“Art Is Political in the Most Profound Sense”
On November 29, 1962, President (1917–1963) and Mrs. Kennedy (1929–1994) spoke at a fundraising dinner for the National Cultural Center that was broadcast live across the U.S. via closed-circuit hookup. Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990) served as master of ceremonies for an evening that included appearances by Pablo Casals (1876–1973), Marian Anderson (1897–1993), Van Cliburn (b. 1934), Robert Frost (1874-1963), Fredric March (1897–1975), Danny Kaye (1913–1987), Bob Newhart (b. 1929), Harry Belafonte (b. 1927), and a young Yo-Yo Ma (b. 1955). “Art is political in the most profound sense,” the president stated, “not as a weapon in the struggle, but as an instrument of understanding of the futility of struggle between those who share man’s faith.”
On November 29, 1962, President (1917–1963) and Mrs. Kennedy (1929–1994) spoke at a fundraising dinner for the National Cultural Center that was broadcast live across the U.S. via closed-circuit hookup. Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990) served as master of ceremonies for an evening that included appearances by Pablo Casals (1876–1973), Marian Anderson (1897–1993), Van Cliburn (b. 1934), Robert Frost (1874-1963), Fredric March (1897–1975), Danny Kaye (1913–1987), Bob Newhart (b. 1929), Harry Belafonte (b. 1927), and a young Yo-Yo Ma (b. 1955). “Art is political in the most profound sense,” the president stated, “not as a weapon in the struggle, but as an instrument of understanding of the futility of struggle between those who share man’s faith.”