Mike Pence speaks out about January 6 Capitol attacks while receiving the JFK Profile in Courage Award

It’s not every day that a Republican from the Trump administration gets a standing ovation, or three, from a roomful of Democrats. But as Mike Pence showed on January 6, 2021, he doesn’t always stick to the party line.

According to the former vice president, the attacks on the Capitol four years ago were ultimately unsuccessful and “a triumph of freedom” because “our institutions held that day, not because of any one person, but because leaders in both political parties, Republicans and Democrats, did their duties,” Pence said while receiving the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in Boston at the JFK Library on Sunday.

Pence received the award for “putting his life and career on the line to ensure the constitutional transfer of presidential power.” 

After repeated pressure to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which Joe Biden won, Pence was to preside over Congress and the certification process, which includes counting the Electoral College votes, when a violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to stop the process.

While the Secret Service urged him to evacuate, Pence, his wife, Karen, and their daughter Charlotte refused to leave the Capitol, coordinating with the military and congressional leaders during the attack. Once the Capitol was cleared, Pence resumed the certification process.  

“In these divided times, in these anxious days, I know in my heart that we will find our way forward as one nation,” Pence said, acknowledging the current Trump administration’s agenda, without naming the president specifically. He added: It’s the Constitution that “binds us all together.”

Unpopular positions, principled stands

The award—named after President Kennedy’s 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Profiles in Courage, which recounts the stories of eight U.S. senators who risked their careers by taking principled stands for unpopular positions—is presented each year to public servants for making a courageous decision of conscience without regard for the personal or professional consequences.

Kennedy’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy, and grandson, Jack Schlossberg, presented the award to Pence, acknowledging the new political climate of fear that has taken over in the last four months.  

“We are especially grateful for your presence this year, as many are afraid to speak out or show up,” Kennedy said. “It’s hard to believe that attending a black-tie gala could be described an act of courage—but here we are. President Kennedy called his time ‘the hour of maximum danger’ and welcomed the challenge. We are living in a similar moment now.”

Just as President Kennedy famously stated, “my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,” Caroline Kennedy said, “now is the time to act because, as we have seen in the past 100 days, we can no longer take our democracy for granted.”

“Everyone should be speaking their hearts”

Those in attendance included Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, who called Pence “a profile in courage [for] standing up against a leader of his own party,” and comedian David Letterman, who said, “In this day and age, courage needs to be identified and celebrated in this way. It didn’t use to be that way.”

When asked what Americans can do right now, Letterman told Fast Company: “They should be speaking their hearts. Everyone should be speaking their hearts.” 

“This was a moment when the vice president stood up for the constitution, and we have to all remember that today,” U.S. presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin told Fast Company. “History shows that people working from the ground up are what make all the changes. So it’s at your local area, it’s in your state, it’s in your city. Every change—whether it’s civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights—has come from the ground up. That’s what we need to do.”

Previous award recipients include former presidents Barack Obama and George H. W. Bush, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney, and former Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.