“It may be inevitable that major commercial theaters will continue to flourish chiefly in a few metropolitan areas.  But this should not prevent us from bringing drama to dozens of other communities, and so helping them create a heightened quality of life that comes from contact with great art.”

LBJ to Gregory Peck, November 5, 1968

President Johnson signs legislation creating the National Endowment for the Arts in the White House Rose Garden, September, 1965.