2004 Citizen of the Year

Harris Wofford

John Bridgeland congratulates Harris Wofford upon his selection as 2004 Citizen of the Year

John Bridgeland: The ancient Greeks were extraordinary in honoring citizens and holding up every year one person who exemplified in their minds the complete and happy life. In keeping with that longstanding tradition, the National Conference on Citizenship every year will give the Citizen of the Year Award to one individual who throughout his or her lifetime has exemplified the greatest of American values and traditions and who has greatly served the country. I thought it might be meaningful to present from a fellow Philadelphian to another Pennsylvanian a personally inscribed book of David McCullough's work, John Adams. And Abigail Adams wrote to her husband on the road to Philadelphia: "You cannot be I know, nor do I wish to see you, an inactive spectator. We have too many high-sounding words and too few actions that correspond with them." This man was the co-founder of the Peace Corps; he was special assistant to President John F. Kennedy for civil rights. He went on to be president of two well known colleges in Pennsylvania. He went on to be U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania. He then went on to be the President and CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service really in its infancy and made that organization what it is today. And yes, he went on to be the co-chair of America's Promise. I had him speak to my class at Harvard recently and spent 14 hours with him including a plane ride back. I was so worked up by all his stories and all his enthusiasm at his 7th or 8th decade of life that I stayed up the entire night moved by all that he had talked about and all the stories from India to Kennedy and beyond. Please stand in honoring this year's recipient of the National Conference on Citizenship's Citizen of the Year Award, for his lifetime of service to the Nation- Senator Harris Wofford.