At the White House President Dwight D. Eisenhower says he doesn't want to take sides. He believes in persuasion. But there is no persuading the lawbreakers who stand outside Central High that day and the next. Reluctantly, Eisenhower orders federal troops sent to Little Rock, saying "mob rule cannot be allowed to override the decisions of our courts ."

On September 24, 1957, under the protection of the U. S. military, the nine black students are escorted to Central High School . One of the nine students is Ernest Green . A military convoy takes him to school that day. There is a jeep in front and a jeep behind, as he later remembers: "They both had machine gun mounts. The whole school was ringed with paratroopers and helicopters hovering around. We marched up the steps with this circle of soldiers with bayonets drawn. Walking up the steps that day was probably one of the biggest feelings I've ever had."

Daisy Bates , who was president of the Arkansas chapter of the NAACP, wrote about what unfolded next: "Around the massive brick schoolhouse, 350 paratroopers stood grimly at attention. Within minutes a world that had been holding its breath learned that the nine pupils, protected by the might of the U.S. military, had finally entered the 'never-never land.' "

That year, Ernest Green became the first black person to graduate from Central High . He wrote, "I figured I was making a statement and helping black people's existence in Little Rock. I kept telling myself, I just can't trip with all those cameras watching me. But I knew that once I got as far as that principal and received that diploma, I had cracked the wall."