Profiles in Courage Award

The Profiles in Courage Award is an award given to someone who displays the type of courage that John F. Kennedy described in his book of the same name. It is given to individuals (often elected officials) who, by acting in accord with their conscience, risked their careers or lives by pursuing a larger vision of the national, state or local interest in opposition to popular opinion or pressure from constituents or other local interests.

Related Topics:
John F. Kennedy - Book - Conscience - Popular

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The winners of the award are selected by a bi-partisan committee named by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. It is generally awarded each year around the time of Kennedy's birthday (May 29) at a ceremony at the Kennedy Library in Boston. The award is generally presented by Kennedy's daughter Caroline Bouvier Kennedy.

Related Topics:
John F. Kennedy Library Foundation - May 29 - Boston - Caroline Bouvier Kennedy

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The winner is presented with a sterling silver lantern made by Tiffany's which was designed by Ms. Schlossberg's husband Edwin Schlossberg. The lantern is patterned after the lanterns on the USS Constitution, the last sail-powered ship to remain part of the US Navy, which is permanently moored nearby.

Related Topics:
Sterling silver - Lantern - Tiffany's - Edwin Schlossberg - USS Constitution - US Navy

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One of the most memorable moments for the presentation of the award came in 2002. That year, an unprecedented Profiles in Courage Award went to the representatives of the NYPD, the FDNY, and the military, as representatives of all those who acted courageously to save the lives of others during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. http://www.jfklibrary.org/pr_pica2002_ceremony.html

Related Topics:
2002 - NYPD - FDNY - Military - Terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001

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The committee as of 2005 consists of:

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• Michael Beschloss, author and historian
• David Burke, former president, CBS News
• Thad Cochran, U.S. Senator of Mississippi
• Marian Wright Edelman, President, Children?s Defense Fund
• Antonia Hernandez, president, California Community Foundation
• Al Hunt, Executive Editor, The Wall Street Journal
• Nancy L. Johnson, U.S. Congresswoman of Connecticut
• Elaine Jones, Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund
• Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, President, John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
• Edward M. Kennedy, U.S. Senator of Massachusetts
• Paul G. Kirk, Jr., Chairman, Board of Directors, John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
• John Seigenthaler, Committee Chairman, Founder of the First Amendment Center
• Olympia Snowe, U.S. Senator of Maine
• Patricia M. Wald, former judge, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
 
Profiles in Courage Award: External links ►