Say what you will about the president’s legacy as a leader, but give him credit for acknowledging the shameful conditions he saw in the Deep South among the most impoverished of his fellow citizens.

The people were, he said, “that other nation within a nation – the poor – whose distress has not captured the conscience of America.” He pledged help to those who “live on the outskirts of hope – some because of their poverty, and some because of their color, and all too many because of both.” He made this vow: