Friends and supporters of America’s National Churchill Museum at Westminster College gathered in London’s historic Guildhall on June 12, 2024, to present Bill Roedy with the Winston Churchill Leadership Medal Award, ANCM’s highest honor. Roedy joins the likes of Walter Cronkite, Sir John Major, Ambassador Stephen Brauer, Sen. John Danforth, and the late Dr. Monroe E. Trout as recipients of the prestigious award.
A West Point graduate and Vietnam veteran, who later commanded nuclear missile silos for NATO, Roedy’s distinguished and decorated military service was followed by a highly successful career in global media.
As Chairman and CEO of MTV International, Roedy had the audacious idea to broadcast MTV behind the iron curtain. In the process, he helped to topple the Berlin Wall, a literal and symbolic barrier that defined the Cold War era. He also became a tireless champion for global health, becoming the inaugural ambassador of the Joint United National Programme on HIV and AIDS. Watch a brief video about Roedy’s many achievements.
“Bill Roedy, like Winston Churchill, is a visionary leader. His tireless efforts to promote freedom, democracy, and his desire to make the world a safer, secure, and healthier place for all typifies the Churchillian spirit that it is our mission to honor and preserve,” said Timothy S. Riley, the Sandra and Monroe E. Trout Director and Chief Curator of ANCM. “As we do on the grounds of America’s National Churchill Museum, Bill has a section of the Berlin Wall at his London home. Bill’s section, however, is inscribed with a personal message from former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, which reads, ‘Music is more powerful than missiles.’ That gives you some idea of the influence Bill has had in our world.
Randolph Churchill, Lord Andrew Roberts of Belgravia, and Lord Harry Dalmeny saluted Roedy at the gala, which included a spirited performance or wartime songs by the D-Day Darlings, the best-selling female group to emerge from the popular programme, Britain’s Got Talent. The award was presented by Westminster College President Donald P. Lofe, Jr. and Philip J. Boeckman, Senior Fellow of the ANCM Board of Governors. Joining them on stage was Julia Holofcener, whose husband Lawrence created the popular sculpture Allies that depicts Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt seated together on a bench in New Bond Street. Roedy was presented with a small, bronze maquette of the popular statue.
“Leave the past to history especially as I propose to write that history myself.”
