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1862

President Abraham Lincoln is the first president to meet with a group of black leaders

1864

The Republican National Convention makes the abolition of slavery a plank in its platform

1868

Oscar J. Dunn becomes Lieutenant Governor in Louisiana

P.B.S Pinchback and James J. Harris become the first African-American delegates to the Republican National Convention, held in Chicago

1870

Hiram R. Revels is elected to fill U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Jefferson Davis

Joseph H. Rainey, South Carolina, becomes the first African-American Congressman

Alonzo J. Ransier is elected Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina before being elected to the U.S. Congress in '72

1871

Robert B. Elliot chairs South Carolina delegation to the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia

1872

John R. Lynch is elected Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives; he will be elected to US Congress in 73

1875

Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi becomes the first African-American elected to a full term in US Senate

1884

John R. Lynch is the first African-American to preside over the Republican National Convention; gives the keynote address

1901

President Theordore Roosevelt invites Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House

1920

The Republican National Convention declares that African-Americans must be admitted to all state and district conventions

1954

President Dwight Eisenhower appoints J. Ernest Wilkins as Assistant Secretary of Labor

1960

Jackie Robinson, the first black Major League Baseball player, endorses Nixon for President

1966

Edward W. Brooke (R-MA) is the first African-American elected to U.S. Senate by popular vote

1968

Arthur A Fletcher is appointed Assistant Secretary of Labor; he will be a candidate for Chairman of the Republican National Committee in '76 and appointed Chairman of the US Commission on Civil Rights in '90

1975

President Gerald Ford appoints William T. Coleman Secretary of Transportation

James B. Parsons is named Chief Judge of the US District Court in Chicago, the first African-American to hold such a position

1980

NAACP President Benjamin Hooks is invited to address the Republican National Convention

1981

President Ronald Reagan appoints Clarence Pendleton, Jr, as Chairman of the US Civil Rights Commission

1982

President Reagan appoints Clarence Thomas as Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

1989

President George H.W. Bush appoints Louis Sullivan as Secretary of Health and Human Services

President Bush appoints General Colin L. Powell as Chair of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff

President Bush appoints Condolezza Rice as Director of the National Security Council

1990

Gary Franks is elected to US Congress (CT)

1991

President Bush appoints Clarence Thomas to U.S. Supreme Court

1998

U.S. House of Representatives elects J.C. Watts (R-OK) to be Chairman of the House Republican Conference

2001

President George W. Bush appoints General Colin L. Powell as the Secretary of State; Roderick R. Paige as the Secretary of Education; Condoleezza Rice as Advisor of the National Security Council; Alphonso Jackson as the Deputy Secretary to Housing and Urban Development; Claude Alien as the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services; Leo S. Mackay, Jr, as the Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs; Larry D. Thompson as the Deputy Attorney General; and Stephen A. Perry as Adminstrator of General Services Adminstration