The Common Good American Spirit Awards
Thursday, November 21, 6-9 pm ET, at The Plaza
The American Spirit Awards are given each year to those extraordinary individuals who, through their words and actions, exemplify the best of the American spirit, demonstrating their commitment to our constitutional democracy, to freedom, to equality, to dignity for all, and to the common good.
For the 17th anniversary of The Common Good, our American Spirit Awardees include some very special Americans. Please join us in celebrating their achievements.
Our 2024 Awardees
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More About Our Awardees
Dr. Kimberly Budil is the director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where she leads a workforce of approximately 8,700 employees and manages an annual operating budget of $3 billion. As director, she sets the strategic vision for the Laboratory and is responsible for the successful execution of programs and operations to enhance national security through application of cutting edge science and technology and to maintain an outstanding and diverse workforce.
She leads the development and implementation of the Laboratory’s scientific vision, goals and objectives, and engages with the senior leadership of the Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, and other federal agencies, as well as senior leaders across government, academia and the private sector. She serves on several boards and participates in numerous professional and community outreach activities.
Budil holds a Ph.D. in engineering and applied science from the University of California, Davis, and a B.S. in physics from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
The Honorable James R. Clapper served as the fourth and longest-tenured US Director of national Intelligence from August 9, 2010 to January 20, 2017. In this position, Mr. Clapper led the United States Intelligence Community and served as the principal intelligence advisor to President Barack Obama.
Mr. Clapper retired in 1995 after a career in the U.S. Armed Forces. It began in 1961 when he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and culminated as a lieutenant general in the U.S. Air Force as the 11th Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. His intelligence-related positions over his 32 years in uniform included Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence at Headquarters, US Air Force during Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm, and Director of Intelligence for three combatant commands: US Forces, Korea; Pacific Command, and Strategic Air Command. He served two combat tours during the Southeast Asia conflict, and during the second, flew 73 combat support missions in EC-47’s over Laos and Cambodia.
Directly following his retirement, Mr. Clapper worked in industry for six years as an executive in three successive companies with the Intelligence Community as his business focus. He also served as a consultant and advisor to Congress and to the Departments of Defense and Energy, and as a member of a variety of government panels, boards, commissions, and advisory groups. He was a senior member of the Downing Assessment Task Force which investigated the Khobar Towers bombing in 1996, and was vice chairman of a commission chaired by former Governor Jim Gilmore of Virginia on the subject of homeland security and served on the NSA Advisory Board.
Mr. Clapper returned to the government two days after 9/11 as the third (and first civilian) director of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA). He served in this capacity for almost five years, transforming it into the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) as it is today.
Prior to becoming the Director of National Intelligence, Mr. Clapper served for over three years in two Administrations as the second Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, where he served as the principal staff assistant and advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on intelligence, counterintelligence, and security matters for the Department. In this capacity, he was also dual-hatted as the Director of Defense Intelligence for the DNI
His awards include three National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medals, two Defense Distinguished Service Medals, the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, the Coast Guard’s Distinguished Public Service Award, three Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Awards, the Presidentially-conferred National Security Medal, and many other U.S. civilian and military, as well as foreign government awards and decorations. He is the author of the New York Times best seller book, “Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence.
Secretary Jeh Johnson is a partner in the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP, who in public life was Secretary of Homeland Security (2013-2017), General Counsel of the Department of Defense (2009-2012), General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force (1998-2001), and an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York (1989-1991).
As Secretary of Homeland Security, Johnson was the head of the third largest cabinet department of the U.S. government, consisting of 230,000 personnel and 22 components. As General Counsel of the Department of Defense, Johnson is credited with being the legal architect for the U.S. military’s counterterrorism efforts in the Obama Administration. In 2010, Johnson co-authored the report that paved the way for the repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell by Congress later that year.
In private life, in addition to practicing law, Johnson is on the board of directors of Lockheed Martin, U.S. Steel, MetLife, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York City, and is a trustee of Columbia University. Johnson is a regular commentator on NBC, MSNBC, CNN, FOX and other news networks. In 2018 Johnson was the recipient of the Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Award. In January 2024 Johnson received the New York State Bar Association’s Gold Medal, the highest award the NYSBA confers. Johnson is a graduate of Morehouse College and Columbia Law School and the recipient of 13 honorary degrees.
Unanimously confirmed in 2011 by the U.S. Senate as the twenty-third Secretary of Defense, Leon E. Panetta has had a fifty-year career in public service at the highest levels of government. As Secretary of Defense, he established a new defense strategy and expanded service opportunities for women and others regardless of race, creed, color or gender. As Director of the CIA, he successfully led the operation that brought Osama bin Laden to justice.
Secretary Panetta began his public service career in 1964 as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, receiving the Army Commendation Medal, and then served as a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Tom Kuchel. In 1969, he was appointed Director of the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, where he was responsible for enforcing equal education laws.
Elected to Congress in 1976, Secretary Panetta represented the California Central Coast district for sixteen years and created the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. In 1993, he was sworn in as Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for the Clinton administration and later was appointed White House chief of staff, working to achieve a balanced federal budget.
