President John F. Kennedy on the Road to Camelot: He Wants Government to Do More to Support the Arts

John F. Kennedy and his First Lady Jacqueline brought to the White House a youth and vitality that appealed immediately to Americans. He had elegance, courage, and wisdom; she was sophisticated, sensitive and charming in three languages. Their arrival upon the national scene at this time was a felicitous and dramatic coincidence in American cultural history. The United States was experiencing a wave of growth in its urban population and enjoying a period of economic prosperity. Scientific advances in mass communications, symbolized by the Telstar satellite, brought the world, live, into every American’s living room. All of these provided fertile soil for cultural and artistic pursuits. The Kennedys were lifelong supporters and advocates of such pursuits, defining them as "our contribution to the human spirit," and they became a central focus of his administration. Soon after J.F.K. was inaugurated, he stated, "I am determined…that there will be an American renaissance in which imagination, daring and the creative arts point the way." In March 1961 Kennedy set in motion his accent on the arts and culture by throwing his support strongly behind a National Cultural Center in Washington, writing that it would have “enormous importance to the cultural life of the nation as a whole”. On September 2 he moved to get the project funded.

The real spotlight on the American cultural and artistic scene, however, would soon fall on the White House itself. In September the Kennedys were in the process of planning an extraordinary array of events and entertainments that would soon start being held there; the kickoff would be a concert to be given by Pablo Casals in the White House in November (the invitees to which would include some of the nation's most prominent composers and conductors: Samuel Barber, Aaron Copeland, Gian Carlo Menotti, Roger Sessions, Virgil Thomson, Leonard Bernstein, Eugene Ormandy and Leopold Stokowski). Eventually the White House became a deliberate showcase for America's leading minds and artists, with opera stars, dancers, instrumentalists, singers, actors, architects, authors, intellectuals and other cultural leaders as guests. But on September 8, 1961, that vision was still in the future.

Paul Hume was the music editor for the Washington Post from 1946 to 1982, and an author of books on music. He also hosted a long-running classical music program and was guest commentator for the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts. He would receive a Peabody Award in 1977 for his outstanding achievement in music criticism. Hume is best known for his critical review in December 1950 of a concert by Margaret Truman and the scathing letter he later received from her father, President Harry S. Truman.  He was one of those in the arts invited to write Kennedy a letter on the subject, to be included in two volumes to be given to the President.

After seeing these books, JFK responded. Typed letter Signed on White House letterhead, Washington, September 8, 1961, to Hume. “Miss Kay Halle turned over to me a few days ago two albums filled with letters from the artists and writers who were invited to the Inauguration ceremonies. Mrs. Kennedy and I have had extraordinary pleasure in going through these volumes. We are grateful for the letters, and we shall treasure them for the rest of our lives. I am hopeful that this collaboration between government and the arts will continue and prosper. Mrs. Kennedy and I would be particularly interested in any suggestions you may have in the future about the possible contributions the national government might make to the arts in America. My wife joins me in extending best thanks and regards.” With the original envelope.

The collaboration between government and the arts did continue under the Kennedys leadership, gathering additional strength in 1962 and 1963. The Kennedys would also demonstrate that the White House could be an influence in encouraging public acceptance of the arts. In 1962 the First Lady would restore and redecorate the White House and then invite the whole nation in for a televised tour. August Heckscher, who was appointed by Kennedy as the first White House Cultural Coordinator in February 1962, notes that the President believed that progress in the arts was intimately related to all that he wanted America to be. After his death in 1963, the National Cultural Center he had fought for was designated a living memorial and renamed the Kennedy Center for the Arts; it continues to serve as a reminder of Kennedy’s commitment to the arts in America.

Just days after her husband was killed, Jacqueline Kennedy was interviewed by Theodore White for Life magazine and asked how the Kennedy years would be remembered.  She thought of an analogy in the arts, saying “All I keep thinking of is this line from a musical comedy,” and went on to explain. Camelot, the Broadway musical starring Richard Burton and Julie Andrews, had opened in December 1960, a few weeks after Kennedy was elected president. The Kennedys had attended the show and loved it. She told White that at night, they would listen to a recording of the musical on their Victrola before they went to sleep. Jack’s favorite song came at the very end of the musical, and his favorite lines were, ‘Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot…’ There’ll be great presidents again…but there’ll never be another Camelot again.” Mrs. Kennedy herself thus created the image that people have for those magic years, of Camelot, the journey to which was just beginning when her husband told Hume that the arts and the government could and should collaborate.