Yushchenko to receive JFK Profile in Courage Award (03/13/05)

Yushchenko to receive JFK Profile in Courage Award

BOSTON - Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko, who survived an assassination attempt and overcame the efforts of Russian-backed political opponents to rig his defeat as the democratically elected leader of Ukraine, has been named the recipient of the 2005 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, it was announced on March 8 by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. (Three other award recipients were to be announced later in the week.)

Mr. Yushchenko will be presented with the Profile in Courage Award by Caroline Kennedy and Sen. Edward Kennedy when he visits the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum this spring.

"Viktor Yushchenko has inspired citizens of the world with his extraordinary courage" said Ms. Kennedy, president of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. "His commitment to freedom and the democratic process is a powerful example of how one person can truly make a difference. Viktor Yushchenko is a true profile in courage who my father would have greatly admired."

The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award is presented annually to public servants who have withstood strong opposition to follow what they believe is the right course of action. Past recipients of the award include former U.S. President Gerald Ford, U.S. Sen. John McCain and U.S. Sen. Russell Feingold, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, former U.S. Rep. Charles Weltner of Georgia, former U.S. Rep. Carl Elliott Sr. of Alabama, Afghan human rights activist Dr. Sima Simar and the peacemakers of Northern Ireland.

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 to fight for what they believed in. The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation created the Profile in Courage Award in 1989 to honor President Kennedy's commitment and contribution to public service. It is presented in May in celebration of President Kennedy's May 29 birthday.

Described by one recipient as the "Nobel in government," 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.

President Yushchenko was chosen as the recipient of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation's prestigious award for political courage by a distinguished bipartisan committee of national, political and community leaders. John Seigenthaler, founder of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University, chairs the 14-member Profile in Courage Award Committee. Committee members are Michael Beschloss, author and presidential historian; David Burke, former president of CBS News; U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.); Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children's Defense Fund; Antonia Hernandez, president and chief executive officer of the California Community Foundation; Al Hunt, Washington managing editor of Bloomberg News; U.S. Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.); Elaine Jones, former director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund; Ms. Kennedy, president of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation; U.S. Sen. Kennedy (D-Mass.); Paul G. Kirk, Jr., chairman of the board of directors of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation; U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine); and Patricia M. Wald, former judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

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The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is a presidential library administered by the National Archives and Records Administration and supported, in part, by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, a non-profit organization. The Kennedy Library and the Kennedy Library Foundation seek to promote, through educational and community programs, a greater appreciation and understanding of American politics, history and culture, the process of governing and the importance of public service.

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