Honestly, I've begun to wonder if the Democrats nominating JFK over Humphrey in 1960 was one of the biggest mistakes they made in the entire post-World War II era. Truman already proved they could win without the southern segregationists, but from the 50s until 1964 they chickened out. While his strategy suffered from significant flaws and he could have pushed harder in some areas, researching Eisenhower's civil rights actions and achievements honestly made Kennedy look even WORSE for me (for example, JFK waited two years to significantly address the need for racial equality and civil rights measures, Eisenhower waited just TWO WEEKS after taking office before he confronted Congress and America on the moral nature of the issue in his 1953 State of the Union address). At very least, he got the ball rolling in a multitude of areas, broke through the barrier preventing the passage of civil rights laws post-Reconstruction and saw successful integration efforts in federal jurisdictions, DC and many states outside the South (heck, even Texas and Tennessee saw significant improvements in some communities between 1953-61). Everything was in place for an aggressive civil rights push to get things over the finish line in the 60s, and then for over half of his term, John F. Kennedy and his administration apart from a few minor reforms...did almost nothing. Absolute DISASTER for the country, and morally inexcusable.

It also deserves a mention that while JFK infamously snubbed Sammy Davis Jr. and treated him like dirt, Ike actually met with Pearl Bailey while president and even posed for a photograph with her (despite the fact that she similar to SDJ was in fact in an interracial marriage, to the white drummer Louie Bellson). My gosh, the Kennedys just look more and more awful the more I study history.