WASHINGTON, DC — At a dinner this past Friday evening at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum, The Ripon Society presented three members of Congress with the 2026 Roosevelt Leadership Award, an honor that is given in the spirit of America’s 26th President and is intended to recognize leaders who embody some of the same qualities that Theodore Roosevelt displayed throughout his life and career.

This year’s honorees include House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (LA-01), U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin (IN-09), and U.S. Rep. Jay Obernolte (CA-23).

“The Roosevelt Leadership Award was established with one premise in mind,” stated Ripon & Franklin President & CEO Jim Conzelman in remarks to kick-off the evening. “Namely, there is a lot of good, thoughtful work being done on Capitol Hill and in Washington that people do not regularly hear about. With trust in government at an all-time low, we believe it is important that Americans not only learn about this work, but learn more about the individuals who are responsible for getting it done.”

To that end, Conzelman noted, the Roosevelt Leadership Award honors those leaders:

• Who have a sense of duty and service driven by a love of country.
• Who possess a desire to do what is in the best interests of the American people – regardless of party, and regardless of who gets the credit; and,
• Who embody the qualities that Theodore Roosevelt spoke of when he said: “The credit belongs to those who are actually in the arena, who strive valiantly; who know the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spend themselves in a worthy cause; who at best know the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if they fail, fail while daring greatly, so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

“The three leaders we are honoring here at the Reagan Library embody these qualities and more,” Conzelman stated. “Between them, they have devoted more than 60 years to serving the American people. Individually, they have made their mark in many important ways.”

Conzelman noted that this is the eleventh year the Roosevelt Leadership Awards have been presented. Last year’s awards dinner was held in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the USS Missouri while the 2024 awards celebration was held in Key West, Florida, and featured a visit to the Truman Little White House where America’s 33rd President spent so much time. The year before, the awards celebration was held in Rapid City, South Dakota, and featured a visit to Mount Rushmore. In 2022, the awards celebration was held in Austin and featured visits to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum and the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station. Earlier in 2021, the dinner was held in Charlottesville and included visits to Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello, and the home where James and Dolly Madison lived at Montpelier. The 2019 awards celebration was held at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, while the 2018 awards were presented at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda.

The 2017 celebration was held in New York and included visits to Theodore Roosevelt’s historic home at Sagamore Hill and Franklin Roosevelt’s estate and museum in Hyde Park. In 2016, the awards celebration was held at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas, while the inaugural Roosevelt Awards in 2015 was at the Reagan Library and included a visit to Rancho del Cielo, President Reagan’s historic ranch atop the Santa Ynez Mountain range northwest of Santa Barbara.

The Ripon Society is a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 – Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of The Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.

To view additional photos from the 2026 Roosevelt Leadership Awards Dinner, please click here.