To Change a Nation's Cultural Policy: The Kennedy Administration and the Arts in the , 1961-1963

GENERAL

Research Abstract
To Change a Nation's Cultural Policy: The Kennedy Administration and the Arts in the , 1961-1963

This essay is found in the book Public Policy and the Arts edited by Kevin Mulcahy and C. Richard Swaim.

In his discussion of the Kennedy administration and the arts, [the author] analyzes the political arguments for a national cultural agency. [He] claims that the national government has had an impact on the nation's literature and other art forms since the beginning of the republic. However, these early experiments - most notably those of the New Deal era - widened the gulf between culture and government. Support for artistic activities in the came largely from the box office and a truly remarkable system of private patronage encouraged by tax deductible provisions. These was not yet large-scale, direct support for culture on the European model. This would change.

The election of John Kennedy brought to Washington a large number of individuals wanting more federal support for the arts. The creation of a presidential assistant for cultural affairs, and the subsequent Hechscher report recommending the creation of an arts foundation, helped to establish the political and intellectual base for such support. [The author's] contribution represents an evaluation of the influence of domestic politics, ideology, and presidential personalities on cultural policymaking. These are important because they are precisely what continue to influence the development of arts policy in the United States. (General introduction, p. 4-5)

CONTENTS

  • Prologue.
  • The beginning.
  • Groping for a policy.
  • Defeat in the House of Representatives.
  • A special consultant to the President for the arts.
  • The job of the special consultant.
  • The Advisory Council on the Arts.
  • The role of the arts constituency.
  • The final months.
  • Epilogue.
  • John F. Kennedy and the arts - an assessment.
In his discussion of the Kennedy administration and the arts, [the author] analyzes the political arguments for a national cultural agency. This essay is found in the book Public Policy and the Arts edited by Kevin Mulcahy and C. Richard Swaim.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Book
Cummings, Milton C. Jr.
0-86531-115-3 (h); 0-86531-288-5 (p)
pages 141-168
1982
PUBLISHER DETAILS

Westview Press
5500 Central Avenue
Boulder
CO, 80301
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