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History of the Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson Distinguished Service Award



In 1982, the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) was proud to honor Senator Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson with the first “Distinguished Service Award.” After the Senator’s untimely death in 1983, JINSA, in cooperation with Mrs. Helen Jackson, renamed the award in the Senator’s memory.

Today this prestigious award enables JINSA to recognize and thank those leaders whose careers have been distinguished by the principle that is the foundation of JINSA’s work; the belief that the United States requires a strong military capability for both its own security and for that of trustworthy friends and allies. This was the cornerstone of the late Senator Jackson’s visionary policy and it guides JINSA today. Senator Jackson helped define our mandate and our programming is designed to further it.


Scoop Jackson Honoree
Senator Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson (left) receiving the first Distinguished Service Award in 1982.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo receving the 2018 Distinguished Service Award

Past Recipients of the Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson Distinguished Service Award:

2018 – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
2017 – Chairman Michael T. McCaul, Congressman Eliot Engel, and Sander Gerber
2016 – Senator Tom Cotton, Congresswoman Kay Granger, and Congressman Juan Vargas
2015 – Congressman Ed Royce
2014 – Congressman Mac Thornberry
2013 – Senator Mark Kirk
2012 – Senator Lindsey Graham
2011 – NATO Supreme Allied Commander Admiral James G. Stavridis
2010 – Senator Jon Kyl
2009 – Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., Army chief of staff; Marine Corps Gen. James T. Conway, Marine Corps commandant; Navy Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations; Coast Guard Adm. Thad W. Allen, Coast Guard commandant; Air Force Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, Air Force chief of staff; and Navy Adm. Eric T. Olson, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.
2008 – Admiral Michael Mullen, USN, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
2007 – Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense
2006 – Senator John McCain
2005 – General Peter Pace, USMC, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
2004 – Senator Evan Bayh
2003 – Congresswoman Jane Harman, Congressman Jim Saxton
2002 – Dr. Paul D. Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense
2001 – Gordon England, Secretary of the Navy, Dr. James Roche, Secretary of the Air Force, Thomas E. White, Secretary of the Army
2000 – Senator Max Cleland
1999 – Congressman Ike Skelton, Congressman Curt Weldon
1998 – Senator John Warner
1997 – Senator Joseph I. Lieberman
1996 – Congressman Duncan Hunter, Congressman Norm Dicks
1995 – Senator Ted Stevens
1994 – Senator Daniel K. Inouye
1993 – Congressman John P. Murtha
1992 – Congressman Les Aspin
1991 – Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense
1990 – Senator Connie Mack
1989 – Professor Eugene V. Rostow
1988 – Admiral William J. Crowe, Jr., USN, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
1987 – Ambassador Max M. Kampelman
1986 – Senator Rudy Boschwitz
1985 – Congressman Jack Kemp
1984 – Ambassador Jeane J. Kirkpatrick
1982 – Senator Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson



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