President Joe Biden on Friday awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to 19 individuals, including politicians, celebrities, and civil rights leaders.
These 19 individuals “have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors,” the White House stated.
Among the recipients was former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and three-term mayor. President Biden said Mr. Bloomberg “has revolutionized our economy.”
The list of recipients also included Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), former State Secretary John Kerry, former Vice President Al Gore, and former Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.)—whom President Biden called a “true partner.”
President Biden said that Mr. Clyburn, the former Assistant Democratic Leader, had “guided South Carolina and our country with a steady hand and an enormous heart over the last half-century.”
“And I can say this without fear of contradiction: I would not be standing here as president making these awards were it not for Jim,” the president said of Mr. Clyburn.
In his speech, President Biden recalled how Mr. Gore conceded the 2000 presidency to his then-Republican opponent, George W. Bush, despite winning the popular vote.
“After winning the vote, he accepted the outcome of the disputed presidential election for the sake of unity and trust in our institutions. That to me was amazing what you did, Al,” he said.
President Biden described Mr. Kerry, who also lost to President Bush in the 2004 election, as “a patriot of the highest order” and “the real deal.”
Another notable recipient was former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House. President Biden said that Ms. Pelosi “grew up knowing the power and purpose of politics.”
“History will remember you, Nancy, as the greatest speaker of the House of Representatives,” he said of Ms. Pelosi. “She used her superpowers to pass some of the most significant laws in our nation’s history.”
The president awarded the medal posthumously to civil rights activist Medgar Wiley Evers, who fought for the country in World War II; New Jersey’s longest-serving senator, Frank R. Lautenberg; and athlete Jim Thorpe, the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal.
Another notable recipient is Father Greg Boyle, a Jesuit Catholic priest who is the founder and director of Homeboy Industries, the world’s largest gang intervention and rehabilitation program.
Homeboy Industries has helped over 1,000 Angelenos “turn their lives around, connecting them to jobs, counseling, and a warm-hearted community where all are welcomed and cherished,” President Biden stated.
Other recipients included United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero, media personality Phil Donahue, swimmer Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky, astronomer Jane Rigby, educator and activist Opal Lee, and Judy Shepard, the co-founder of the Matthew Shephard Foundation.
It also included Michelle Yeoh, the first Asian to win the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2023; Clarence B. Jones, a renowned civil rights activist and lawyer who helped draft Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech; and Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman to go to space.
The White House lauded the recipients as “the pinnacle of leadership in their fields,” having built “teams, coalitions, movements, organizations, and businesses that shaped America for the better.”
“They consistently demonstrated over their careers the power of community, hard work, and service,” it stated.
