The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute recently honored General Jack Keane (USA, Ret.) and former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson with the Ronald Reagan “Peace Through Strength” Award at the sixth annual Reagan National Defense Forum (RNDF).
“General Keane and Secretary Johnson are men who understand that security and peace only come through strength,” said Roger Zakheim, Director of the Ronald Reagan Institute. “Their life-long leadership and service to our nation has helped to make a stronger America. We are fortunate to have both of them with us tonight at the final event of the 2018 Reagan National Defense Forum to honor their extraordinary service with the Peace Through Strength Award.”
“Peace is not free,” said Secretary Johnson. “You have to pay for it. Peace is not the default. Peace is the goal toward which the human race must continually strive, but it is not the natural state of affairs across the globe. Peace must be guarded and protected, against the belligerent impulses of far too many on this planet. Strength forges peace, and perceived weakness temps aggression.”
General Keane is a former Vice Chief of Staff for the Army, Chairman of the Institute for the Study of War and Executive Chairman of AM General. He is a four-star general who completed over 37 years of public service in December 2003.
Secretary Johnson is the former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, having served in that position from December 2013 to January 2017. He’s currently a partner at Paul Weiss.
Presented annually at the Reagan National Defense Forum since 2013, the Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Award recognizes those who have applied, with constant purpose, a strategy to strengthen our armed forces, support our military men and women striving around the world, reinforce our nation’s defense systems, and safeguard the lives and interests of the American people.
The Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Award is represented by a bronze eagle set upon a black granite base. The eagle symbolizes the strength, courage and wisdom of both Reagan and the country that he loved so dearly. Captured within the eagle’s talon is a piece of the Berlin Wall, a powerful reminder that, in Reagan’s own words, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”
Keane and Johnson join previous award recipients former Vice President Dick Cheney; former Secretaries of State George Shultz and Condoleezza Rice; U.S. Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.); Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.), Carl Levin (D-Mich) and Jack Reed (D-RI); and former Defense Secretaries Ashton Carter, Leon Panetta and Robert Gates.
The annual Reagan National Defense Forum is North America’s premier gathering for defense and national security experts. Each year, the RNDF brings together hundreds of leaders and key stakeholders in the defense community — including members of Congress, civilian officials and military leaders from the Defense Department and industry — to address the state of our national defense and threats to our national security.
The 2018 Forum was held on November 30 and December 1, 2018 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.
For more information, visit rndf.org
