Presidential Medal of Freedom
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Image:PresMedalFreedom.jpg The Presidential Medal of Freedom is one of the two highest civilian awards in the United States, considered the equivalent of the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor. 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).
Insignia
Image: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 gold stars 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 center) 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 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
Well-known recipients of the award, grouped by the aspect of life in which they are/were renowned.
--- Academia ---
Architecture
Computing
Education
History
Literature
- Jacques Barzun
- T.S. Eliot
- Ralph Ellison
- Eric Hoffer
- James Michener
- Carl Sandburg
- John Steinbeck
- Elie Wiesel
- Thornton Wilder
- Edmund Wilson
Medicine
Philosophy
Science
- Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin
- Neil Armstrong
- Apollo 11 Mission Controllers
- Apollo 13 Mission Controllers
- Michael Collins
- Rachel Carson
- Jacques-Yves Cousteau
- Lewis Mumford
- Edward Teller
Sociology
--- The Arts ---
Art
Dance
Film
- Lucille Ball
- James Cagney
- Doris Day
- Walt Disney
- Kirk Douglas
- John Ford
- Samuel Goldwyn
- Helen Hayes
- Audrey Hepburn
- Charlton Heston
- Bob Hope
- Danny Kaye
- Rita Moreno
- Gregory Peck
- Jimmy Stewart
- John Wayne
Music
- Marian Anderson
- Pearl Bailey
- Irving Berlin
- Van Cliburn
- Aaron Copland
- Plácido Domingo
- Duke Ellington
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Aretha Franklin
- Frank Sinatra
- Kate Smith
- Isaac Stern
Photography
--- Business and Economics ---
- Edgar M. Bronfman, Jr.
- Peter Drucker
- Alan Greenspan
- Estée Lauder
- David Rockefeller
- Dave Thomas
- Sam Walton
- Walter B. Wriston
--- Environmentalism ---
--- Law ---
--- Media ---
Journalism
Radio
Television
--- Philanthropy ---
--- Politics and Government ---
Activists
- Arnold Aronson
- César Chávez
- Evelyn Dubrow
- James L. Farmer Jr.
- Jesse Jackson
- Helen Keller
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Roger Nash Baldwin
- Mario G. Obledo
- Rosa Parks
- Andrew Young
Diplomacy
Espionage
Military
- Omar Bradley
- Wesley Clark
- Jimmy Doolittle
- Tommy Franks
- Richard B. Myers
- Jan Nowak-Jeziorański
- Hyman Rickover
- H. Norman Schwarzkopf
- John Paul Vann
- Nancy Wake
- Chuck Yeager
- Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr.
Other heads of state or government
- Tony Blair
- Don Luis A. Ferré
- Václav Havel
- Helmut Kohl
- Nelson Mandela
- Wilma Mankiller
- Luis Muñoz Marín
- Anwar Sadat
- Margaret Thatcher
- Pope John XXIII
- Pope John Paul II
- Pope Paul VI
US Cabinet Members
- Dean Acheson
- James Baker
- Zbigniew Brzezinski
- C. Douglas Dillon
- Henry Kissinger
- Robert S. McNamara
- William Perry
- Colin Powell (twice)
- Elliot L. Richardson
- Donald Rumsfeld
- Caspar Weinberger
US First Ladies
US Members of Congress
- Lloyd M. Bentsen
- Edward W. Brooke
- Bob Dole
- Dante B. Fascell
- William Fulbright
- Henry M. Jackson
- Barbara Jordan
- George McGovern
- Sonny Montgomery
- Daniel Patrick Moynihan
- Tip O'Neill
- Margaret Chase Smith
- Mo Udall
- Carl Vinson
US Presidents
US Vice Presidents
Other political figures
- James Brady
- Paul Bremer
- Whittaker Chambers
- Max Kampelman
- Irving Kristol
- Paul Nitze
- Norman Podhoretz
- Simon Wiesenthal
- Albert Shanker
--- Religion ---
- Horacio de la Costa
- Sor Isolina Ferré
- Billy Graham
- Gordon B. Hinckley
- Norman Vincent Peale
- Mother Teresa
--- Sport ---
- Hank Aaron
- Muhammad Ali
- Arthur Ashe
- Moe Berg (Although he rejected it)
- Earl Blaik
- Paul "Bear" Bryant
- Roberto Clemente
- Joe DiMaggio
- Jack Nicklaus
- Jesse Owens
- Arnold Palmer
- Frank Robinson
- Jackie Robinson
- Ted Williams
- John Wooden
--- People who don't seem to fit in any other category ---
See also
- Légion d'honneur and Order of Merit
- Presidential Citizens Medal
- Awards and decorations of the United States military
