Obama to receive Kennedy Foundation award

Former president Barack Obama is expected in Boston today to receive the John F Kennedy Foundation’s annual ‘Profile in Courage Award’. “President Kennedy called on a new generation of Americans to give their talents to the service of the country,” said Caroline Kennedy, John F Kennedy’s daughter, who will present the award. “With exceptional dignity and courage, President Obama has carried that torch into our own time, providing young people of all backgrounds with an example they can emulate,” Kennedy said. Previous recipients include Presidents Gerald Ford and George H W Bush, former US Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt, US Senator and former prisoner of war John McCain and US Representative and civil rights leader John Lewis.The award takes its name from Kennedy’s 1957 book profiling eight US senators who risked their careers by taking politically unpopular stands.