Presidential Medal of Freedom
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The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award in the United States. It is designed to recognize individuals who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, or to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."
It was established by President Harry Truman in 1945 to honor service during World War II. President John F. Kennedy revived the medal in 1963 through Executive Order 11085, and expanded its purpose.
The medal is awarded annually, on or near the Fourth of July, and at other times as chosen by the President. Recipients are selected by the President, either on his/her initiative or based on recommendations. The order reviving the medal also expanded the size and the responsibilities of the Distinguished Civilian Service Awards Board so it would serve as a major source of such recommendations.
Unlike many other US awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom can be awarded to non-US citizens; the first such recipient was a Canadian spymaster, Sir William Stephenson. The medal can be awarded to an individual more than once (for example Colin Powell), and may also be awarded posthumously (for example John F. Kennedy himself).
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Insignia
Presidential-medal-of-freedom.jpg
The badge of the Presidential Medal of Freedom is in the form of a golden star with white enamel, with a red enamel pentagon behind it; the central disc bears thirteen white enamel star on a blue enamel background (taken from the crest of the U.S. coat-of-arms) within a golden ring. Golden American eagles with spread wings stand between the arms of the star. It is worn on a blue ribbon with white edge stripes around the neck.
A special grade of the medal, known as the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction, has the abovementioned medal worn as a star on the left chest; in addition, the abovementioned ribbon is worn as a sash on the right shoulder, with its rosette (blue with white edge, bearing the central disc of the medal at its centre) resting on the left hip.
Another special grade of the medal, known as the Presidential Medal of Freedom, with Military Distinction, has the abovementioned medal worn from the the abovementioned ribbon differenced with a series of white stars upon the ribbon.
The medal may also be worn on the abovementioned ribbon on the left chest, with a silver American eagle with spreaded wings on the ribbon (or a golden eagle if a medal "With Distinction").
Notable recipients
- Hank Aaron
- Dean Acheson
- Ansel Adams
- Marian Anderson
- Arnold Aronson
- Arthur Ashe
- Brooke Astor
- Pearl Bailey
- James Baker
- George Balanchine
- Lucille Ball
- Robert L. Bartley
- Jacques Barzun
- Lloyd M. Bentsen
- Moe Berg (Although he rejected it)
- Irving Berlin
- Tony Blair
- Herb Block
- Omar Bradley
- James Brady
- Paul Bremer
- David Brinkley
- Edgar M. Bronfman, Jr.
- Paul "Bear" Bryant
- Zbigniew Brzezinski
- William F. Buckley, Jr.
- Warren Burger
- Edward W. Brooke
- James Cagney
- Johnny Carson
- Rachel Carson
- Jimmy Carter
- Rosalynn Carter
- Whittaker Chambers
- César Chávez
- Richard Cheney
- Julia Child
- Wesley Clark
- Roberto Clemente
- Van Cliburn
- Robert Coles
- Aaron Copland
- Bill Cosby
- Jacques-Yves Cousteau
- Walter Cronkite
- Doris Day
- C. Douglas Dillon
- Joe DiMaggio
- Walt Disney
- Bob Dole
- Plácido Domingo
- Jimmy Doolittle
- Kirk Douglas
- Peter Drucker
- Evelyn Dubrow
- Will Durant
- T.S. Eliot
- Duke Ellington
- James L. Farmer Jr.
- Dante B. Fascell
- Sor Isolina Ferré
- Don Luis A. Ferré
- Zachary Fisher
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Betty Ford
- Gerald Ford
- John Ford
- Tommy Franks
- William Fulbright
- Buckminster Fuller
- Samuel Goldwyn
- Billy Graham
- Martha Graham
- Vartan Gregorian
- Gilbert M. Grosvenor
- Václav Havel
- Helen Hayes
- Audrey Hepburn
- Frances Hesselbein
- Charlton Heston
- Oliver White Hill
- Gordon B. Hinckley
- Eric Hoffer
- Bob Hope
- Hubert Humphrey
- Jesse Jackson
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- Barbara Jordan
- Max Kampelman
- Danny Kaye
- Helen Keller
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Jeane Kirkpatrick
- Henry Kissinger
- Helmut Kohl
- C. Everett Koop
- Fred Korematsu
- Eugene Lang
- Estée Lauder
- Sol M. Linowitz
- Nelson Mandela
- Wilma Mankiller
- Luis Muńoz Marín
- Thurgood Marshall
- George McGovern
- Robert S. McNamara
- James Michener
- Rita Moreno
- Mother Teresa
- Daniel Patrick Moynihan
- Lewis Mumford
- Margaret Murie
- Edward R. Murrow
- Jan Nowak-Jeziorański
- Mario G. Obledo
- Tip O'Neill
- Jesse Owens
- Arnold Palmer
- Antonia Pantojas
- Rosa Parks
- Arnall Patz
- Norman Vincent Peale
- Gregory Peck
- I.M. Pei
- William Perry
- Roger Tory Peterson
- Norman Podhoretz
- Colin Powell
- Nancy Reagan
- Ronald Reagan
- Elliot L. Richardson
- Hyman Rickover
- Jackie Robinson
- David Rockefeller
- Nelson Rockefeller
- Norman Rockwell
- Fred Rogers
- Donald Rumsfeld
- Anwar Sadat
- Jonas Salk
- Carl Sandburg
- Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.
- Albert Shanker
- Frank Sinatra
- Kate Smith
- Margaret Chase Smith
- William Stephenson
- John Steinbeck
- Isaac Stern
- Jimmy Stewart
- Edward Teller
- George Tenet
- Margaret Thatcher
- Dave Thomas
- Lowell Thomas
- John Paul Vann
- Carl Vinson
- Nancy Wake
- Sam Walton
- Earl Warren
- Edgar Wayburn
- John Wayne
- Caspar Weinberger
- Byron White
- Elie Wiesel
- Simon Wiesenthal
- Thornton Wilder
- Ted Williams
- James Wilson
- Karol Józef Wojtyła (Pope John Paul II)
- John Wooden
- Walter B. Wriston
- Chuck Yeager
- Andrew Young
- Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr.
- Horacio de la Costa
See also
- Légion d'honneur and Order of Merit
- Presidential Citizens Medal
- Awards and decorations of the United States military
External links
- Order re-establishing the Medal (http://www.jfklibrary.org/exec_orders/eo11085.html), from the JFK Library
- List of recent recipients (http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/reference/two_column_table/Presidential_Medal_of_Freedom_Recipients.htm), from the United States Senate website
- MedalOfFreedom.com (http://www.medaloffreedom.com/), site featuring lists of recipients, citations, etc.
- List of Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients since 1993 (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0002285.html)de:Presidential Medal of Freedom