However, I recognize that the man had a one-time-only, never-to-be-repeated chance to be a racially transcendent leader and do an enormous amount of good. He merely needed to take the time at his inaugural address, or shortly after, to say something along the lines of..."This country has had racial issues in the past, and there still is work to be done. However, me standing here as President proves that America has moved beyond the massive racial divide, and into a more progressive..." yada yada yada, you get the picture. He could have risen above the fray and led.
But, instead, he chose to surround himself with racially divisive people and play petty racial politics.
Ultimately, he was a small man, on a large stage.
Fantastic opportunity, totally wasted. And, in fact, I'd argue that race relations are orders of magnitude worse than when he started.