President Joe Biden will present the Presidential Medal of Freedom, known as the nation’s highest civilian honor, to a total of 17 people. The list includes people like Denzel Washington, Simone Biles, and Steve Jobs.
The New York City nurse Sandra Lindsay will also be honored by Biden, the White House said on Friday. Lindsay rolled her sleeve live on television in December 2020 to receive the country’s first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Biden’s honorees include both living and deceased people from all walks of life such as education, athletics, politics, the military, entertainment, and civil rights and social justice activism.
The medals will be awarded on Monday, 4th July, at the White House.
Biden himself is a medal recipient. President Barack Obama honored Biden’s public service as a longtime U.S. senator and vice president by awarding him a Presidential Medal of Freedom in January 2017, a week before they left office.
The White House stated that the honorees who will receive the medals “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.”
The honor is reserved for people who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal public or private endeavors, the White House said.
Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom: Full List
1. Simone Biles
Simone Biles has won 32 medals at the Olympic and World Championships, making her the most successful American gymnast in history. She is an outspoken advocate of causes close to her heart, such as the mental health of athletes, foster children, and sexual assault victims.
2. Sandra Lindsay
Lindsay became an advocate for the COVID-19 vaccinations after she received the first dose in the U.S.
3. John McCain
John McCain, who passed away after battling brain cancer in 2018, was held captive in Vietnam for five years while he served in the U.S Navy. He represented Arizona in both houses of Congress and was a Republican presidential nominee in 2008. Biden said that he was a “dear friend” and “a hero.”
4. Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington, a two-time Oscar winner is a renowned actor, director, and producer. In addition, he has received a Tony award, two Golden Globes, and the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a longtime spokesperson for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
5. Sister Simone Campbell
Campbell is a member of the Sister of Social Service and a former executive director of NETWORK, a Catholic social justice organization. She is an advocate for health care reform, economic justice, and overhauling of the U.S immigration system.
6. Julieta Garcia
Julieta Garcia is a former president of the University of Texas at Brownsville. Garcia was the first Latina to become a college president, the White House said. She was named one of the nation’s best college presidents by Time magazine.
7. Gabrielle Gifford
A former U.S. House member from Arizona, the Democrat founded Giffords, an organization dedicated to ending gun violence. She suffered severe injuries after being shot in the head in Tucson during a constituent event in January 2011.
8. Fred Gray
Gray was one of the first Black legislators in Alabama following Reconstruction. He was a prominent civil rights attorney who represented Rosa Parks, the NAACP, and Martin Luther King Jr.
9. Steve Jobs
He was the co-founder, chief executive, and chair of Apple Inc., who passed away in 2011 after battling a rare form of pancreatic cancer.
10. Father Alexander Karloutsos
Karloutsos is the assistant to Archbishop Demetrios of America. The White House said Karloutsos has counseled several U.S. presidents.
11. Khizr Khan
An immigrant from Pakistan, Khan’s Army officer son was killed in Iraq. He gained national prominence in 2016 when he spoke at the Democratic National Convention and came under fire from Donald Trump.
12. Diane Nash
A founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Nash organized some of the most important 20th-century civil rights campaigns and worked with King.
13. Magan Rapinoe
The Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women’s World Cup soccer champion captains the OL Reign in the National Women’s Soccer League. She is a well-known advocate of racial justice, LGBTQI+ rights, and gender pay equality.
14. Alan Simpson
The former Wyoming senator has been a strong advocate of marriage equality, responsible governance, and campaign finance reform. He has also served with Biden.
15. Richard Trumka
Trumka had been president of the 12.5 million-member AFL-CIO for more than a decade at the time of his August 2021 death. He was a past president of the United Mine Workers.
16. Wilma Vaught
One of the most decorated women in American military history and a brigadier general, Vaught has broken down gender barriers for women in the military as she rose through the ranks. When Vaught retired in 1985, she was one of only seven female generals in the Armed Forces.
17. Raúl Yzaguirre
Yzaguirre, an advocate of civil rights, served as the National Council of La Raza’s president and CEO for 30 years. Under Obama, he held the position of the American ambassador to the Dominican Republic.