By Jocelyn Bogen
March 28, 2005

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin has been named a recipient of the 2005 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

Franklin, Chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Women Mayors, was recognized for her courageous leadership in restoring fiscal stability and ethical government to Atlanta. Facing an $82 million deficit upon taking office in 2001, Franklin formed an unprecedented alliance between Republicans, the business community and state government, raised taxes, cut the city payroll, and imposed a strict code of ethics. Four years later, Atlanta enjoys a budget surplus.

Franklin will be formally presented with the Profile in Courage Award by Caroline Kennedy and Senator Edward Kennedy at a ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston May 16. The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award is presented annually to public servants who have withstood strong opposition to follow what they believe is the right course of action. The award is named for President Kennedy's 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Profiles in Courage, which recounts the stories of eight U.S. senators who risked their careers to fight for what they believed in.

The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation created the Profile in Courage Award in 1989 to honor President Kennedy's commitment and contribution to public service. It is presented in May in celebration of President Kennedy's May 29th birthday

In addition, former Texas State Senator Bill Ratliff and U.S. Army Specialist Joseph M. Darby will also receive the 2005 Profile in Courage Award recipients. Ratliff, also a former Texas Lt. Governor, was honored for a distinguished career as a courageous bipartisan leader in his state. Darby is recognized for standing up for the principles imbedded in the rule of law when he took action to expose the torture and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison.

It was announced earlier that Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko will be presented with a 2005 Profile in Courage Award at a separate ceremony hosted by Caroline Kennedy and Senator Kennedy in early April.

"Shirley Franklin and Bill Ratliff are an inspiration to all who serve in government, and to all Americans, for their principled and bipartisan leadership, and their willingness to make the difficult and unpopular decisions necessary for good governance," said Caroline Kennedy, President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation

Franklin, Ratliff, Darby and Yushchenko were chosen as the recipients of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation's prestigious award for political courage by a distinguished bipartisan committee of national, political, and community leaders.