Nancy Pelosi receives Profile in Courage Award
US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi took a break from sparring with President Trump and quieting disputes within her own party Sunday evening to accept a Profile in Courage Award at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
The California congresswoman was honored for her work in passing the 2010 Affordable Care Act and for leading Democrats last year to regain control of the US House of Representatives and elect the “the most diverse Congress in our nation’s history,’’ according to organizers.
As Pelosi arrived on the red carpet outside the library with her family late Sunday afternoon, she told reporters she was “speechless’’ about the honor.
“When they called me they said, ‘You can’t say anything until we make the announcement.’ I said, ‘Don’t worry about me telling anybody. I’m totally at a loss for words,’ ’’ Pelosi said.
The speaker told reporters that she doesn’t believe courage is in short supply in Washington today, though she added, “I do think that there could be more courage demonstrated to speak out about what the president is doing.’’
Pelosi, who has said she doesn’t plan to seek impeachment for Trump but must deal with the growing calls for impeachment within her party and elsewhere, sidestepped political questions Sunday.
“That’s not what we’re here about tonight,’’ she said in response to a question about congressman Justin Amash of Michigan, who said Saturday that Trump had committed “impeachable conduct.’’
“But we are here about honoring the vows of our founders,’’ Pelosi continued. “That’s one of the things that President Kennedy talked about in the moon shot. If we’re to honor the vows of our nation, we must be first, he said. Well, in every way we should honor the vows of our founders, and that’s about the Constitution and the oath we take to a system of checks and balances.’’
Just before the ceremony began, a string quartet played anthems of female empowerment that included Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,’’ Aretha Franklin’s “Respect,’’ and Katy Perry’s “Roar.’’
Then Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of the 35th president and a former US ambassador to Japan, and her son, Jack Schlossberg, introduced Pelosi and presented the honor, with Kennedy calling Pelosi “the most consequential woman in American political history.’’
“She has consistently acted in service of our highest principles and our most vulnerable citizens,’’ Kennedy said.
Members of the Kennedy family and many other prominent political figures had high praise for Pelosi earlier as they arrived for the black-tie event.
Patrick J. Kennedy, the son of the late senator Edward M. Kennedy and himself a former Rhode Island congressman, nodded toward the nearby Institute for the US Senate that bears his father’s name.
“Not far from here is the institute named for my late father, who people said was the ‘lion of the Senate.’ Nancy Pelosi is the lioness of the House,’’ he said. “She’s the one who gets everything done, and in a crucial stage in the [Affordable Care Act], when not many people thought that it would pass, Nancy Pelosi made it pass. And it was her political acumen and leadership qualities that delivered the ACA.’’
Victoria Reggie Kennedy, the late senator’s widow, called Pelosi “an amazing leader for our time, for all time, really.
“When I think of what she did for health care — the cause of my husband’s life — she was a phenomenal leader,’’ Reggie Kennedy continued. “I really think that she was the person who pushed it over the goal line in such an important way.’’
Current and former House colleagues described Pelosi as a shrewd strategist and effective legislator who always keeps her focus on what she says are her top three priorities: “Children, children, children.’’
“That’s how she leads, and we need that moral clarity, and she brings it,’’ said congresswoman Katherine Clark, a Melrose Democrat.
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, a Boston Democrat who last year defeated 10-term incumbent Michael Capuano in a primary challenge, said that as a newcomer to the chamber, she values Pelosi’s counsel.
“She embodies a unique combination of grit and grace, and she’s one of the greatest strategists and tacticians of our political life . . . in modern times, and we owe her for the passage of the Affordable Care Act,’’ Pressley said, adding later, “Both of us are women of conviction, so it’s great to have someone that you can talk straight with about the politics.’’
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who has publicly been quiet since he was charged in February with soliciting prostitution in a Florida day spa, was among the famous figures who walked the red carpet but declined to speak to reporters. Others were former Secretary of State John Kerry, US Senator Edward J. Markey, Massachusetts House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, and presidential hopeful US Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas.
The Profile in Courage Award, named for John F. Kennedy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1957 book, has been given out since 1990 to politicians and public servants working for the public good and has become one of the most prestigious commendations in politics.
Past recipients include the peacemakers of Northern Ireland; the public servants who responded to the terror attacks of Sept 11, 2001; and political figures as former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords; senators John Lewis, John McCain, Russell Feingold, and Edward M. Kennedy; and former presidents Barack Obama, George H.W. Bush, and Gerald Ford.
