The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, created by the Kennedy family in 1989 to honor public officials who take unpopular stands at personal or political cost, has taken on renewed relevance in 2026 as American institutions confront intense pressure over courts, central banking, and immigration enforcement. This year’s honorees, former Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and the people of Minnesota’s Twin Cities, illustrate how the award has evolved from spotlighting lone elected officials to recognizing both institutional guardians and grassroots communities whose actions test the boundaries of democratic courage.
What the award is, and who decides
The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award® was established in 1989 by members of President Kennedy’s family to “recognize and celebrate the quality of political courage he admired most,” inspired by his 1957 Pulitzer Prize‑winning book Profiles in Courage. The award is administered by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and presented annually at the JFK Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, typically in May around Kennedy’s May 29 birthday.
According to the Foundation, the award honors public officials at the federal, state, or local level whose actions “demonstrate the qualities of politically courageous leadership” by embracing positions of conscience despite political risk. Nominations from the public and experts are reviewed by a bipartisan committee appointed by the Foundation, which selects one or more recipients each year.
The physical award is a lantern, modeled on 19th‑century American sailing lanterns and designed by Edwin Schlossberg, meant to symbolize a guiding light of integrity in public life. Since 1989, 90 individuals or groups have been honored, including seven heads of state, 14 members of Congress, eight governors and 32 women. Past recipients range from former Presidents Barack Obama and George H.W. Bush to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Senator Mitt Romney, and former Vice President Mike Pence.
The 2026 honorees: Jerome Powell and the Twin Cities
For 2026, the Kennedy Library Foundation announced that it would honor former Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and the people of the Twin Cities of Minnesota.
Powell was selected “for protecting the independence of the Federal Reserve despite years of personal attacks and threats from the highest levels of government,” a reference to relentless criticism and public pressure from President Donald Trump during Powell’s tenure.
Residents of Minneapolis–St. Paul were honored for “risking their lives to protect their neighbors and immigrant community members from an unprecedented federal law enforcement operation,” identified in local reporting as Operation Metro Surge, a Trump‑era immigration crackdown that led to mass protests and, ultimately, federal agents killing two U.S. citizens during demonstrations.
In a statement posted to social media, Caroline Kennedy and her son, Jack Schlossberg, said this year’s honorees “represent the courage of those who serve in all areas of government – and those who believe in it,” emphasizing that “without public servants of integrity… and citizens willing to put their lives on the line to hold America to its promises, our democracy can’t survive.”
Powell’s warning on institutional independence
At the award ceremony in Boston on Sunday, Powell used his acceptance speech to deliver an unusually pointed defense of institutional independence in the United States.
Speaking at the JFK Library with Boston Harbor in the background, he described universities, courts, Congress, and the Federal Reserve as “the bedrock and the representation of our democracy,” and called the Fed’s independence a “priceless asset” that must be protected from partisan interference. He warned that if presidents could remove central bank officials over policy disagreements, “the public would lose faith that the central bank will make decisions based only on what’s best for all Americans. The Fed’s credibility would be lost.”
Powell did not mention Trump by name, but his remarks came after years in which Trump repeatedly attacked him on social media and in interviews, urged deep interest‑rate cuts and reportedly discussed firing him when he refused. Politico notes that Powell framed these episodes as a stress test that ultimately showed the importance of guarding institutions from both direct orders and a more diffuse climate of intimidation.
His selection was unusual: as the Boston Globe pointed out, many prior honorees were elected officials, while Powell, appointed to lead an ostensibly technocratic agency, was recognized for insisting that policy choices, including unpopular rate hikes, be made on economic, not electoral, grounds.
Courage in the streets: the Twin Cities’ response to Operation Metro Surge
If Powell’s award highlights elite institutional courage, the Twin Cities’ recognition turns the lens toward grassroots resistance.
Minnesota Public Radio and the Star Tribune report that the Kennedy Foundation is honoring “the people of the Twin Cities” for their response to Operation Metro Surge, a Trump‑administration immigration enforcement operation that brought an influx of federal officers to Minneapolis–St. Paul.
According to MPR, residents organized rapid‑response networks, opened churches and community centers as safe spaces, and staged marches that eventually drew 50,000 people into the streets in defense of immigrant neighbors. Tensions peaked when federal agents shot and killed two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during January protests, events that deepened local anger and national scrutiny.
By honoring an entire metropolitan community rather than a single leader, the Profiles in Courage committee is effectively saying that ordinary civic action, providing shelter, accompanying families to court, facing down riot police, can meet the Kennedy standard of courage when it is sustained in the face of lethal state power.
How the award has evolved
The 2026 choices underscore how the Profile in Courage Award has evolved over nearly four decades.
The award originally focused on elected officials who broke with their parties or constituencies in the public interest, mirroring the senators profiled in Profiles in Courage. Early honorees included lawmakers who supported civil‑rights legislation, tax increases or peace accords at significant political cost.
More recently, the Foundation has broadened its lens to include:
International figures such as Zelenskyy and leaders of South Korea and Japan, recognized for standing up to aggression and reconciling historic rivalries.
U.S. officials like Pence and Romney, honored for certifying the 2020 election results or voting to convict in impeachment trials despite intense partisan pressure.
Now, an appointed central bank chair and a community of residents, reflecting a view that courage in public life can reside in both institutions and citizen movements.
Caroline Kennedy has framed this shift as a response to changing threats. “This year’s honorees represent the courage of those who serve in all areas of government – and those who believe in it,” she said, arguing that in a moment of democratic strain, defending norms and rights from outside elected office can be as consequential as any vote on the floor of Congress.
Why it matters now
In 2026, the JFK Profile in Courage Award is more than a ceremonial accolade; it functions as a barometer of which actions the political mainstream is willing to label “courageous”.
Honoring Powell sends a message that insulating monetary policy from short‑term political demands, including from a sitting president, is not just technocratic housekeeping but a democratic safeguard. Recognizing the Twin Cities residents signals that communities who push back, peacefully but persistently, against aggressive enforcement tactics and civil‑rights abuses are part of the same story of public courage.
Critics of the award sometimes argue that it has become too partisan, pointing to selections like Romney and Pence as thinly veiled rebukes to Trump or to broader conservative currents. The Foundation counters with its bipartisan committee and diverse roster of honorees, but the political overtones are hard to miss. In that sense, the 2026 ceremony is both a celebration of individual and collective bravery and a subtle intervention in the ongoing argument over what, and whom, American democracy should value.
As long as institutions and communities face pressure to choose between expediency and principle, the JFK Profile in Courage Award will continue to spotlight those who opt for the latter, and in doing so, test whether the country still recognizes such choices as worthy of more than a one‑day headline.