Webb Honored with “Andrew Jackson Presidential Award” for
Commitment to Economic Fairness, Sound Principles of Governance
April 21, 2010
Senator Jim Webb has been awarded the “Andrew Jackson
Presidential Award for Citizenship and Leadership.” Presented
by the Ladies Hermitage Association, the award honors leaders who
have “promoted the history and life of Andrew Jackson” and “who have
demonstrated in their civic lives a dedication to the furtherance of
our American democracy and to sound governance principles.”
Senator Webb ran for the U.S. Senate in 2006 on a platform
of “Jacksonian Democracy”—that we should measure the health of our
society not at its apex, but at its base—committing to restore a
basic level of economic fairness to the American people. For
more than three years, his leadership in the Congress has upheld and
embodied that commitment.
“I am struck by the multiple similarities when I think of
President Jackson and Senator Webb,” said John Seigenthaler,
award-winning reporter, editor, publisher and CEO for The Tennessean
and founding editorial director of USA TODAY, when presenting the
award. “They both were lawyers as well as warriors… Both of them
served in Washington during times of intense partisanship. Neither
of them will ever be remembered for giving sufferance to fools. Both
were, and Jim Webb still is, committed to making sure that our
government is true to those who come home from war in need of
assistance.”
Senator Webb clearly articulated these priorities in a Wall
Street Journal op-ed (“American
workers have a chance to be heard,” November 15, 2006) and in
his response to President George Bush’s 2007 State of the Union
Address.
His first act in Congress was the introduction on his first
day in office of a new GI Bill to provide service members and
veterans of the post-9/11 era with comprehensive educational
benefits similar to those provided to veterans of WWII. Since the
bill became law in 2008, over 480,000 veterans have applied for
their benefits to attend college or other post secondary programs.
In order to further expand employment opportunities, Webb introduced
the Adult Education and Economic Growth Act last year to improve
adult education, job training, and other workforce programs. After
American taxpayers bailed out the Wall Street firms who created the
financial crisis, Senator Webb introduced the Taxpayer Fairness Act
to place a one-time 50% tax on excessive bonuses paid by Wall Street
banks and other firms that benefited from billions of taxpayer
dollars in 2009.
In his acceptance speech, Senator Webb described how
Jackson has inspired his approach to leadership today:
“When I think about Andrew Jackson, I am struck by the
unique impact that he had on this country. His presidency was
the first that did not come out of the landed English aristocracy in
the South or the English American elite in New England. He was
the first Scots-Irish president, the first “bottom up” president,
and he had enormous challenges inside the existing political
structure. Thomas Jefferson called him ‘dangerous’ and ‘unfit for
office,’ and John Quincy Adams called him a ‘barbarian,’ and refused
to attend his inauguration.
“This was an individual who sincerely and fiercely believed
in protecting the working people—the people who carried the load of
society. He faced down the forces that threatened the very fabric of
our society. Scholars agree that the most important presidential
veto in American history occurred when legislation creating the
Second National Bank came before President Jackson. This legislation
would have allowed a permanent aristocracy in America. Two-thirds of
Congress agreed that this legislation should go through. Andrew
Jackson knew that if he vetoed this legislation, they were going to
try to veto him. But he did.
"In his 1832 veto message, Jackson said:
‘Equality of talents, of education, or of wealth cannot
be produced by human institutions. In the full enjoyment of the
gifts of Heaven and the fruits of superior industry, economy, and
virtue, every person is equally entitled to protection by law; but
when the laws undertake to add to these natural and just advantages
artificial distinctions, to make the rich richer and the potent more
powerful, the humble members of society-the farmers, mechanics, and
laborers--who have neither the time nor the means of securing favors
to themselves--have a right to complain of the injustice of their
Government. There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils
exist only in its abuses.’
“This to me, is the most important articulation of the
responsibilities of government leaders that I’ve ever read. The
truth of that statement resounds today in numerous pieces of
legislation we face in the United States Congress. The courage that
it took to confront the forces of entrenched interests in order to
challenge the conscience of all Americans also exists today. That is
my duty. I continue in that tradition. That is the reason I so
respect this great leader and also the reason I am so grateful to
receive this award.”
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS