President Joe Biden recently removed country music singer/songwriter Lee Greenwood from the office of the National Endowment for the Arts, according to a report.
Reacting to the move, Greenwood said he was shocked with the president’s decision to remove him from office. “I was quite shocked to tell you the truth,” he said, according to Alabama Political Reporter.
“I didn’t get a phone call or letter. It was just an email.”
Greenwood’s appointments, achievements and eventual termination
Greenwood was first appointed in 2008 by former President George W. Bush for a six-year term. He was later reappointed to six-year terms by both Presidents Barack Obama and Donald J Trump.
He wrote and popularized the song “God Bless the USA” before it was released as a single in 1984. The song was played at the Republican National Convention with then-President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan in attendance in the same year. The song has transcended presidents and has become a rallying cry during various times of crisis in America. It was the rallying cry for after the launch of Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War in 1991, for the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, and most recently, for honoring the thirteen brave soldiers that gave their lives at the explosion during the evacuation in the Kabul airport earlier this year. Greenwood’s song is also normally played at Trump’s campaign rallies.
No reason was revealed for Greenwood’s termination.
Reactions to Greenwood’s termination
Meanwhile, Biden’s decision to fire Greenwood was met with violent reactions from various personalities.
In a Twitter post made by Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel, she said, “Lee Greenwood wrote ‘God Bless The USA.’ Now Biden wants him canceled, too. So much for uniting the country.”
Alabama Music Hall of Fame Board member and Republican insider former state Rep. Perry O. Hooper Jr., R-Montgomery, the current chairman of the Greenwood VIP Dinner held in conjunction with Lee Greenwood’s 40 Years of Hits (1981-2021) celebration on October 11 at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville Alabama, said, “I went from shock to anger. I guess there is no room for a true American Patriot in Joe Biden’s world. From Woke Generals running the Military to the National Endowment of the Arts, he wants to tear down the America we love. This is disgusting. Lee’s masterpiece ‘God Bless the USA’ has become a patriotic hymn behind only the National Anthem and God Bless America in importance to the soul of our great country.”
“Once the word of this firing gets out, this sold-out event will become standing room only as Alabamians show their support for an adopted favorite son, Lee Greenwood,” he added.
Who would replace Greenwood at the National Endowment for the Arts
Meanwhile, the Biden administration is reportedly considering the following personalities for the position that Greenwood vacated:
- Fiona Prine – President of Oh Boy Records.
- Kamilah Formbes – Executive Producer at the Apollo Theater; director of Broadway’s Soul Train.
- Jake Shimabukuro – Asian-American ukelele player.
- Ismael Ahmed – Co-founder of the Arab American National Museum of Dearborn, Michigan.
- Kinan Azmeh – Clarinetist and director of the Damascus Festival Chamber Players
- Christopher Morgan – Washington dance choreographer.
- Constance Williams – Businesswoman, politician, and chair of the board of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
