Pence to receive JFK Profile in Courage Award for 2020 election certification
Former Vice President Mike Pence will receive the 2025 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for certifying the 2020 election results, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation announced Thursday.
Pence presided over the certification of Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election, even as Donald Trump pressured him to overturn the results while the president's supporters waged an angry attack on the U.S. Capitol.
In a statement announcing the foundation's decision to present Pence with the award, Caroline Kennedy — the daughter of the former president — and Jack Schlossberg — Caroline Kennedy's son — wrote that Pence's decision on Jan. 6, 2020, was 'an example of President Kennedy's belief that an act of political courage can change the course of history.'
Kennedy and Schlossberg are set to present Pence with the award on May 4 at the Kennedy Library in Boston.
'Despite our political differences, it is hard to imagine an act of greater consequence than Vice President Pence's decision to certify the 2020 presidential election during an attack on the U.S. Capitol,' they wrote. 'Upholding his oath to the Constitution and following his conscience, the Vice President put his life, career, and political future on the line.'
Pence in the same release said that he was 'deeply humbled and honored' to receive the award.
The statement from the two Kennedy descendants also pointedly noted 'political courage is not outdated in the United States,' at a time when Trump continues wielding the power of his office to pressure entities from academic institutions to foreign governments into bending to his will.
The foundation has presented the Profile in Courage award annually since 1989 to 'public servants who have made courageous decisions of conscience without regard for the personal or professional consequences.'
Last year's recipient was Republican Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams, who was awarded for 'expanding voting rights and standing up for free and fair elections despite party opposition.'
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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