Nancy Pelosi Set to Receive Major Lifetime Award in Boston This November

Massachusetts Democrats are about to roll out the red carpet for soon-to-be former California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. At 86, Pelosi is not running for re-election to the U.S. House, where she has served since 1987, including two terms as Speaker (2007-2011 and 2019-2023).

Nancy Pelosi Named Recipient of EMK Lifetime Achievement Award

The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate will award Pelosi the Edward M. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award during its fundraising dinner on November 8, 2026, in Boston.

Pelosi is the second recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, which, according to the Institute, "honors leadership and service to the nation that inspires civil discourse and bipartisan solutions." The inaugural recipient was former President Joe Biden in 2025.

Massachusetts Democrats To Honor Former Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi

Bipartisanship and Civil Discourse Under the Spotlight

Neither Pelosi nor Biden comes to mind when I think of civil discourse and bipartisan solutions, but no one asked me to serve on the selection committee. After all, this is Massachusetts, and Kennedy and Pelosi were closely aligned politically.

The Legacy of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute

The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate was founded in 2015 and is "dedicated to educating the public about the important role of the Senate in our government, encouraging participatory democracy, invigorating civil discourse, and inspiring the next generation of citizens and leaders to engage in the civic life of their communities."

Massachusetts Democrats To Honor Former Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi

Sen. Edward Moore Kennedy served as U.S. Senator from Massachusetts for nearly 47 years until his death from brain cancer on August 25, 2009.

Born February 22, 1932, the brother of slain President John F. Kennedy and former U.S. Senator and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, also killed by an assassin, Edward "Ted" Kennedy pleaded guilty in 1969 to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne and received a suspended sentence of two months in jail.

Kennedy primaried fellow Democrat President Jimmy Carter in 1980, but dropped out of the race after showing poorly in the polls. He served in the Senate for nearly three decades more.