Jerome Powell won an award. For courage under fire.

That’s not a joke. On Sunday, Powell was presented with the 2026 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in recognition of his efforts to “protect the independence of the Federal Reserve” in the face of “personal attacks and threats from the highest levels of government.”

As the press release accompanying the presentation explains, the award’s presented annually by the JFK Library Foundation to “public servants for making a courageous decision of conscience without regard for the personal or professional consequences.”

Say what you will, but that’s Powell. Donald Trump’s pressure campaign aimed at influencing monetary policy began in the summer of 2018, and hasn’t let up since, except for the interregnum during which he wasn’t president.

Last year, Trump took his efforts to commandeer the rate-setting process up several notches when, in coordination with FHFA chief Bill Pulte and Project 2025 architect Russ Vought, The White House accused Powell of misleading Congress over the cost of renovations at the Eccles building, allegations plainly aimed at forcing Powell’s resignation.

A few weeks later, Pulte and Trump attempted to oust Lisa Cook from the Fed board for alleged mortgage fraud, a gambit which ultimately failed, setting up a battle in the Supreme Court.

Then, in January, the Fed was served grand jury subpoenas threatening a criminal indictment. In connection with the announcement, Powell released an extraordinary video address to the nation accusing Trump of politicizing monetary policy.

In the months that followed, Powell was unflappable — defiant to the end of his term and, amusingly, beyond. Although Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney Trump plucked from one of Fox News’s most abrasive opinion programs, dropped the Justice Department’s investigation into Powell in order to clear the way for Kevin Warsh’s nomination, Powell was unsatisfied.

During his final press conference before handing the reins to Warsh, Powell vowed to stay on as a member of the Fed board until he’s convinced the institution’s safe from political pressure. As he put it, “I had long planned to be retiring, but the things that’ve happened over the last three months have left me no choice but to stay.”

Powell was celebrated for his fortitude by Caroline Kennedy on Sunday. “Powell never wavered in his duty to the public interest,” she said. “With dignity and resolve he demonstrated his commitment to the American people despite years of personal attacks, baseless prosecution and efforts to undermine him.”

In his acceptance speech, Powell was direct. “If any administration finds a way to remove Fed officials over policy differences, then future administrations will do so as well,” he said. “The public would lose faith that the central bank will make decisions based only on what’s best for all Americans.”

Powell expressed similar sentiments during his final FOMC press conference, but he went much (much) further on Sunday in Boston.

“Democratic institutions take time, effort and patience to build but can be torn down all too quickly,” he went on, in the course of implicitly castigating the Trump administration’s attacks not just on the Fed, but on colleges, think tanks, Congress, the court system and the Constitution itself.

“It is essential that we preserve what is good about these institutions, even as we strive to improve them,” he told the audience. “The United States has long been the leader of the world’s freedom-seeking people. Other countries know us as a nation built on integrity, and that integrity must be maintained.”

If he noticed, Trump wasn’t amused. But with the fate of the Iran war hanging in the balance, I doubt The White House had enough bandwidth over the weekend to dwell on another rebuke from the implacable Powell.

I wonder what Warsh thought of Powell’s award and speech.