Reply #4: Seeing a documentary on ballerina Maria Tallchief just now reminded me of

[Lydia Leftcoast]

how the quality of American presidents has gone down in the past 40 years.

There was a film clip of JFK speaking at a fundraising event for the National Center for the Arts (named the Kennedy Center for the Arts after his death), and his speech was one that the Bushboy would NEVER give. I couldn't find the text of the exact speech, but here is the text of a similar one, given less than a month before the assassination:

“I see little of more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist.

If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision whereever it takes him.

I look forward to an America which will reward achievement in the arts as we reward achievement in business or statecraft.

I look forward to an America which will steadily raise the standards of artistic accomplishment and which will steadily enlarge cultural opportunities for all our citizens.”