WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Heritage Foundation announced today it will present its prestigious Clare Boothe Luce Award to the late Jack Kemp, a former member of Congress, Cabinet secretary, and candidate for vice president. The award is Heritage’s highest honor.
The award will be presented Tuesday at the 2018 Kemp Leadership Award Dinner at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. Kemp’s wife, Joanne, will receive the award in his honor.
Kemp, who died in 2009, was a longtime supporter of The Heritage Foundation and champion of conservative values. After a successful professional football career, he served for nine terms in the U.S. House from 1971 to 1989. President George H.W. Bush nominated Kemp for secretary of Housing and Urban Development, where he served from 1989 to 1993.
"Throughout his life, Jack Kemp served as a mentor and inspiring leader to so many people, including me," said Heritage Foundation President Kay Coles James. "He was committed to advancing conservative principles and devoted to helping every American succeed in life. It is with great pride that Heritage is presenting the Clare Boothe Luce Award to him posthumously."
Kemp’s son, Jimmy Kemp, thanked Heritage for honoring his father and carrying forward his legacy through its work on a range of public policy issues.
"My father was so proud of his role at the birth of The Heritage Foundation and our family is honored to receive this award on his behalf," said Jimmy Kemp, president of the Jack Kemp Foundation. "Under the leadership of Kay Coles James, The Heritage Foundation is in good hands as it advances policies which get us closer to the promise of the American Idea."
Heritage established the award in 1991 in memory of Clare Boothe Luce, an American ambassador and conservative U.S. congresswoman. Past recipients of the Clare Boothe Luce Award include President Ronald Reagan, Vice President Richard B. Cheney, Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Lady Margaret Thatcher, Sen. Jesse Helms, Attorney General Edwin Meese III, and William F. Buckley Jr.
The Heritage Foundation is the nation’s most broadly supported public policy research institute, with more than a half-million donors. Founded in 1973, it develops and promotes public policy solutions that advance free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional values and a strong national defense.
More information about the Kemp Leadership Award Dinner, including registration details, is available here.
