Dean Martin Blog: Don Rickles Reflects on Dean Martin & Rat Pack (2007)

For Dean Martin, family always came first. His friend, Sammy Davis Jr., wasn’t invited to John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inauguration and in response, the singer refused to go out of loyalty to the fellow Rat Pack member. In 1960, Davis said "I do" to May Britt, a white actress, which immediately sparked backlash. In a 1989 book titled "Why Me?" which the singer co-wrote with his friends, Davis claimed that the new president asked him and the Swedish star not to participate in the inauguration out of fear that an interracial couple would anger Southerners.