Events Detail

Former Vice President Dick Cheney

At a gala dinner in New York on December 6, Hudson presented its annual Herman Kahn Award for 2012 to former Vice President Dick Cheney in recognition of his extraordinary career of service to the United States and its government. Introduced by longtime friend and colleague—and Hudson Senior Vice President Lewis Libby—Cheney accepted the Kahn Award with kind and generous remarks about Hudson, and with a special tribute to another longtime friend, Hudson Board Chairman Emeritus Allan R. Tessler. 

During his talk, the former vice president also offered an extended critique of current Obama administration national security and nuclear nonproliferation policy.

"When I hear our president announce that we got Bin Laden, problem solved; that Al Qaeda is toast; that they are significantly diminished; and that we can pivot now, because the United States no longer has to be concerned about developments in that part of the world, and focus our efforts on Asia—I am, on the one hand, appalled. Secondly, I fear for future developments if, in fact, they're going to continue to pursue the policies that this administration has pursued."

Cheney's remarks were almost immediately picked up by national media, including Fox News Channel.

Hudson Institute Board Chairman Sarah May Stern and Hudson Institute President & CEO Kenneth Weinstein also provided remarks.

A full transcript of the relevant passages will be available on this page shortly.

For audio and video of the entire Kahn Award Dinner proceedings, please click the orange play button at the top of this page (available shortly).

Sarah May Stern, Lewis Libby, Allan Tessler, Kenneth Weinstein, and Dick Cheney