President Joe Biden will present 17 selected individuals for the highest civilian medal, the Medal of Freedom. Biden’s honor list includes both living and dead honorees from different careers like Hollywood, the military, academia, sports, politics, civil rights, and medicine.
The White House states that those receiving the medal “have overcome significant obstacles to achieve impressive accomplishments in the arts and sciences, dedicated their lives to advocating for the most vulnerable among us, and acted with bravery to drive change in their communities— and across the world— while blazing trails for generations to come.”
Biden’s list of honorees includes the following people:
Simone Biles is the most decorated U.S. gymnast in history, winning 32 Olympic and World Championship medals. She is an advocate for issues including athletes’ mental health and safety, children in foster care, and sexual assault victims.
Sandra Lindsay is a New York critical care nurse who became the first American to receive a COVID-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials. She later went on to serve on the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic.
John McCain, who died of brain cancer in 2018, spent more than five years in captivity in Vietnam while serving in the U.S. Navy and was awarded a Purple Heart with one gold star for his bravery. He later represented Arizona in both houses of Congress and was the Republican presidential nominee in 2008.
Denzel Washington is a double Oscar-winning actor, director, and producer. He also has a Tony award, two Golden Globes, and the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award and is the longtime spokesperson for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Sister Simone Campbell is a Sisters of Social Service member and a former executive director of NETWORK, a Catholic social justice organization. She is an advocate for economic justice, overhauling the U.S. immigration system, and health care policy. She is a lobbyist, lawyer, and an American Roman Catholic Religious Sister.
Julieta García is the former president of the University of Texas at Brownsville. García was the first Hispanic woman to serve as a college president and dedicated her career to serving students from the Southwest Border region. She was named one of the nation’s best college presidents by Time magazine.
Gabrielle Giffords, a former U.S. House member from Arizona, was the youngest woman ever elected to the Arizona State Senate. She also founded the organization, The Democrat, an organization dedicated to ending gun violence. Unfortunately, she was shot in the head in January 2011 during a constituent event in Tucson and was gravely wounded, but she miraculously survived.
Fred Gray was one of the first Black members of the Alabama Legislature after Reconstruction. He was a prominent civil rights attorney who represented Rosa Parks, the NAACP, and Martin Luther King Jr. He was called the “chief counsel for the protest movement.”
Steve Jobs was the co-founder, chief executive, and chair of Apple Inc. He died in 2011.
Father Alexander Karloutsos is the assistant to Archbishop Demetrios of America. The White House said Karloutsos has counseled several U.S. presidents. In addition, he is the former Vicar General of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
Khizr Khan is an immigrant from Pakistan. Khan’s son, an Army officer, was killed in Iraq. Khan is a Gold Star father and founder of the Constitution Literacy and National Unity Center. He is a prominent advocate for the rule of law and religious freedom and served on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Diane Nash is a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She organized many important 20th-century civil rights campaigns and worked closely with Martin Luther King.
Megan Rapinoe is an Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women’s World Cup soccer champion. She also captains the OL Reign in the National Women’s Soccer League. She is a prominent advocate for gender pay equality, racial justice, and LGBTQI+ rights.
Alan Simpson is a retired U.S. senator from Wyoming who served with Biden and has been a prominent advocate for campaign finance reform, responsible governance, and marriage equality.
Richard Trumka had been president of the 12.5 million-member AFL-CIO for more than a decade and was its secretary-treasurer at the time of his August 2021 death. He was a past president of the United Mine Workers. He was an outspoken advocate for social and economic justice.
Wilma Vaught is a brigadier general and one of the most decorated women in U.S. military history, breaking through many gender barriers as she rose through the ranks. When Vaught retired in 1985, she was one of only seven female generals in the Armed Forces.
Raúl Yzaguirre is a civil rights advocate and served as both CEO and President of the National Council of La Raza for 30 years. He served as U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic under President Barack Obama.
President Biden presented the awards at the White House on July 7, 2022.
Sources: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/07/01/president-biden-announces-recipients-of-the-presidential-medal-of-freedom/
https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/biden-award-medal-freedom-biles-mccain-giffords-86158081
The White House states that those receiving the medal “have overcome significant obstacles to achieve impressive accomplishments in the arts and sciences, dedicated their lives to advocating for the most vulnerable among us, and acted with bravery to drive change in their communities— and across the world— while blazing trails for generations to come.”
Biden’s list of honorees includes the following people:
Simone Biles is the most decorated U.S. gymnast in history, winning 32 Olympic and World Championship medals. She is an advocate for issues including athletes’ mental health and safety, children in foster care, and sexual assault victims.
Sandra Lindsay is a New York critical care nurse who became the first American to receive a COVID-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials. She later went on to serve on the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic.
John McCain, who died of brain cancer in 2018, spent more than five years in captivity in Vietnam while serving in the U.S. Navy and was awarded a Purple Heart with one gold star for his bravery. He later represented Arizona in both houses of Congress and was the Republican presidential nominee in 2008.
Denzel Washington is a double Oscar-winning actor, director, and producer. He also has a Tony award, two Golden Globes, and the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award and is the longtime spokesperson for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Sister Simone Campbell is a Sisters of Social Service member and a former executive director of NETWORK, a Catholic social justice organization. She is an advocate for economic justice, overhauling the U.S. immigration system, and health care policy. She is a lobbyist, lawyer, and an American Roman Catholic Religious Sister.
Julieta García is the former president of the University of Texas at Brownsville. García was the first Hispanic woman to serve as a college president and dedicated her career to serving students from the Southwest Border region. She was named one of the nation’s best college presidents by Time magazine.
Gabrielle Giffords, a former U.S. House member from Arizona, was the youngest woman ever elected to the Arizona State Senate. She also founded the organization, The Democrat, an organization dedicated to ending gun violence. Unfortunately, she was shot in the head in January 2011 during a constituent event in Tucson and was gravely wounded, but she miraculously survived.
Fred Gray was one of the first Black members of the Alabama Legislature after Reconstruction. He was a prominent civil rights attorney who represented Rosa Parks, the NAACP, and Martin Luther King Jr. He was called the “chief counsel for the protest movement.”
Steve Jobs was the co-founder, chief executive, and chair of Apple Inc. He died in 2011.
Father Alexander Karloutsos is the assistant to Archbishop Demetrios of America. The White House said Karloutsos has counseled several U.S. presidents. In addition, he is the former Vicar General of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
Khizr Khan is an immigrant from Pakistan. Khan’s son, an Army officer, was killed in Iraq. Khan is a Gold Star father and founder of the Constitution Literacy and National Unity Center. He is a prominent advocate for the rule of law and religious freedom and served on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Diane Nash is a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She organized many important 20th-century civil rights campaigns and worked closely with Martin Luther King.
Megan Rapinoe is an Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women’s World Cup soccer champion. She also captains the OL Reign in the National Women’s Soccer League. She is a prominent advocate for gender pay equality, racial justice, and LGBTQI+ rights.
Alan Simpson is a retired U.S. senator from Wyoming who served with Biden and has been a prominent advocate for campaign finance reform, responsible governance, and marriage equality.
Richard Trumka had been president of the 12.5 million-member AFL-CIO for more than a decade and was its secretary-treasurer at the time of his August 2021 death. He was a past president of the United Mine Workers. He was an outspoken advocate for social and economic justice.
Wilma Vaught is a brigadier general and one of the most decorated women in U.S. military history, breaking through many gender barriers as she rose through the ranks. When Vaught retired in 1985, she was one of only seven female generals in the Armed Forces.
Raúl Yzaguirre is a civil rights advocate and served as both CEO and President of the National Council of La Raza for 30 years. He served as U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic under President Barack Obama.
President Biden presented the awards at the White House on July 7, 2022.
Sources: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/07/01/president-biden-announces-recipients-of-the-presidential-medal-of-freedom/
https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/biden-award-medal-freedom-biles-mccain-giffords-86158081
