John F Kennedy Profile In Courage Award

Connecticut Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr., who was hanged in effigy after instituting the state's first individual income tax, has been named winner of the 1992 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation said Sunday it honored Weicker for his ability to take a "principled stand for unpopular positions" to boost his state's sagging economy in 1991. Weicker is to receive a silver lantern and a $25,000 stipend during a May 28 ceremony at Boston's J.F.K. Library.

Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), a Vietnam veteran who has denounced the war in Iraq, was named a recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on Thursday. Alberto Mora, a former Navy general counsel who warned Pentagon officials that U.S. policies on terrorism detainees could invite abuse, also will receive the award from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), a Vietnam veteran who has denounced the war in Iraq, was named a recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on Thursday. Alberto Mora, a former Navy general counsel who warned Pentagon officials that U.S. policies on terrorism detainees could invite abuse, also will receive the award from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

A state watchdog agency agreed Friday to let Sen. Hilda Solis keep a $10,000 silver lantern she won as recipient of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation's "Profiles in Courage" award. The Fair Political Practices Commission decided that acceptance of the prize by the La Puente Democrat would not violate California's tough restrictions on gifts to elected officials.

A state watchdog agency agreed Friday to let Sen. Hilda Solis keep a $10,000 silver lantern she won as recipient of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation's "Profiles in Courage" award. The Fair Political Practices Commission decided that acceptance of the prize by the La Puente Democrat would not violate California's tough restrictions on gifts to elected officials.

Members of the Kennedy family gathered Tuesday in commemoration of the 79th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's birth and the annual presentation of the Profile in Courage award. Corkin Cherubini, school superintendent of Calhoun County, Ga., was given the award by the former president's children, John F. Kennedy Jr. and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, and his brother Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).

New Jersey Gov. James J. Florio received the 1993 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on Monday. Florio, cited for leadership in gun control and education reform despite daunting political opposition, received the award at the John F. Kennedy presidential library in a ceremony that coincided with the 76th anniversary of Kennedy's birth.

Gerald R. Ford was honored in Boston with the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for pardoning Richard Nixon in 1974, saying he took the action to "heal the wounds" of Watergate and Vietnam. On Sept. 8, 1974, a month after he was sworn in as president after Nixon's resignation, Ford issued a full pardon. Two years later, Ford lost the election to Jimmy Carter, in part because of the pardon.

Charles Longstreet Weltner, 64, the only Deep South congressman to vote for the 1965 Voting Rights Act. In 1966, he gave up his seat in Congress after two terms rather than sign a Democratic Party loyalty oath that would have required him to support segregationist Lester Maddox in that year's gubernatorial campaign. Weltner took part in lawsuits that in 1962 overturned a Georgia primary system that diminished blacks' voting power.

Members of the Kennedy family gathered Tuesday in commemoration of the 79th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's birth and the annual presentation of the Profile in Courage award. Corkin Cherubini, school superintendent of Calhoun County, Ga., was given the award by the former president's children, John F. Kennedy Jr. and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, and his brother Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).

Connecticut Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr., who was hanged in effigy after instituting the state's first individual income tax, has been named winner of the 1992 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation said Sunday it honored Weicker for his ability to take a "principled stand for unpopular positions" to boost his state's sagging economy in 1991. Weicker is to receive a silver lantern and a $25,000 stipend during a May 28 ceremony at Boston's J.F.K. Library.

"He gave us hope and the belief that we could change the world, not only could change, but must change it," said journalist Ellen Hume of slain President John F. Kennedy at a panel discussion marking the anniversary of Kennedy's birth. The conference Thursday at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, which included Kennedy's son, John, and brother, Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, was held four days before what would have been the President's 72nd birthday. Hume, who is executive director of the Joan Shorenstein Barone Center for the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard, remembered watching Kennedy's inauguration as a 13-year-old and said he inspired her to pursue a career in journalism and led her brother to join the Peace Corps.