Pence Receives JFK Courage Award for January 6 Actions
BOSTON, Mass. — Former Vice President and Indiana Governor Mike Pence was honored Sunday night with the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, going against the wishes of President Donald Trump.
Pence was pressured by President Trump to reject the results of the election and claims that the election was stolen. Pence said he lacked such authority to throw out the election results. Instead, he stayed at the Capitol that day and oversaw congressional certification of former President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory, once the thousands of people who stormed the Capitol had cleared the area.
“I will always believe, by God’s grace, that I did my duty that day,” Pence told those in attendance at the JFK Library Sunday.
The Profile in Courage Award honors public officials who take a stand for something despite the potential consequences.
“Vice President Pence put his life career and that of his family on the line to execute his constitutional responsibilities,” said former ambassador Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of late President Kennedy. “His actions preserved the fundamental democratic principle of free and fair elections and we are proud to honor him.”
Pence expressed being “deeply humbled and honored” to receive the award, calling it a “distinction that I will cherish for the rest of my life.”
Pence, now 65, was Indiana’s governor when Trump named him his running mate in 2016. In a post to social media from Trump at the time, he claimed Pence had a chance to save the country.
“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify,” Trump wrote on X.