Former president George H.W. Bush was honored this weekend for the act that helped cost him re-election in 1992: The 1990 tax hike.
The 41st president received the 2014 Profile in Courage award from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, which cited the 1990 budget deal that included tax increases.
The agreement violated the "read my lips, no new taxes" pledge Bush had made during the 1988 election, and the deal with congressional Democrats cost him support among Republican conservatives.
"We celebrate courage today, in a moment of profound change and challenge, in a world gripped by partisan gridlock and inaction," said.Jack Schlossberg, a grandson of President John F. Kennedy.
Bush granddaughter Lauren Bush accepted for the former president, who was unable to attend the event.
"Candidly speaking, my grandfather did not want to raise taxes in 1990," she said. "But in our constitutional system of governance, Congress also gets a say — and more than that, he felt he owed the American people action and results."
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