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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients Most Frequently Asked Questions
1963 Presidential Medal of Freedom
1945 U.S. Medal of Freedom
Beginning with President John F. Kennedy's efforts to turn a languishing honor called the Medal of Freedom into the more potent Presidential Medal of Freedom.
President Harry Truman created the Medal of Freedom in the waning days of World War II through Executive Order 9586 for those who aided American interests abroad. But, historians say, the medal quickly lost its cachet when it was doled out to more than 20,000 people, according to "The Presidential Medal of Freedom," a 1996 book by Virginia author Bruce Wetterau.
In 1963, Kennedy renamed and reinvigorated the award, with the help of a young aide named Daniel Patrick Moynihan. In 1999, nearly four decades later, that aide stood on the dais of the East Room to accept his own Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Kennedy broadened the medal's scope to its present standard: for "especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interest of the United States, World Peace or cultural or other significant public or private endeavors"--and announced the first 31 recipients on July 4, 1963.
But Kennedy never got the chance to present the medals. According to Wetterau, the ceremony was repeatedly postponed because of design disagreements between the president and the first lady. It was finally scheduled for Dec. 6, 1963, but Kennedy was assassinated just two weeks earlier on Nov. 22.
And so, a mere 14 days after Kennedy's death, it fell to newly inaugurated President Lyndon Johnson to bestow the awards on such American icons as African American singer Marian Anderson and labor leader George Meany --as well as a posthumous medal to the fallen president himself. Johnson also had a medal engraved for Jacqueline Kennedy, but she declined hers, according to Wetterau.
Senator Partick Moynihan recalled that emotional ceremony, also held in the East Room. Johnson had been reluctant to present only one posthumous award, he said, so Moynihan had been pressed into calling the Vatican to see if an award could also be given to Pope John XXIII, who had died nine months earlier.
"And the bishop said, 'Well, I'm sure he wouldn't mind but if he did mind, how would we know?' " Moynihan related.
He recalled how Jacqueline Kennedy sat behind a screen in the East Room during the ceremony so she couldn't be seen and listened to the citation, written by Moynihan, for her dead husband. "And then she got up," recalled Moynihan, "and she left the White House forever."
Recent decades have brought a proliferation of other presidential medals for civilians: the Presidential Citizens Medal, authorized by President Richard Nixon on November 13, 1969 and the National Medal of Arts.
The newest presidential medal--the Presidential Medal of Valor for public safety officers, such as firefighters and police officers--was established by President Bill Clinton.
But the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal, awarded to civilians by Congress, continue to hold their position as the new plus ultra of civilian honors.
Unlike most Washington institutions, the Presidential Medal of Freedom has been touched by controversy only briefly. In the 1960s, entertainment mogul Walt Disney was said to have worn a Barry Goldwater pin on his lapel when he was awarded his medal. The story was later debunked. And in 1977, the family of the late sculptor Alexander Calder boycotted the ceremony to make a statement favoring amnesty for Vietnam War draft resisters.
What surely is one of the most ironic moments in the medal's history took place in 1970, when Nixon presented the medal to eight journalists--including Washington Post White House correspondent Edward T. Folliard.
Because the honorees are chosen solely by the president, their choices have tended to reflect personal and political preferences, say presidential historians.
Ronald Reagan, who awarded 85 medals--the most of any president (Clinton is number two with 83)--during his two terms, honored Hollywood contemporaries James Cagney, Frank Sinatra and Jimmy Stewart, as well as the Rev. Billy Graham and conservative Barry Goldwater.
George Bush awarded the medal to Ronald Reagan, British leader Margaret Thatcher and, in 1991, Desert Storm commanders Norman Schwarzkopf and Colin Powell.
Two years later, Powell made another trip to the White House to be awarded another Medal of Freedom, by Clinton, when he retired from the Army, becoming one of only two people ever to have received the medal twice. Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker was honored in '63 and '67.
Only a few people have won both the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom . Nazi war criminal prosecutor Simon Wiesenthal joined those ranks in 1999, although he was ill and unable to attend the ceremony, the White House said. Wiesenthal earned the Congressional Gold Medal in 1980.
Pittsburgh Pirates baseball Hall of Fame member Roberto Clemente and Dorothy Height have been awarded all three prestigious medals, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Citizens Medal and Congressional Gold Medal.
There are no formal guidelines on eligibility to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Since President Harry Truman established it at the end World War II, the honor has been bestowed on politicians, scientists, business leaders, artists, scholars and clerics. If there's been a common thread, it's that of exemplary accomplishment that has benefited the American public.
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).
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 spreaded 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.
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").
For additional information visit the History of Medals and the History and Information regarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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Medal History
