President Biden honored 19 individuals with the United States’ best civilian award on Friday, lots of of whom are Democratic allies.
The White Residence introduced the roster for the once-a-year Presidential Medal of Flexibility ceremony, with noteworthy recipients such as previous Speaker of the Home Nancy Pelosi, former New York Town Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Vice-President Al Gore, and previous Secretary of Point out John Kerry.
Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, who gave Biden a crucial endorsement in the 2020 most important, also received the medal.
President Joe Biden speaks throughout a campaign function at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center in Philadelphia. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg by means of Getty Illustrations or photos)
“The Presidential Medal of Liberty, our nation’s optimum civilian award — we the individuals carrying out what we can to guarantee the strategy of The united states, the result in of flexibility, shines like the sunlight to gentle up the long term of the entire world,” Biden mentioned of the medal in a video endorsing the newest recipients.
Civil rights leaders are effectively-represented between the recipients, which include: LGBTQ activist Judy Shepard, Juneteenth recognition advocate Opal Lee, lawyer Clarence Jones, and Mississippi civil rights leader Medgar Evers.
United Farm Employees president Teresa Romero received the award — as properly as Catholic priest Fr. Greg Boyle, an anti-gang ministry organizer.
IN TEARFUL FAREWELL, OBAMA AWARDS BIDEN THE MEDAL OF Liberty
Excitement Aldrin’s Medal of Independence presented by Richard M. Nixon is viewed on show in New York Metropolis. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
Other recipients consist of long-time chat-clearly show host Phil Donahue, Olympian Katie Ledecky, Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, astronomer Jane Rigby, and former NASA Johnson Space Center director Ellen Ochoa.
The very first American Indian Olympic gold medalist, Jim Thorpe, obtained a posthumous award — as did the late Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey.
The only Republican lawmaker identified is previous Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who served in the cupboards of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
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President Barack Obama presents the Medal of Flexibility to then-Vice President Joe Biden throughout an party in the Point out Eating home of the White Dwelling in Washington, D.C., Jan. 12, 2017. (Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)
The Presidential Medal of Freedom was proven in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy. It replaced the Medal of Flexibility founded by President Harry S. Truman in 1945, which honored folks who rendered significant assist to the U.S. in Environment War II.
It is the greatest civilian award in the country and is intended to acknowledge “any person who has designed an specifically meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national passions of the United States, or (2) globe peace, or (3) cultural or other sizeable public or private endeavors.”
Biden himself acquired the medal from then-President Barack Obama while serving as his vice president on Jan. 12, 2017.
