The National Endowment for the Arts was created by Congress and established in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Since then it has been awarded more than 111,000 grants to arts organizations and artists in all 50 states and the six U.S. jurisdictions. The National Endowment for the Arts is the largest single funder of the nonprofit arts sector in the United States. Among its many accomplishments, the Endowment has funded the PBS series …showed first 75 words of 682 total…

…showed last 75 words of 682 total…in 1991 after Republican presidential challenger Pat Buchanan achieved almost 40% of the vote in the New Hampshire preliminary using the NEA as a battering ram issue. President Bush was forced to fire NEA chairman John Frohnmayer. Ultimately the issue fizzled because nobody could accept the only correct goal the complete elimination of the NEA on the principle that the government has no business using everyone’s money to fund art that appeals to only a few.