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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient James E. Burke
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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient James E. Burke
PDFA Chairman Garners Presidential Honor
Partnership for a Drug-Free America Chairman and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient James E. Burke.
At a recent White House ceremony, James E. Burke, chairman of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA), received the Presidential Medal of Freedom --the nation's highest civilian honor. In bestowing the medal, President Bill Clinton said, "There are clearly few challenges tougher and few more vital than teaching our young people about the dangers of drugs . . . Last year, the teen drug use rate fell substantially, thanks in no small measure to years . . . of passionate devotion by Jim Burke."
Under Burke's direction, PDFA has partnered with the Media Campaign, breaking new ground in changing societal attitudes on drug use as a result of the largest public service advertising campaign in history. As ONDCP's creative partner, PDFA works with more than 70 advertising agencies across the country to develop anti-drug messages that meet the Campaign's requirements for strategically sound creative materials targeted at parents and youth, including American Indian, Asian American, Hispanic and other multicultural audiences.
As Burke approached retirement from Johnson & Johnson in 1989, he was deeply concerned about a national crisis: a raging epidemic of illegal drug use in the United States. He was urged to become chairman of PDFA, a fledgling organization that had sprung up in the advertising industry and was attempting to "unsell" drugs to Americans. Instead of taking a well-earned retirement, Burke became the full-time, unpaid chairman of PDFA; 12 years later, at age 75, he is still serving America in this capacity.
Under his leadership, PDFA has tapped the most creative talent in advertising and generated more than $3 billion in pro bono media exposure for the Campaign.
ONDCP Director Barry R. McCaffrey said of Burke, "Through his vision and leadership, Jim mobilized the ad industry and became instrumental in the decline of drug use in the 1990s. The important initiatives he helped create through ONDCP's Media Campaign have made a significant impact in helping our nation's kids reject illegal drugs."
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Medal History
