View photos of the Award Presentation via Flickr
Together with the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation and Ford Family, George H.W. Bush was selected as the recipient of the 2016 Gerald R. Ford Medal for Distinguished Public Service. The announcement was made by Trustee Carla A. Hills at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation Annual Dinner on June 6, 2016. The award presentation was previously recorded at the office of George H.W. Bush in Houston, TX. Foundation Chairman Red Cavaney, Trustee Carla A. Hills, Trustee Steve Ford, and Foundation Executive Director Joseph Calvaruso presented the award to George H.W. Bush, who was joined by his wife, former First Lady Barbara Bush for the presentation.
George H.W. Bush has devoted his entire life in service to the American people and to the peace and well-being of the entire international community.
Born in Milton, Massachusetts, he became a decorated naval pilot who flew torpedo bombers during World War II. In 1944, he was shot down over the island of Chi Chi Jima and rescued. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University in 1948 with a degree in economics, he and his beloved wife Barbara moved to Texas, where he began a successful oil business.
He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1966 and served as a Congressman until 1971 when he became United States Ambassador to the United Nations. In 1974, he was appointed by President Gerald R. Ford as Chief of the United States Liaison Office in China, and in 1976 became the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He was elected Vice President of the United States in 1981 and served in that office for two terms. In 1989, he became the forty-first President of the United States. He was the first sitting vice president elected to the presidency since 1837 and was only the second American president to serve a full term without party control in either chamber of Congress. His presidency was historic, and a quarter century later the example of courage and integrity he exhibited as president continues to resonate around the globe. During his term in office, the Cold War ended; the threat of nuclear war was drastically reduced; the Soviet Union ceased to exist, replaced by a democratic Russia with the Baltic states becoming free; the Berlin Wall fell, and Germany was reunified with Eastern Europe; and he put together an unprecedented coalition of 32 nations to liberate Kuwait.
Since leaving office, President Bush has helped to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for charity. He is a Life Member of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Board of Visitors and served as chairman of the board from 2002 to 2003. He is honorary chairman of the Points of Light Institute and, with Mrs. Bush, serves as Honorary Co-Chair of C-Change, a coalition of cancer organizations. He served from 2006 to 2008 as Chairman of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia and received the Liberty Medal from that organization in September 2006. He takes an active role in The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, and the George Bush School of Government and Public Service, both located on the campus of Texas A&M University. He is the honorary chair of the Points of Light board of directors. At the request of President George W. Bush, President Bush worked with President Bill Clinton to aid in the relief efforts following the catastrophic tsunami in Southeast Asia and the effects of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast states. In 2006, he served as U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Envoy for the South Asia earthquake. Following the destruction caused by Hurricane Ike on the Gulf Coast in September of 2008, President Bush again joined with President Clinton to form the Bush-Clinton Gulf Coast Recovery Fund. In 2009, the American people paid special tribute to President Bush and his lifetime of service to America with the commissioning of the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), the final and most advanced aircraft carrier in the Nimitz Carrier Class.
Throughout his extraordinary public service career, President George H.W. Bush has demonstrated the personal and professional qualities exemplified by President Gerald R. Ford – Integrity, Strength of Character, Diligence, Patriotism, and Sound Judgment. He is indeed a worthy recipient of the President Gerald R. Ford Medal for Distinguished Public Service.
Mission Statement
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation fosters increased awareness of the life, career, values and legacy of America’s 38th President. It does so through activities designed to promote the high ideals of integrity, honesty, and candor that defined President Ford’s extraordinary career of public service. The Foundation promotes the ideals, values, commitment to public service and historical legacy of President Gerald R. Ford and further promotes greater civic engagement and recognition of integrity wherever it exits in the public arena. It supports permanent and changing exhibits designed to promote historical literacy; conferences; educational outreach and other programs, both scholarly and popular, including at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum.
