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1985 Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients Ceremony
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1985 Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients Ceremony
The Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award in the United States.
It was established by President Harry Truman in 1945 to honor service during WWII. President John F. Kennedy revived the medal and began the tradition of awarding the medal annually, on or near July 4. The award is awarded to several people annually. Unlike many other US awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom can be awarded to non-US citizens.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom recognizes 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."
Announcement of the Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
April 8, 1985
The President today announced his intention to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom , the highest civilian award of our Government, at a luncheon to be held at the White House on May 23, 1985. The following individuals will be awarded this prestigious award by the President.
Mr. Count Basie , jazz pianist, (posthumous), for his contribution in the fields of entertainment and the arts.
Mr. Jacques-Yves Cousteau , marine explorer, for his contributions in the fields of education and science.
Dr. Jerome Holland , educator and Ambassador (posthumous), for his contributions in the fields of education and public service..
Professor Sidney Hook , philosopher and educator, for his contributions in the fields of education and philosophy.
Ambassador Jeane J. Kirkpatrick , political scientist, for her contributions to the security and national interests of the United States.
Dr. George M. Low , educator and NASA Administrator (posthumous), for his contributions in the fields of science and education.
Mr. Frank Reynolds , news correspondent (posthumous), for his contributions in the fields of journalism and communications.
Mr. S. Dillon Ripley , former Secretary of the Smithsonian, for his contributions in cultural and other significant public endeavors.
The Reverend Mother Teresa , nun, for her contributions in the field of humanitarianism.
Mr. Frank Sinatra , entertainer, for his contributions in the fields of the arts and entertainment and public service.
Mr. James M. Stewart , actor, for his contributions in the fields of the arts and entertainment and public service.
Gen. Albert Coady Wedemeyer , distinguished military hero, for his contributions to the security and national interests of the United States.
Gen. Charles E. Yeager , Air Force test pilot, for his contributions in the field of public service and national interests of the United States.
Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Medal of Freedom
November 7, 1985
The President. Welcome. The Medal of Freedom is our nation's highest honor for those outside the Armed Forces who've rendered outstanding service to their country. It acknowledges discipline, courage, high standards, and moral character. The three Americans we honor today have contributed among them more than a century of public service. They have been personally involved in answering the great questions of their day, questions of war or peace in a nuclear age. And today we underscore their impressive contributions with a token of appreciation from their fellow countrymen.
Paul Nitze brought unmatched experience and expertise to his current responsibilities. He has served so long and so faithfully in the highest councils of state that his presence has been almost taken for granted. Today we acknowledge for all the world that Paul is indeed an exceptional individual, a great man and a great public servant. And Paul Nitze played a key role in the design and implementation of the Marshall plan. He was a principal architect of our security strategy after World War II, helping us understand what it would take in resources and commitment to meet the new challenges emerging in the postwar world. Paul, we may need to call on you to give our current foreign assistance program the same boost that you gave to Harry Truman's.
Paul Nitze has held numerous positions of high responsibility -- Secretary of the Navy, Assistant Secretary of Defense, and Deputy Secretary of Defense. For the past 15 years he's played a special role in the Nation's search for ground arms policy. He worked in government to ensure our approach was right. When he saw things headed in the wrong direction, he worked outside the Government to alert his fellow citizens. Paul is now playing an indispensable role in our efforts to forge a bold and creative arms control policy. Peace and equilibrium are terms we associate with international affairs, and yet they also describe Paul Nitze, the man who seeks them. He is consistently shrewd, but never cynical; impressively erudite, yet never pedantic; immensely dignified, yet never stuffy; always hopeful, and yet ever realistic. We're happy, then, to honor him for what he has done and, even more, for what he is.
Now, we also honor Roberta and Albert Wohlstetter, two of the finest strategic analysts and security specialists our country has known. In saying this, however, we only begin to describe their work in helping citizens and statesmen to understand fundamental relationships in this nuclear age between technology, politics, history, and psychology. It's been the good fortune of our country to have these two brilliant people help us make sense of the unprecedented security problems we've faced in our modern age.
Roberta Wohlstetter, a generation ahead of her time, asserted her influence in areas dominated by and, in some cases, reserved for men. She rose above all obstacles and has had a profound influence. Her inquiries went to the heart of the system of our society, focusing on essential questions. Her analysis of the problems of terrorism, intelligence, and warning and, with Albert, the problem of nuclear deterrence broke new ground and opened new alternatives for policymakers. I daresay that she has blankly enjoyed posing the same penetrating questions to her husband that she has to the intellectual and political leaders of the country. And that is certainly one explanation for the clarity and persuasiveness of his own voluminous words on strategy, politics, and world affairs.
Albert Wohlstetter is a brilliant man with enormous strength of character. His intellectual integrity is renowned, and his analytical standards have been increasingly and unceasingly rigorous. He's been a steady hand in an uncertain time. His understanding on many levels has been indispensable to the well-being of the free world. In these last 30 years, Albert has been influential in helping to design and deploy our strategic forces -- an awesome task. He's sought ways to make our forces safer from attack, less destructive, and thereby less dangerous to us all. Many of the basic concepts and requirements for deterrence in the nuclear age -- analysis on which we've operated -- can be traced to this outstanding individual. And his work on the problem of nuclear proliferation gave us the insight we needed to better curb the irresponsible flow of sensitive material and technology.
Albert has always argued that in the nuclear age technological advances can, if properly understood and applied, make things better; but his point, and Roberta's, has been a deeper one than that. He has shown us that we have to create choices and, then, exercise them. The Wohlstetters have created choices for our society where others saw none. They've taught us that there is an escape from fatalism.
Those we honor today continue to make contributions. Their genius has made it possible for us to start on a new path which can free mankind of the fear of nuclear holocaust. These three people began their work in far different times, four decades ago when our national success was far from certain. Who would have foreseen the extraordinary achievements of the past generation, not the least of these a general peace, which has remained intact for 40 years. We praise these three extraordinary individuals who played a significant role in the most successful of all peace movements. They gave us strength through clarity; security through preparedness; and progress through intellect. They were the engineers and architects of a system that works and has served mankind well. They are the innovators who are leading mankind to the next step forward: Peace, based on protection, rather than retaliation.
Jonathan Swift, author of ``Gulliver's Travels,'' once wrote, ``Who'er excels in what we prize, appears a hero in our eyes.'' Well, these individuals are indeed American heroes.
I will now read the citations, which accompany our expression of gratitude for all that our honorees have done.
[At this point, the President read the citations which accompanied the medals. The texts of the citations follow.]
Paul H. Nitze :
In a career spanning nine Presidencies, Paul Nitze has made enormous contributions to the freedom and security of his country. Paul Nitze exemplifies the powers of mind, commitment, and character needed to fulfill America's world responsibilities. He was present at the creation of the strategy that has kept us at peace for 40 years. His deep understanding of the issues of war and peace, his discharge of high public assignments, and his advice to those in authority have been invaluable to our national well-being. He remains the most rigorous, demanding, and independent of analysts and the wisest of counselors.
Paul, congratulations, and thank you.
Ambassador Nitze. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I'm deeply honored at having received and you having awarded me the Medal for Freedom. There is, I think, the task that gives the greatest opportunity for development and for doing things is service in this government. You, today, have really a marvelous team helping you on foreign policy and national security, led by Secretary [of State] Shultz and Bud McFarlane, but they're also supported by an able team of negotiators, a most able team of negotiators, in Geneva. And we all thank you for your leadership.
Thank you, Mr. President.
The President. Thank you.
Now, Roberta and Albert Wohlstetter -- one citation, but two medals.
Participants in the nuclear era's most momentous events, Roberta and Albert Wohlstetter have shaped the ideas and deeds of statesmen, and have helped create a safer world. Over four decades, they have marshaled logic, science, and history and enlarged our democracy's capacity to learn and to act. Through their work, we have seen that mankind's safety need not rest on threats to the innocent, and that nuclear weapons need not spread inexorably. Their powers of thought and exposition are, in themselves, among the Free World's best defenses.
I want to make sure I have these right. Albert, to you. All right.
Mrs. Wohlstetter. Thank you, Mr. President.
The President. And now -- all right. Thank you both, and congratulations.
Mrs. Wohlstetter. Thank you. I'm dazzled and very deeply honored. Thank you very much.
Mr. Wohlstetter. Mr. President, I receive this great honor not only for myself but for the brilliant and devoted research men and students with whom I've been lucky enough to work for nearly 35 years. I take particular pride in being given this Medal of Freedom from a President who's stressed that it's freedom that we're defending, that we have to defend it without bringing on a holocaust that would end both free and unfree societies. I'm most grateful and honored, Mr. President. Thank you very much.
Note: The President spoke at 11:05 a.m. in the East Room at the White House.
Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Mother Teresa
June 20, 1985
The President. This great house receives many great visitors, but none more special or more revered than our beloved guest today. A month ago, we awarded the Medal of Freedom to 13 heroes who have done their country proud. Only one of the recipients could not attend because she had work to do -- not special work, not unusual work for her, but everyday work which is both special and urgent in its own right. Mother Teresa was busy, as usual, saving the world. And I mean that quite literally. And so we rather appreciated her priorities, and we're very happy, indeed, that she could come to America this week.
Now, a moment ago, I said we'd awarded the Medal of Freedom to heroes who've done our country proud. And I believe Mother Teresa might point out here that she is most certainly not an American but a daughter of Yugoslavia, and she has not spent her adult life in this country but in India. However, it simply occurred to us when we wanted to honor her that the goodness in some hearts transcends all borders and all narrow nationalistic considerations.
Some people, some very few people are, in the truest sense, citizens of the world; Mother Teresa is. And we love her so much we asked her to accept our tribute, and she graciously accepted. And I will now read the citation.
Most of us talk about kindness and compassion, but Mother Teresa, the saint of the gutters, lives it. As a teenager, she went to India to teach young girls. In time, Mother Teresa began to work among the poor and the dying of Calcutta. Her order of the Missionaries of Charity has spread throughout the world, serving the poorest of the poor.
Mother Teresa is a heroine of our times. And to the many honors she has received, including the Nobel Peace Prize, we add, with deep affection and endless respect, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
[At this point, the President presented the award to Mother Teresa.]
May I say that this is the first time I've given the Medal of Freedom with the intuition that the recipient might take it home, melt it down and turn it into something that can be sold to help the poor. [Laughter]
And I want to thank you for something, Mother Teresa. Your great work and your life have inspired so many Americans to become personally involved, themselves, in helping the poor. So many men and women in every area of life, in government and the private sector, have been led by the light of your love, and they have given greatly of themselves. And we thank you for your radiant example.
Mother Teresa. I am most unworthy of this generous gift of our President, Mr. Reagan, and his wife and you people of United States. But I accept it for the greater glory of God and in the name of the millions of poor people that this gift, in spirit and in love, will penetrate the hearts of the people. For in giving it to me, you are giving it to them, to my hands, with your great love and concern.
I've never realized that you loved the people so tenderly. I had the experience, I was last time here, a sister from Ethiopia found me and said, "Our people are dying. Our children are dying. Mother, do something.'' And the only person that came in my mind while she was talking, it was the President. And immediately I wrote to him, and I said, "I don't know, but this is what happened to me.'' And next day it was that immediately he arranged to bring food to our people. And I can tell you the gift that has come from your people, from your country, has brought life -- new life -- to our suffering people in Ethiopia.
I also want to thank the families here in United States for their continual and delicate love that they have given, and they have shown, by leaving their children to become sisters and to serve the poor throughout the world. We are now over the world and trying to bring the tenderness and the love of Jesus.
And you, you cannot go where we go. You cannot do what we do. But together, we are doing something beautiful for God. And my gratitude to you, President, and your family and to your people. It's my prayer for you that you may grow in holiness to this tender love for the poorest of the poor. But this love begins at home, in your own family, and it begins by praying together. Prayer gives a clean heart, and a clean heart can see God. And if you see God in each other, you will have love, peace, joy together. And works of love are works of peace. And love begins at home.
So, my sisters, brothers, and fathers, you are going -- and all our poor people, thousands and thousands and thousands of people that we deal with, I bring their gratitude to you. And keep the joy of loving. Love them, and begin in your own family first. And that love will penetrate right through the furthest place where no one has ever been -- there is that tenderness and love of Christ.
And remember that whatever you do to the least, you do it to Him, Jesus said. You did it to me. What a wonderful opportunity for each one of us to be 24 hours with Jesus. And in doing what we are doing, as he said, if you receive a little child in my name, you receive me. If you give a glass of water in my name, you give it to me. What a wonderful and beautiful tenderness and love of Christ for each one of us.
So, once more, I want to thank you for this beautiful gift, which I am sure it will bring great joy to our people by sharing it with them.
God bless you and keep you in his heart.
Note: The President spoke at 3:01 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White House.
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Medal History
