The Irving Kristol Award is the highest honor conferred by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.

The award is given for "notable intellectual or practical contributions to improved public policy and social welfare" and named in honor of Irving Kristol. It replaced the Francis Boyer Award in 2003. The award was named for Kristol as a tribute to his influence on public issues and as an intellectual mentor to several generations of conservatives. According to Christopher DeMuth, "In our sixty years of labors, no one has had a more profound influence on the work of the American Enterprise Institute, or on American political discourse, than Irving Kristol. Combining philosophical depth with intense practicality and constant good cheer, [Kristol] has, as President Bush has put it, 'transformed political debate on every subject he approached, from economics to religion, from social welfare to foreign policy.'"^[1]

The Kristol Award is presented at AEI's Annual Dinner, a gala dinner in Washington, D.C., that is well-attended by conservative leaders and is a major event on the Washington social scene.^[2][3] President George W. Bush spoke at the first Kristol Award presentation in 2003. Bush's speech, only days before the commencement of the Iraq War, laid out his promise to launch military action even if the United Nations Security Council did not authorize it.^[4] Former vice president Dick Cheney^[5] and former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar^[6] have also presented the award.

Kristol Award recipients occasionally make news with their speeches. John Howard, who had a few months before been defeated in the Australian elections, criticized his successor as prime minister, Kevin Rudd, over industrial relations and the Iraq War.^[7][8]

All recipients are given a token of esteem engraved with a citation for their achievements.

List of recipients

Year	Recipient	Nationality	Citation	Lecture title
2003	Allan H. Meltzer	American	"To Allan H. Meltzer Pioneer of political economy and policy reform Teacher to students, scholars, and statesmen Intellectual leader in the causes of liberty and progress"	"Leadership and Progress"
2004	Charles Krauthammer	American	"To Charles Krauthammer Fearless journalist, wise analyst, and militant democrat Who has shown that America's interests and ideals are indivisible And that the promotion of freedom is hard-headed realism"	"Democratic Realism"
2005	Mario Vargas Llosa	Peruvian	"To Mario Vargas Llosa Whose narrative art and political thought Illumine the universal quest for freedom-- Which the virtues love and the follies require."	"Confessions of a Liberal"
2006	David Hackett Fischer	American	"To David Hackett Fischer Student, teacher, and storyteller Whose histories revivify the American past And teach us that her future is a story we are telling"
2007	Bernard Lewis	British  American	"To Bernard Lewis Who has stood at the Bosporus for seventy years Historian and interpreter across the great divide Sage of our pasts, presage of our future."	"Europe and Islam"
2008	John Howard	Australian	"To John Winston Howard Stalwart all-rounder of politics and policy Who made good government a popular cause And advanced Australia fair and free"	"Keeping Faith with Our Common Values"
2009	Charles Murray	American	"To Charles Murray Exemplary social scientist Whose measurements are means to moral understanding Engaged Aristotelian Who teaches of human heritage and pursuit"	"The Happiness of the People"
2010	David Petraeus	American		"The Surge of Ideas: COINdinistas and Change in the U.S. Army in 2006"
2011	Martin Feldstein	American		"America's Challenge"
2012	Leon Kass	American		"The other war on poverty: Finding meaning in America"
2013	Paul Ryan	American		"Conservatism and Community"
2014	Eugene Fama	American		Eugene F. Fama presentation
2015	Benjamin Netanyahu	Israeli		A conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu
2016	Robert P. George	American		A conversation with Irving Kristol honoree Robby George
2017	Jonathan Sacks	British		2017 Annual Dinner speech
2018	Boris Johnson	British		2018 Annual Dinner speech
2019	Nikki Haley	American		2019 Annual Dinner speech
2020	Nicholas Eberstadt	American		America after COVID-19: Which future?