Editing Great Society (section)

====National Endowments for the arts and the humanities====
In September 1965, Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act into law, creating both the [[National Endowment for the Arts]] and [[National Endowment for the Humanities]] as separate, independent agencies. Lobbying for federally funded arts and humanities support began during the Kennedy Administration. In 1963 three scholarly and educational organizations—the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the Council of Graduate Schools in America, and the United Chapters of [[Phi Beta Kappa]]—joined to establish the National Commission on the Humanities. In June 1964, the commission released a report that suggested that the emphasis placed on science endangered the study of the humanities from elementary schools through postgraduate programs. To correct the balance, it recommended "the establishment by the President and the Congress of the United States of a National Humanities Foundation."<ref name="neh">{{cite web |url=http://www.neh.gov/nehat40/founding/ |title=How NEH got its start |publisher=National Endowment for the Humanities |date=September 29, 1965 |access-date=August 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305215642/http://www.neh.gov/nehat40/founding/ |archive-date=March 5, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In August 1964, Representative [[William S. Moorhead]] of Pennsylvania proposed legislation to implement the commission's recommendations. Support from the White House followed in September, when Johnson lent his endorsement during a speech at [[Brown University]]. In March 1965, the [[White House]] proposed the establishment of a National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities and requested $20&nbsp;million in start-up funds. The commission's report had generated other proposals, but the White House's approach eclipsed them. The administration's plan, which called for the creation of two separate agencies each advised by a governing body, was the version that the Congress approved. [[Richard Nixon]] dramatically expanded funding for NEH and NEA.<ref name="neh"/>