Bill Batchelder Receives John M. Ashbrook Award

December 24, 2020

Bill Batchelder Receives John M. Ashbrook Award
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The Ashbrook Center presented the 2014 John M. Ashbrook Award to William Batchelder, Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland on Thursday, March 6.

John Boehner, Speaker of the United States House of Representative, spoke at a reception honoring Speaker Batchelder on Wednesday evening.

Speaker of the House John Boehner, speaking at a reception honoring Bill Batchelder on Wednesday, March 6.
Speaker of the House John Boehner, speaking at a reception honoring Bill Batchelder on March 6

“Like the late Ohio congressman, John M. Ashbrook, Speaker Batchelder exemplifies the principles of limited and free government,” Speaker Boehner said. “As a person who defends those very principles every day in the People’s House, I find that nobody deserves this award more than Bill Batchelder.  During his more than 30 years of public service in the Ohio House, Bill has led Republicans to a supermajority and through a state budget crisis, earning the respect of Republicans and Democrats along the way.  Anyone who has ever served with Bill Batchelder knows that when he gets up and speaks on the House floor, everyone listens.  As his legislative career comes to a close, I know his presence in the Ohio House will be greatly missed.”

Batchelder is a former judge and has been an Ohio legislator for over 30 years—serving as Speaker since 2011. He has served as chairman of the Joint Committee on Ethics and Vice-Chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee. From 1995-1998, Batchelder served as Speaker Pro Tempore of the Ohio House and Vice-Chairman of the Reference and Rules Committee.

“Speaker Batchelder’s leadership in the legislature in the last several years has been critical to Ohio’s dramatic turnaround,” said Roger Beckett, Executive Director of the Ashbrook Center. “Through the time he has taken to be a mentor to so many, he has built something much larger than himself and something that will be a part of Ohio and American politics for generations to come.”

“As we remember John Ashbrook today and tomorrow, I just want to say that his greatness, his courage, was something unbelievable and we were really honored as Ohioans that he was one of our congressmen,” said Ohio House Speaker Bill Batchelder in remarks at a reception in his honor on Wednesday evening.

John M. Ashbrook Award winner Bill Batchleder speaking at a reception in his honor in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, March 6.
John M. Ashbrook Award winner Bill Batchelder speaking at a reception in his honor in the U.S. Capitol on March 6

 

The John M. Ashbrook Award is bestowed annually to recognize an individual who upholds the ideals of limited constitutional government championed by John Ashbrook, the late Ohio congressman and co-founder of the American Conservative Union. Serving in Congress from 1960 to his death in 1982, John Ashbrook earned a nationwide reputation as an intelligent, candid, and persuasive champion of the conservative cause.

Watch the remarks from the reception honoring Bill Batchelder:

2014 John M. Ashbrook Award winner William Batchelder with a group of Ashbrook Scholars at CPAC
2014 John M. Ashbrook Award winner William Batchelder with a group of Ashbrook Scholars at CPAC

The Ashbrook Center is an independent center at Ashland University dedicated by President Ronald Reagan in 1983 in honor of the late congressman. The Ashbrook Center seeks to restore and strengthen the capacities of the American people for constitutional self-government. Through undergraduate, graduate, and civic programs, the Ashbrook Center aspires to be the leading national educator in the enduring principles and practice of free government in the United States.

For more information, visit Ashbrook’s website: www.ashbrook.org.