2019
LBJ Liberty & Justice For All Award
Nancy Pelosi was the 52nd Speaker of the House of Representatives. As Speaker, Pelosi is fighting for the people by working to lower healthcare costs, increase workers' pay through strong economic growth, and cleaning up corruption to make Washington work for all.
First elected Speaker in 2007 and serving through 2011, she made history as the first woman in the position. When the Democrats regained the majority in the 2018 midterm elections, she was re-elected as Speaker, making her the first former Speaker to return to the position since Sam Rayburn in 1955.
Ben Barnes, event chair and vice chairman of the LBJ Foundation, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. LBJ Library photo by Amanda Rhoades.
The Honorable Ben Barnes
Ambassador Lloyd Hand
Cappy McGarr
Dean Aguillen | Lyndon K. Boozer | Honorable Tom Daschle | Honorable Martin Frost | Luci Baines Johnson | Meghan C. Johnson | W. Thomas Johnson | Honorable James R. Jones | Honorable Ron Kirk | Laurie Knight | Melissa Maxfield | Michael Monroe | Honorable Lyndon L. Olson, Jr. | Joe O'Neill | Lynda Johnson Robb | Arshi Siddiqui | Shamina Singh | Andy Spahn | Larry E. Temple | Tonya Williams
WASHINGTON – On Oct. 30, 2019, the LBJ Foundation will award its most prestigious honor, the LBJ Liberty & Justice for All Award, to the Hon. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
One of the most consequential political figures of her generation, Pelosi made history in 2007 when she was elected the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House. Pelosi made history again in January 2019 when she regained her position as second-in-line to the presidency, the first person to be renamed Speaker in over half a century.
Larry Temple, chairman of the LBJ Foundation, said: "For more than three decades, Nancy Pelosi has shown herself to be one of the most consequential congressional leaders since LBJ himself wielded power as the Senate Majority Leader. Speaker Pelosi embodies the beliefs that President Johnson held dear—that our mission in public service is to serve the common good and provide opportunity to all."
The LBJ Liberty & Justice for All Award will be held Wednesday, Oct. 30 at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington. Judy Woodruff, anchor and managing editor of PBS NewsHour, will serve as emcee, and the Hon. Ben Barnes will serve as event chair. Vice Chairs are the Hon. Lloyd Hand and Cappy McGarr.
"Just as LBJ was the master of the Senate, Speaker Pelosi has shown herself to be a master of the House," said Ben Barnes, who also serves as vice chairman of the LBJ Foundation.
Prominent guests expected to attend include Rep. John Lewis (D-GA); Luci Baines Johnson and Lynda Johnson Robb, daughters of President Johnson; and senior congressional leaders.
The Hon. Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi comes from a strong family tradition of public service. Her late father, Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., served as Mayor of Baltimore for 12 years, after representing the city for five terms in Congress. Her brother, Thomas D'Alesandro III, also served as Mayor of Baltimore.
But Pelosi has forged her own path in Congress. Among her many accomplishments, she led the House passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in early 2009 to create and save millions of American jobs and provide a tax cut to 95 percent of working Americans. Speaker Pelosi was the architect of the landmark Affordable Care Act, which has guaranteed protections for all Americans with preexisting medical conditions, ended annual and lifetime limits on health coverage, and provided affordable health coverage for tens of millions more Americans.
Speaker Pelosi also led the Congress in passing strong Wall Street reforms to rein in big banks and protect consumers, and the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which expands educational opportunities and reforms the financial aid system to save billions of taxpayer dollars. Additional key legislation passed into law include the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to restore the ability of women and all workers to access our judicial system to fight pay discrimination; legislation to provide health care for 11 million American children; national service legislation; hate crimes legislation; an increase in the minimum wage for the first time in 10 years; the largest college aid expansion since the GI bill, and a new GI education bill for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. As Speaker, Pelosi has made the climate crisis her flagship issue, enacting comprehensive energy legislation that raised vehicle fuel efficiency standards for the first time in 32 years.
Highlights
Tribute Film
Conversation with Ron Kirk
On the Impeachment Inquiry
Advice to Young People
The net proceeds from the award dinner benefited The LBJ School of Public Affairs.
"There are no problems we cannot solve together, and very few that we can solve by ourselves."
- President Lyndon B. Johnson
Established by President and Mrs. Johnson in 1969, the LBJ Foundation is a nonprofit organization comprised of a board of trustees and administrative staff that supports the LBJ Presidential Library and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin.
The LBJ Presidential Library, operated under the auspices of the National Archives and Records Administration, maintains the archive of President Johnson's administration and political career and promotes his legacy while providing, in his words, "a springboard for the future" through public programming aimed at addressing the issues of our time. The Foundation enhances the Library by directing public programming, administering the museum's store and admissions operations, and directing grants for researchers and scholars.
The LBJ School of Public Affairs embodies President Johnson's living legacy by nurturing leaders and public servants in the hopes that they will pursue what he called "the oldest, most basic mission of our country: to right wrong, to do justice, to serve man." The Foundation provides financial support for the school for the outstanding education it offers its graduate students in public policy and government affairs, community outreach, and global initiatives.
All bearing our 36th President's name, these three institutions—the LBJ Foundation, the LBJ Presidential Library, and the LBJ School of Public Affairs—preserve Lyndon B. Johnson's consequential legacy while pursuing his hopeful vision for the future.
