02/22/2026
CELEBRATING PRESIDENTS' DAY
On November 8, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Public Law 90-130, which repealed two of the provisions of PL 625 (1948 Women's Armed Services Integration Act). PL 90-130 opened promotions for women to general and flag ranks, lifted ceilings on other ranks, and removed the 2% ceiling on the number of women allowed on active duty.
It should be noted that PL 625 did allow for the temporary promotion to 0-6 if a woman served as the chief of a women’s component and permitted her to retire at that grade. However, if she remained on active duty, she would return to the next lower grade.
Over the years, the women’s movement, the growing fight for equal rights, and the protracted Vietnam War and its pressure on the draft all seem to have converged to bring about PL 90-130 and the November 8, 1967, repeal of grade caps and personnel ceilings for women. What pushed it over the edge? The military needed people and women were a ready resource. But, if they brought more women in, the grade cap had to be lifted.
Three years later, on June 11, 1970, in a dual ceremony, the first two women were promoted to general officer. The first, Army Nurse Corps Brigadier General Anna Mae Hays; and next Women’s Army Corps Director, Brigadier General Elizabeth Hoisington. It was official—America had its first women general officer in history.
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