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Congressional Gold Medal.com |
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Congressional Gold Medal Recipient
Bob Hope
Bob Hope born Leslie Townes Hope
b. Eltham, near London, England, 29 May 1903
Friday, 8 June 1962 JOINT RESOLUTION
Authorizing the issuance of a gold medal to Bob Hope. Whereas moments enriched by humor are moments free from hate and conflict, and therefore valued by mankind; and Whereas Bob Hope has given to us and to the world many such treasured moments; and' Whereas he has done so unstintingly and unselfishly, with heavy demands on his time, talent, and energy; and Whereas his contributions over a long period of years to the morale of millions of members of the United States armed services, in addition to those of our friends and allies, have been of immediate and enduring value; and Whereas these contributions have been made during Christmas and at other times by personal contact in countless miles of travel around the globe, to the farthest outposts manned by American youth, during times of peace and war, often under dangerous conditions and at great personal risk; and Whereas while at home he has given firm and imaginative support to humanitarian causes of every description; and Whereas in all this Bob Hope has rendered an outstanding service to the cause of democracy, as America's most prized "Ambassador of Good Will" throughout the world: Therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President is authorized to present in the name of the people of the United States of America a gold medal of appropriate design to Bob Hope in recognition of his aforesaid services to his country and to the cause of world peace. The Secretary of the Treasury shall cause such a medal to be struck and furnished to the President. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated the sum of $2,500 for this purpose. 76 Stat. 93
President Kennedy, Dolores Hope and guests, 1962. Copyprint. Bob Hope Collection, Of the thousands of awards bestowed upon Bob Hope the Congressional Gold Medal is among those he has treasured the most.
President John F. Kennedy presented Hope with the medal on September 11, 1962. The medal reads, "Bob Hope" Humorist, Humanitarian, Patriot Presented to Bob Hope by President Kennedy in recognition of his having rendered outstanding service to the cause of Democracy throughout the world.
Remarks Upon Presenting Congressional Gold Medal to Bob Hope
September 11, 1963 THE GARDEN is filled with some of your old friends from the Congress. We are glad to see them here. I wish perhaps they would all come forward - the Members of Congress. This is the only bill we've gotten by lately, so we would like to have them. Won't you come up Senator Robertson, who reported it out of the Committee, and Charley Halleck, George - all of you gentlemen, come on up here, now. We want to express a warm welcome to all of you, to the Members of Congress. Ninety-seven Members of Congress sponsored this legislation - 97 Senators - and I think the overwhelming support it was given in the Congress and in the country, Bob, shows the great affection that all of us hold for you and most especially the great appreciation we have for you for so many years going so many places to entertain the sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters of Americans who were very far from home. So, in passing this bill, in making this medal - and it is one of the really rarest acts of the Congress; I think, since the end of the second war, this has been done on only 10 or 11 occasions -
Dr. Salk,
Billy Mitchell,
Justice Brandeis. It has been one of the rarest honors given to Americans, and it is a great pleasure for me on behalf of the Congress to present this to you. We have a splendid picture of you. I hope everyone will have a chance to look at it. I present it to you on behalf of the people of the United States. Mr. Hope: Thank you very much, Mr. President. That is very nice. I suggested to Senator Symington I should have had a nose job, but he said there would have been less gold. I actually don't like to tell jokes about a thing like this because it is one of the nicest things that has ever happened to me, and I feel very humble - although I think I have the strength of character to fight it - and I am thrilled that you invited all the Senators and Congressmen up here with us. For awhile it looked like a congressional investigation, but I really appreciate this very much. And this is sort of an anticlimax to some great thrills that I have had touring the world, and I want to thank the Defense Department, and especially Stuart Symington who started all our Christmas trips and has been more or less a den mother to all of us all these years. This is a great thing. There is only one sobering thought: I received this for going outside the country. I think they are trying to tell me something. But I do appreciate it and I want to thank the President for inviting my family. I enjoyed meeting them, and this will mean a lot to my kids. It won't explain why I wasn't in the service, but at least it will point out which side I was on. Thank you very, very much. I think it is deductible. THE PRESIDENT. You might read it on the other side, Bob. I will read it. It says: "Presented to Bob Hope by President Kennedy in recognition of his having rendered outstanding service to the cause of democracies throughout the world. By the Act of Congress June 8, 1962." Mr. Hope: Wonderful, Wonderful. That is very nice, and I want to say I also played in the South Pacific while the President was there, and he was a very gay, carefree young man at that time. Of course, all he had to worry about then was the enemy. But it is thrilling to note that 20 years later he is still on Government rations. Which way is the golf course? THE PRESIDENT. You go right out there. Mr. Hope: Thank you very much.
Bob Hope receiving the Medal from President John F. Kennedy in the Rose Garden at the White House NOTE: The President spoke at noon in the Flower Garden at the White House. In his opening remarks he referred to U.S. Senator A. Willis Robertson of Virginia; U.S. Representative Charles A. Halleck of Indiana, House Minority Leader; and U.S. Senator George A. Smathers of Florida. He later referred to Dr. Jonas Salk, Brig. Gen, William (Billy) Mitchell, and Justice Louis Brandeis of the U.S. Supreme Court, who had been honored by similar medals. The medal presented to Mr. Hope was struck pursuant to Public Law 87-478 (76 Stat. 93), approved June 8, 1962.
"Thanks for the Memories"
Bob Hope receiving his Oscar in 1960
Biography Leslie Townes Hope was the son of a stone mason in London. His father brought the family to Cleveland, Ohio, when Bob was three. He was given singing lessons by his mother.
Hope learned tap-dancing in high school and then taught the classes for a time. At the age of ten, he won a Charlie Chaplin imitation contest but he pursued a boxing career until he learned that acts were needed for a Cleveland theater. With his partner George Byrne, he worked out a dance routine. A tour followed as "Two Diamonds in the Rough."
After appearances on Broadway in The Sidewalks of New York and Smiles, Hope emerged as a monologist, he decided to be a solo performer. He played vaudeville theaters, and then formed his own company.
Hope returned to Broadway, with "Ballyhoo", a 1932 musical, then the following year in "Roberta". During which he met his (soon to be) wife Dolores Reade.
In 1935 he appeared in "Ziegfeld Follies". His own radio show was introduced in 1938. As a result of it, he was asked by Paramount Studios to appear in the film "The Big Broadcast" of 1938. The producers assigned him to sing the song Thanks for the Memory, which was to become his theme.
A new phase of his career began in 1940 when he set out on the Road to Singapore, the first of the seven blockbuster "Road" pictures he was to appear in with Bing Crosby.
Hope featured in many other hit comedy films, including "Monsieur Beaucaire", "My Favorite Blonde", "My Favorite Brunette", and "My Favorite Spy".
The television show Star Spangled Revue, presented on Easter Sunday, 1950, marked the first of his myriad appearances on the new medium.
Among his innumerable awards are five special Oscars for humanitarian work. He has also created the USO international headquarters named after him.
Bob Hope sadly passed away on Sunday 27th July 2003 with his family at his bedside.
Bob Hope was among the 20,000 vaudeville performers working in the 1920s. Many of these performers were, like Hope, recent immigrants to America who saw a vaudeville career as one of the few ways to succeed as a "foreigner" in America. Throughout his extraordinary professional career of nearly seventy years, Bob Hope practiced the arts he learned in vaudeville and perpetuated variety entertainment traditions in stage musical comedy, motion pictures, radio, television, and the live appearances he made around the world in support of American armed forces. Today, the stage variety show is mostly a memory but its influence is pervasive thanks to the long and rich careers of vaudeville veterans like Bob Hope. To learn more about this great man and performer visit the
Library of Congress' Tribute to Bob Hope and American Variety.
Bob Hope -"American "
Presidential Medal of Freedom On his last morning in office, President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded Presidential
Medal of Freedom to twenty individuals, including Bob Hope. Bob Hope's citation noted that, "With his gifts of joy to all the American people, he has written his name large in the history of our times."
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