1949._]

General Lanham endorsed the committee's belief that there was a need
for practical, intermediate steps when he drafted a response to the
Army for Secretary Johnson to sign. "It is my conviction," he wanted
Johnson to say, "that the Department of the Army must meet this issue
[the equal opportunity imposed by Executive Order 9981] squarely and
that its action, no matter how modest or small at its inception, must
be progressive in spirit and carry with it the unmistakable promise of
an ultimate solution in consonance with the Chief Executive's position
and our national policy."[14-69]

[Footnote 14-69: Draft Memo, Lanham for SecDef, 2 Jun
49, FC file.]

But the Army received no such specific instruction. Although Johnson
rejected the Army's second reply and demanded another based on a
careful consideration of the Fahy Committee's recommendations,[14-70]
he deleted Lanham's demand for immediate steps toward providing equal
opportunity. Johnson's rejection of Lanham's proposal--a tacit
rejection of the committee's basic premise as well--did not
necessarily indicate a shift in Johnson's position, but it did
establish a basis for future rivalry between the secretary and the
committee. Until now Johnson and the committee, through the medium of
the Personnel Policy Board, had worked in an informal partnership
whose fruitfulness was readily apparent in the development of
acceptable Navy and Air