Fact check: What happened when presidents federalized National Guard during civil rights era?

1. Summary of the results

During the civil rights era, presidents primarily federalized the National Guard to protect and advance civil rights, not suppress them. Key historical events include:

• President Eisenhower's 1957 federalization of Arkansas National Guard to enforce school integration at Little Rock Central High School ^{[1] [2]}
• President Kennedy's 1963 federalization of Alabama's National Guard for desegregation ^[1]
• President Johnson's 1965 deployment to protect Selma voting rights march participants ^{[1] [3]}

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

Several important contextual elements are missing from the original question:

• The nature of Guard deployments evolved over time - while early deployments focused on protecting civil rights, later ones (post-1968) shifted towards containing riots, particularly after MLK's assassination ^[4]
• These actions represented significant demonstrations of presidential authority to use military forces for advancing civil rights objectives ^[2]
• Federalization of the National Guard has a broader historical context beyond civil rights, including deployments during World War I, World War II, and the Cold War ^[5]

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The question itself could lead to misconceptions:

• It might suggest that federalization was primarily used to suppress civil rights, when in fact it was predominantly used to protect African Americans and enforce integration between 1957-1965 ^[4]
• The question's framing might overlook the crucial distinction between state and federal control of the National Guard - presidents specifically federalized these forces to override state authorities who were resistant to civil rights enforcement
• The term "civil rights era" needs more precise definition, as the nature and purpose of National Guard deployments changed significantly over different periods within this timeframe ^[4]