There are plenty of JFK and LBJ puffers out there in historical circles but the political priorities came first including winning elections and acting only if public opinion shifted in the right direction.
The white population was willing after the dogs and water cannons at Birmingham to accept the Civil Rights Act, after the violence at Selma the Voting Rights Act and after MLK’s assassination the Fair Housing Act.
But as the violence spread and deepened a backlash against the CR Movement deepened and LBJ’s “poverty programs” created further resentment against people on welfare driving around in nice cars and such. The popularity of a song called “Welfare Cadillac” was symbolic of the feelings among many whites at the end of the 1960’s.
Heh, heh, that song was titled “Welfare Cadilac” & the misspelling was intentional. Came out during the anti-hippie protests by hardhat workers in NYC, as I recall.
LBJ’s `Great Society’ seriously messed this country up, from the late Sixties through the Sucky Seventies. Ronald Reagan saved us in the nick of time, IMO.