BOSTON — The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation has announced that New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu will receive the 2018 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his leadership in removing four Confederate monuments in New Orleans.
Landrieu offered candid, clear, and compassionate reflections on the moment and its place in history, according to the foundation.
The prestigious award will be presented by President Kennedy’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, at a ceremony on May 20, 2018, at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation created the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 1989 to honor President Kennedy’s commitment and contribution to public service, and to celebrate his May 29th birthday.
The 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 Profile in Courage Award is represented by a sterling-silver lantern symbolizing a beacon of hope. The lantern was designed by Edwin Schlossberg and crafted by Tiffany & Co.
Previous recipients include former U.S. Presidents Barack Obama, Gerald Ford, and George H. W. Bush, former U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, and U.S. Senator John McCain.