Richard,

First of all I don't believe this was "direct intervention." Members of Congress write letters to federal agencies all the time objecting to things, asking for information, requesting clarification, asking for meetings etc etc. Sometimes they do it publicly to garner PR, sometimes they do it less publicly in a real effort to fulfill legislative and oversight purposes. Speaking generally as a taxpayer, I think this is a good thing. I want Congress to pay more attention to how my money is spent and what is being done in my name. I don't fault Sanders, he is doing his job, albeit in a politically grandstanding way. As far as I know he didn't threaten them with retaliation like the cutting off of funds, stage a sit in, or propose a boycott like some politicians I could think of. I've looked for a copy of the full letter online to no avail, but from all accounts it was polite and professional, at least as far as these types of letters go.

I do, however, have some concerns with how quickly the Portrait Gallery capitulated to the request. (Even though I have to agree with Sanders' concern on this issue.)  There are, or should be, procedures, channels, and even committees to not only write the original label (including audience testing to assure clarity on the issue at hand, the educator asked hopefully) but to process and review complaints and requests from Congress and to revise labels when appropriate. As it stands it looks like the NPG writes and revises label copy fairly capriciously bending to political winds. While I know this is not the case, this type of quick capitulation will only encourage other members of Congress to complain with the expectation of being quickly appeased.

All of the above is based on public and mainstream sources of information. I have no doubt there are a hundred details behind the scenes that may change my mind to some greater or lesser extent, (for example where is the Smithsonian's Congressional Liaison Office? They must be in this mix somewhere.) but I worry less about Sanders' actions than I do the apparent lack of policy for processing the complaint/request.

Matthew White

 
On Wednesday, January 14, 2009, at 12:01PM, "Richard Fields" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Here's something that is in the news that is interesting to the museum community. The plaque for President Bush's portrait in the National Gallery currently reads " ?Expecting that the success of his presidency would hinge, as it had when he was governor, on his negotiating skills and ability to solve problems, Bush found his two terms in office were instead marked by a series of catastrophic events: the attacks on September 11, 2001, that led to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina; and a financial crisis during his last months in office.?
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>Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont complained that the wording linked the September 11 attacks to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and requested the wording be changed. The Gallery's Director, Martin Sullivan has agreed to change the wording, removing the words "Led to." National Gallery Historians wrote the words used on the plaque.
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>What bothers me here is the direct intervention of a US Senator in wording of a display at the Smithsonian. I realize there have been other dust ups in the past, for example, the Enola Gay exhibit, but this just kind of slipped under the wire. Does this bother anyone besides me? For an article on the change see http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=41859. 
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