The Irving Kristol Award is the highest honor conferred by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.

The award is given for "notable intellectual or practical contributions to improved public policy and social welfare" and named in honor of Irving Kristol

Irving Kristol

Irving Kristol was an American columnist, journalist, and writer who was dubbed the "godfather of neoconservatism"...

. It replaced the Francis Boyer Award

Francis Boyer Award

The Francis Boyer Award was once the highest honor conferred by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. It was named for Francis Boyer, a chief executive at Smith, Kline & French in the mid-twentieth century and a strong supporter of AEI who died in 1972. The Boyer Award was...

 in 2003. The award was named for Kristol as a tribute to his influence on public issues and as an intellectual mentor to several generations of conservatives. According to Christopher DeMuth

Christopher DeMuth

Christopher C. DeMuth is an American lawyer. He was the president of the American Enterprise Institute , a conservative think tank, from 1986 to 2008. DeMuth is widely credited with reviving AEI's fortunes after its near-bankruptcy in 1986 and leading the institute to new levels of influence and...

, "In our sixty years of labors, no one has had a more profound influence on the work of the American Enterprise Institute, or on American political discourse, than Irving Kristol. Combining philosophical depth with intense practicality and constant good cheer, [Kristol] has, as President Bush has put it, 'transformed political debate on every subject he approached, from economics to religion, from social welfare to foreign policy.'"

The Kristol Award is presented at AEI's Annual Dinner, a gala dinner in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, that is well-attended by conservative leaders and is a major event on the Washington social scene. President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 spoke at the first Kristol Award presentation in 2003. Bush's speech, only days before the commencement of the Iraq war, laid out his promise to launch military action even if the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 Security Council did not authorize it. Former vice president Dick Cheney

Dick Cheney

Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....

 and former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar

José María Aznar

José María Alfredo Aznar López served as the Prime Minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He is on the board of directors of News Corporation.-Early life:...

 have also presented the award.

Kristol Award recipients occasionally make news with their speeches. John Howard

John Howard

John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....

, who had a few months before been defeated in the Australian elections, criticized his successor as prime minister, Kevin Rudd

Kevin Rudd

Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...

, over industrial relations and the Iraq war.

All recipients are given a token of esteem engraved with a citation for their achievements.

List of recipients

Year	Recipient	Nationality	Citation	Lecture title
2003	Allan H. Meltzer		"To Allan H. Meltzer Pioneer of political economy and policy reform Teacher to students, scholars, and statesmen Intellectual leader in the causes of liberty and progress"	"Leadership and Progress"
2004	Charles Krauthammer Charles Krauthammer Charles Krauthammer, MD is an American Pulitzer Prize–winning syndicated columnist, political commentator, and physician. His weekly column appears in The Washington Post and is syndicated to more than 275 newspapers and media outlets. He is a contributing editor to the Weekly Standard and The New...		"To Charles Krauthammer Fearless journalist, wise analyst, and militant democrat Who has shown that America's interests and ideals are indivisible And that the promotion of freedom is hard-headed realism"	"Democratic Realism"
2005	Mario Vargas Llosa Mario Vargas Llosa Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquis of Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian-Spanish writer, politician, journalist, essayist, and Nobel Prize laureate. Vargas Llosa is one of Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists, and one of the leading authors of his generation...	vian	"To Mario Vargas Llosa Whose narrative art and political thought Illumine the universal quest for freedom-- Which the virtues love and the follies require."	"Confessions of a Liberal"
2006	David Hackett Fischer David Hackett Fischer David Hackett Fischer is University Professor and Earl Warren Professor of History at Brandeis University. Fischer's major works have tackled everything from large macroeconomic and cultural trends to narrative histories of significant events to explorations of...		"To David Hackett Fischer Student, teacher, and storyteller Whose histories revivify the American past And teach us that her future is a story we are telling"
2007	Bernard Lewis Bernard Lewis Bernard Lewis, FBA is a British-American historian, scholar in Oriental studies, and political commentator. He is the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University...		"To Bernard Lewis Who has stood at the Bosporus for seventy years Historian and interpreter across the great divide Sage of our pasts, presage of our future."	"Europe and Islam"
2008	John Howard John Howard John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....	n	"To John Winston Howard Stalwart all-rounder of politics and policy Who made good government a popular cause And advanced Australia fair and free"	"Keeping Faith with Our Common Values"
2009	Charles Murray Charles Murray (author) Charles Alan Murray is an American libertarian political scientist, author, columnist, and pundit working as a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, DC...		"To Charles Murray Exemplary social scientist Whose measurements are means to moral understanding Engaged Aristotelian Who teaches of human heritage and pursuit"	"The Happiness of the People"
2010	David Petraeus David Petraeus David Howell Petraeus is the current Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, sworn in on September 6, 2011. Prior to his assuming the directorship of the CIA, Petraeus was a four-star general serving over 37 years in the United States Army. His last assignments in the Army were as commander...			"The Surge of Ideas: COINdinistas and Change in the U.S. Army in 2006"
2011	Martin Feldstein Martin Feldstein Martin Stuart "Marty" Feldstein is an economist. He is currently the George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University, and the president emeritus of the National Bureau of Economic Research . He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the NBER from 1978 through 2008...