On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation of public schools was unconstitutional in the United States. That ruling would focus the spotlight of national attention in the United States upon the Arkansas National Guard and the Integration of Central High School. The Arkansas National Guard was drawn into the conflict when Governor Orval Faubus ordered them to "Preserve the Peace" by turning away the black students who were attempting to integrate into Little Rock's Little Rock Central High School|Central High School. President Dwight D. Eisenhower reacted to this use of the Guard to foil the court-ordered integration by federalizing the entire Arkansas National Guard and using it to protect the nine black students integrating Central High School.