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On Thursday, March 10, 2011, President Bush and the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation will present the George Bush Award
for Excellence in Public Service posthumously to President Ronald
Reagan. The award will be accepted by former Secretary of State James A.
Baker, III. Following the presentation of the award, Secretary Baker
will present the keynote address. The program is scheduled to begin at 6
p.m. in the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center at Texas A&M
University.
Ronald Reagan was born Feb. 6, 1911, in Tampico,
Illinois. He attended Eureka College and began his career in radio and
film. By the end of his acting career he had appeared in over 50
Hollywood films and earned the nickname "The Gipper" after playing
George Gipp in the film “Knute Rockne, All American.” Reagan entered the
Armed Services in 1937 and served in the Army Air Force. He was
honorably discharged with the rank of captain in 1945.
In 1967 Reagan was elected the
33rd Governor of California and served two terms until 1975. After an
unsuccessful presidential bid in 1976, Reagan won the Republican Party
nomination in 1980 and the presidency the same year. He won a second
term in 1984 in a landslide victory. He is known as one of America's
most successful presidents of the 20th century; credited with reviving
the American economy and hastening the steps that led to the end of the
Cold War. President Reagan passed away on June 5, 2004 at the age of 93. Feb. 6, 2011 marked the centennial celebration of President Reagan's birth.
“I always considered Ronald
Reagan a friend and mentor," stated President Bush in announcing the
award. “I am very pleased that we can honor his memory as an
inspirational leader who brought economic prosperity at home, renewed
America’s sense of confidence and restored American leadership abroad.”
“The Bush Foundation is honored to recognize the
strong legacy of leadership and service that President Reagan
epitomizes,” stated Roman Popadiuk, Executive Director of the George
Bush Presidential Library Foundation. “President Reagan will always be
remembered for his kind smile, strong character and leadership based on
principles that reflect the best of what America stands for –freedom and
economic opportunity.”
The Honorable James A. Baker, III served in various
capacities during the Reagan and Bush 41 administrations. He served as
President Reagan's chief of staff during his first administration and as
secretary of the treasury during his second administration. During the
Bush administration, Baker was appointed secretary of state as well as
chief of staff. In 1993, the James A. Baker, III Institute for Public
Policy, one of the leading nonpartisan public policy think tanks in the
country, was established on the Rice University campus in Houston,
Texas.
The George Bush Award for Excellence in Public
Service recognizes an individual's or group's dedication to public
service at the local, state, national or international levels. The award
underscores President Bush's long service and commitment to public
service. President Reagan joins former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev,
former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Senator Edward Kennedy of
Massachusetts, evangelist Billy Graham, former California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as Bush
Award recipients.
The presentation of the Bush Award on March 10 is a
ticketed event. Free tickets are available at the Texas A&M
University MSC Box Office, The Bryan/College Station Eagle at 1729
Briarcrest Drive,
WTAW at 2700 Rudder Freeway South, KBTX – 4141 East 29th Street, the
Bryan/College Station Convention and Visitors Bureau at 715 University
Drive East, and the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum. For
more information, call (979) 862-2251 or visit
www.georgebushfoundation.org.
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