FRANKFORT, Ky. — Secretary of State Michael Adams, R-Ky., has been chosen to receive the 2024 JFK Profile in Courage Award from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

In a news release announcing Adams’ selection, the foundation said the award recognizes “public servants who have risked their careers by putting the public interest ahead of their own political standing.” It said Adams’ selection was in recognition of his defense of “free and fair elections in challenging times” and his work to expand voting rights “despite party opposition and political and personal threats.”

“As our nation heads to the polls this November to choose the next President of the United States, courageous Secretaries of State like Michael Adams are on the front lines protecting access to the ballot and ensuring that our nation remains a beacon of democracy,” said Caroline Kennedy, honorary president of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

Kennedy and her son, Jack Schlossberg, will present the award on June 9, 2024 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, Massachusetts.

“President Kennedy’s admonition to put country before self still resonates today, and rings true now more than ever,” said Adams. “I am honored to accept this award on behalf of election officials and poll workers across America who, inspired by his call, sacrifice to keep the American experiment in self-government alive.”

Past winners of the Profile in Courage Award include former U.S. Presidents Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush and Barack Obama, Secretary-General of the U.N. Kofi Annan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. Senator John McCain.