Roosevelt Awards

The Four Freedoms Medals

Each year, the Roosevelt Institute awards Four Freedoms Medals to individuals who exemplify President Roosevelt's vision of the Four Freedoms – people who demonstrate their commitment to that vision through their life and work. The Institute sponsors medal ceremonies in alternate years in the United States, recognizing American achievement, and in Middelburg, The Netherlands, recognizing international achievement. The ceremonies are invariably impressive, deeply moving, and provide a unique opportunity to understand the forces that form and motivate exceptional public figures.

“My father, with his fourth-grade education and two fingers with the missing tips from the mix-up at the cotton gin, got it when Roosevelt spoke. ‘I can’t talk like him,’ he said, ‘but I sure do think like him.' …he got it when Roosevelt said that private power no less than public power can bring America to ruin in the absence of democratic controls.”        
                                       -- Bill Moyers, 2007 Freedom of Speech Medalist

Among the laureates have been Presidents Truman, Kennedy, Carter, and Clinton, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi, Cornel West, Carlos Fuentes, Princess Juliana of the Netherlands, Studs Terkel and many more.  Click here to view the full list of laureates.

The FDR distinguished public service award

An award for those who demonstrate a lifetime commitment to outstanding public service, the FDR Distinguished Public Service Award celebrates national leaders from all areas of civil society.  First presented to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in 2008, the Award has provided occasion to reflect upon the values that inspire leadership and public service - values that Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt exemplified throughout their lives.  The 2009 Distinguished Public Service Award was granted to renowned philanthropist Bernard Rapoport; to read more about the recipients, click here.

THE ARTHUR M. SCHLESINGER JR. AWARD

Presented jointly by the Roosevelt Institute and the Society of American Historians, the Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Award commemorates a lifetime's achievement by a distinguished historian whose work is of enduring public significance.  Established in 2008, the Award was first presented to William E. Leuchtenberg, the William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor Emeritus of American History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  Joyce Oldham Appleby, Professor Emerita of History at the University of California, Los Angeles, received the second Schlesinger Award in 2009.  In 2010, the Award will be presented to James MacGregor Burns, Woodrow Wilson Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Williams College.  

The International Disability Award

The Roosevelt Institute and the World Committee on Disability established the Franklin Delano Roosevelt International Disability Award on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, on October 24, 1995.  The Award recognizes and encourages progress by nations toward the fulfillment of the goal of the UN World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons.  The World Programme prescribes how nations, communities, organizations, religions, and people of goodwill can and must expand the participation of people with disabilities for economic, humanitarian, and social reasons.  Read more about this award >

The Naval History Prize

The Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Prize in Naval History was established in 1986 and is presented by the New York Council of the Navy League of the United States, the Roosevelt Institute, and the Theodore Roosevelt Association.  The Prize commemorates Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt, who both served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy before becoming Presidents of the United States.  The Prize is awarded to the author of the best book on American naval history published in the previous calendar year.  View winners of the prize >