In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued Executive Order #11246 at Howard
University that required federal contractors to undertake affirmative action
to increase the number of minorities that they employ. He wanted to ensure
that minorities were recruited to have real opportunities to be hired and
then eventually get a promotion.
In 1969, the Department of Labor exposed widespread racial discrimination of
the Construction Department so President Richard M. Nixon decided to
encorporate a system of 'goals and timetables' to evaluate federal
construction companies according to affirmativ…
