Pompeo and O’Brien Receive Architect of Peace Award at Nixon Library
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Last evening, 250 friends, benefactors and admirers gathered in the Nixon Library’s East Room to pay tribute to two men whose names now join an elite pantheon of notable Architects of Peace: former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former National Security Adviser Robert C. O’Brien. The awards were given for the Secretary’s and the Ambassador’s work developing and implementing both the 2020 Abraham Accords and the 2020 Serbia-Kosovo economic normalization agreements, as well as their oversight of the repatriation of more than 50 American hostages detained abroad. In accepting their awards, both the Secretary and the Ambassador stressed the need for a pragmatic American foreign policy, to negotiate from a position of strength and take concrete steps to deter aggression. |
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Ambassador O’Brien said, “During the Trump administration we brought over 55 Americans home who were wrongfully held overseas. We used every tool in the kit. We used military rescues. We used diplomatic efforts. We used economic sanctions. We used intelligence operations. We used our allies. And we never paid ransom and we never compromised our principles as America.” |
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Secretary Pompeo said, “We didn’t ultimately deliver peace to the Korean peninsula, but we convinced them not to test their long range intercontinental ballistic missiles. We convinced them not to conduct any more nuclear tests and we had the biggest sanctions campaign against the North Koreans that has ever been put in place… There’s still room for building out peace in that space. It’s a place where we made progress, but not a finish. The progress only came because we were prepared to use American power. America’s adversaries “knew we were prepared to do what it took to create peace in the world,” Secretary Pompeo said. Watch Mike Pompeo’s full remarks here The Architect of Peace Award was established in 1995 shortly after President Nixon’s death and is given to individuals who embody his lifelong goal of shaping a more peaceful world. Among the 250 guests were such notables as Governor and Mrs. Pete Wilson —the Governor is a longtime member of the Nixon Foundation Board— four members of Congress, Academy Award winning actor Jon Voight, and Hollywood icons Mary Hart and Burt Sugarman. The OC Music and Dance Fanfare Trumpets began the evening with a stirring rendition of the National Anthem while those in the room sang along. The Architect of Peace Gala raised nearly $450,000 to support the ongoing works of President Nixon’s Foundation. |
