Barack Obama Receives Profiles in Courage Award from JFK Library

Former President Barack H. Obama receiving the 2017 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on Sunday, May 7 2017, as part of the centennial celebration of John F. Kennedy’s birth.

Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and her son, Jack Schlossberg, are presenting the award at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. The evening includes a special performance by James Taylor with Kim Taylor and Owen Young.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama accompanied President Obama to the ceremony. The award presentation was held at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum during the Kennedy Library Foundation’s annual May Dinner gala. The evening included a special performance by James Taylor.

In accepting the award, President Obama said:

“John F. Kennedy knew that our best hope and our most powerful answer to our doubts and to our fears lies inside each of us, in our willingness to joyfully embrace our responsibility as citizens, to stay true to our allegiance, to our highest and best ideals, to maintain our regard and concern for the poor and the aging and the marginalized, to put our personal or party interest aside when duty to our country calls or when conscience demands. That's the spirit that has brought America so far and that's the spirit that will always carry us to better days. And I take this honor that you have bestowed on me here tonight as a reminder that, even out of office, I must do all that I can to advance the spirit of service that John F. Kennedy represents.”

The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award™ is presented annually to public servants who have made courageous decisions of conscience without regard for the personal or professional consequences. The award is named for President Kennedy’s 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Profiles in Courage, which recounts the stories of eight U.S. senators who risked their careers, incurring the wrath of constituents or powerful interest groups, by taking principled stands for unpopular positions. The opening lines state: "This is a book about that most admirable of human virtues – courage."

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