Former Fed chair Powell, Minnesota Twin Cities community leaders accept JFK Profile in Courage awards

After withstanding unprecedented attacks from President Trump, former Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell accepted the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award Sunday night and warned of the economic risks of allowing a president to remove officials at the independent central bank over policy differences.

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“The public would lose faith that the central bank will make decisions based only on what’s best for all Americans. The Fed’s credibility would be lost,” Powell said during a ceremony at the JFK Presidential Library and Museum in Dorchester.

“That credibility enables the Fed to support a strong and stable economy for the benefit of American families and businesses,” he told the more than 700 people in attendance. “Our credibility has been built and sustained over many decades, and we have a duty to safeguard that priceless asset for our fellow citizens and for generations to come.”

Powell received the award for “for protecting the independence” of the Fed despite Trump’s aggressive efforts to try to force him to lower interest rates and to get him to resign when he would not.

The people of Minnesota’s Twin Cities also received the award for “peacefully defending” human rights and immigrants in their community during a Trump administration immigration enforcement surge that included federal agents killing two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during protests there in January.

Four Twin Cities community leaders —ImanYusuf Abdulle, Natalie Ehret, Carolina Ortiz, and Zena Stenvik — accepted Sunday night on behalf of the residents of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

“Joining Chicago, Portland, and other communities, their compassion and unwavering commitment to the ideals that sustain our democracy inspired communities across this country and forced the federal government to back down,” Caroline Kennedy, honorary president of the JFK Library Foundation, told the crowd. “We especially remember the courage of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who gave their lives for their community and our country.”

The award choices led to unusually strong demand forthis year’s award ceremony, which wasmoved to a tent outside the library for capacity reasons for only the third time. The other occasions were in 2017, when former President Barack Obama received the award, and in 2019, when the recipient was then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Among the attendees Sunday were Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and three members of Renee Good’s family — her father, Tim Ganger, brother Brent Ganger, and sister Anna Ganger Collins.

Powell was an unusual choice for the award, created in 1989 to recognize “public servants who have made courageous decisions of conscience without regard for the personal or professional consequences.” Many past recipients, such as Obama, Pelosi, and last year’s honoree, former Vice President Mike Pence, were elected officials.

“He is not an elected official, and these are not ordinary times,” Jack Schlossberg, Caroline Kennedy’s son and a member of the Profile in Courage Award committee, said in introducing Powell. “His commitment to the public interest never wavered.”

A lawyer and former investment banker who served President George H.W. Bush’s Treasury Department, Powell is a soft-spoken government official who led the nation’s central bank for eight years ending May 22. Despite initially appointing him to the job, Trump quickly turned on Powell in mid-2018 when the Fed began inching up its benchmark interest rate to head off potential inflation.

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Then, as in Trump’s second term, Powell refused to give into the pressure.

While the Fed has made mistakes in the difficult task of monetary policy, the public expects “we will make our decisions based only on our best economic analysis of what would most benefit the people we serve.

“We do not take into account the fortunes of any political party or politician in making those decisions,” Powell said.

The Fed was created by Congress as a uniquely independent federal agency so that it would make decisions based on what’s good for the economy and not for short-term political reasons. Interest rate decisions are made by a 12-member board, but the chair is highly influential and publicly explains the Fed’s actions.

Powell was reappointed to a second four-year term by President Joe Biden in 2022. When Trump returned to the White House in 2025, he wanted the Fed to significantly lower rates to spur more economic growth. But Trump’s high tariffs led to concerns among economists about price increases, and the Fed moved cautiously.

Trump was infuriated. He publicly derided Powell as “stupid,” a “knucklehead,” and a “stubborn moron” while calling on him to resign and musing about firing him. But Fed board members can only be fired “for cause,” not for policy disputes.

So Trump tried to find a reason last year, focusing on the rising cost of renovating and expanding the Fed’s Washington, D.C., headquarters.

He increased the pressure on Powell and the Fed by attempting to fire another member of the central bank’s Board of Governors, Lisa Cook, because of mortgage fraud allegations she denies. Trump’s unprecedented move was put on hold by a federal judge pending Cook’s legal challenge, which the Supreme Court is deciding. Cook attended Sunday night’s ceremony.

Then in January, Powell revealed that the Justice Department was conducting a criminal investigation into whether he had lied to Congress about the renovation.

Still,Powell refused to resign as chair before his term ended May 22. Trump nominated his replacement, Kevin Warsh, who was recently sworn in to succeed him. But Powell broke with tradition and opted to remain on the Fed board until the criminal investigation is over, denying Trump another seat to fill. His separate 14-year board term doesn’t end until 2028.

Powell described President Kennedy as “an inspiring public servant” and “a towering figure in my early life.”

“Partisan political differences are normal — indeed essential — in a thriving democracy,“ Powell said. ”But we ought to be united in our commitment to the higher principles that define our nation. Chief among them is respect for the rule of law.”

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