Jefferson-Lincoln Awards

The twelfth annual Jefferson-Lincoln Awards, An Evening to Honor Lives of Public Service, was held at the beautiful Inn at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach on Saturday, November 5, 2011. The event honors policy makers and journalists whose work best exemplifies public service and dedicated effort on behalf of the greatness of our nation. The 2011 honorees were former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, former Office of Management and Budget director Alice Rivlin and CNN lead political anchor Wolf Blitzer.


The annual event serves as the Panetta Institute’s major fundraiser with monies raised going to support the Institute’s mission to inspire men and women to lives of public service and its related programs.

Jefferson-Lincoln honorees are selected by a special committee consisting of former U.S. Senators Howard Baker and Nancy Kassebaum Baker, former U.S. Representative Lee Hamilton and Sylvia Panetta.


Previous honorees include:

Year 2010

  • Tom Brokaw, Special Correspondent, NBC Nightly News
  • Cokie Roberts, Senior News Analyst, NPR and ABC News
  • David Brooks, Columnist, The New York Times

Year 2009

  • Bernard Shaw, Anchor Emeritus, CNN
  • Andrea Mitchell, Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, NBC News
  • Jim Lehrer, Executive Editor and Anchor, PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

Year 2008

  • California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
  • U.S. Representative Jane Harman (D) 36th District of California
  • U.S. Representative Jim Saxton, (R) 3rd District of New Jersey
  • Ron Brownstein, Political Director, Atlantic Media

Year 2007

  • David Broder, National Political Correspondent, The Washington Post
  • Judy Woodruff, Senior Correspondent, PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
  • Belva Davis, Television Journalist, KQED

Year 2006

  • U.S. Representative Sherwood Boehlert (R) 24th District of New York
  • U.S. Representative Ike Skelton (D) 4th District of Missouri

Year 2005

  • U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R) of Maine
  • U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D) of California
  • U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman (D) of Connecticut

Year 2004

  • U.S. Senator John Breaux (D) of Louisiana
  • U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe (R) of Maine

Year 2003

  • U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen (R)
  • U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta (D)
  • U.S. Representative Marty Meehan (D) 5th District of Massachusetts
  • U.S. Representative Christopher Shays (R) 4th District of Connecticut

Year 2002

  • U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D) of Wisconsin
  • U.S. Senator John McCain (R) of Arizona

Year 2001

  • U.S. Representative John Murtha (D) 12th District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. Representative Bill Young (R) 10th District of Florida

Year 2000

  • U.S. Senator John Chafee (R) of Rhode Island Posthumously
  • U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D) of New York