“Profiles in Courage” is a 1956 collection of short biographies highlighting eight U.S. senators’ bravery and integrity.
The book, authored by then-Sen. John F. Kennedy with aid from his assistant Ted Sorenson, profiles senators who challenged the opinions of their party and constituents to do what they felt was right, facing harsh criticism and losing popularity.
“This is a book about that most admirable of human virtues – courage. ‘Grace under pressure,’ Ernest Hemingway defined it,” the senator-turned-35th U.S. president wrote.
In 1990, the Kennedy family established the Profile in Courage Award to honor individuals who have demonstrated courage like those featured in the book.
Recent award nominees include Michael G. Adams, Kentucky’s Republican Secretary of State, who was recognized for “expanding voting rights and standing up for free and fair elections,” and former Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who was acknowledged for “voting to impeach President Donald J. Trump in 2020.”
Last October, Bill Britt, a political reporter from Alabama, wrote: “Today, the Republican Party has stripped away any pretense that virtues such as honesty, dignity, and courage still matter. Winning has become the only goal, with power, not principle, as the guiding star.”
For many members of the GOP in this Congress, such courage is non-existent, consistent, or changes with the wind.
Iowa’s Sen. Joni Ernst (R), a survivor of sexual assault and a combat veteran, was initially skeptical about the nomination of Pete Hegseth, who has faced allegations of sexual assault, for the position of Secretary of Defense. However, after considering the threat of a primary challenger endorsed by President Donald J. Trump, Ernst voted for Hegseth.
Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana (R), the medical doctor-turned-politician, bowed to political pressure and ensured Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as secretary of Health and Human Services.
Where is the GOP, as Eugene Robinson recently wrote in The Washington Post, “as the president tramples the U.S. Constitution, vandalizes the federal government and trashes our vital international alliances?”
It’s time GOP members of the House and Senate put country and courage over party. Instead of worrying about backlash from GOP colleagues, it’s important to stand up for what is morally right and just for all Americans.
“A man does what he must – in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures,” wrote Kennedy in “Profiles of Courage,” “and that is the basis of all human morality.”