JFK and Bernstein: The Lost Potential for American Arts Diplomacy
In an interview published by the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, scholar discusses his book "The Propaganda of Freedom" on the cultural Cold War. He argues that JFK's arts policy was based on the false premise that only free societies produce great art, a view used to demonize the Soviet Union via the CIA-funded Congress for Cultural Freedom. Leonard Bernstein's 1959 tour with the New York Philharmonic to Russia offered a contrasting message of shared humanity. The scholar speculates that had JFK not been assassinated, he and Bernstein would have become allies, elevating arts policy to a White House priority. He criticizes the current erosion of American arts, the lack of a cultural ambassador like Bernstein, and the recent decimation of the NEA and NEH by DOGE. He also recounts Bernstein's 1967 concert on Mount Scopus after the Six-Day War, intended to foster harmony between Palestinians and Israelis, and Bernstein's later estrangement from the U.S. due to the Kennedy assassination, Watergate, and Vietnam.
Key facts
- USC Center on Public Diplomacy published interview on 'The Propaganda of Freedom'.
- Kennedy said only free societies can create great art, which the author calls counter-empirical.
- Congress for Cultural Freedom was covertly funded by the CIA.
- Nicholas Nabokov was Secretary General of the Congress for Cultural Freedom.
- Leonard Bernstein toured Russia with the New York Philharmonic in 1959.
- Bernstein delivered a lecture claiming Russians and Americans are fundamentally similar in music.
- JFK was about to appoint Richard Goodwin as advisor on the arts on the day of assassination.
- Bernstein testified before Congress advocating music education for all young Americans.
- Bernstein conducted Mahler's 'Resurrection' Symphony on Mount Scopus in 1967 after Six-Day War.
- Bernstein considered moving to Israel at end of his life.
- DOGE decimated NEA and NEH, canceling 1,400 grants including the author's Music Unwound grant.
- Trump renamed the Kennedy Center.
- National Symphony was asked to perform Star Spangled Banner at every concert.
Entities
Artists
- Leonard Bernstein
- Nicholas Nabokov
- William Levi Dawson
- Richard Goodwin
- Teddy Kollek
- Charles Ives
Institutions
- USC Center on Public Diplomacy
- National Archives
- Congress for Cultural Freedom
- CIA
- New York Philharmonic
- University of Michigan
- National Symphony
- National Endowment for the Arts
- National Endowment for the Humanities
- DOGE
- Kennedy Center
- NPR
- New York Times
- Israel Philharmonic
- Music Unwound
Locations
- United States
- Russia
- Soviet Union
- South Africa
- Israel
- Jerusalem
- Mount Scopus
- Hungary
- Vietnam