Biden to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 politicians, activists, athletes and more
WASHINGTON — Clarence B. Jones says he thought there was a prankster on the line when he answered the phone and heard the person on the other end say he was calling from the White House.
“I said, ‘Is this a joke or is this serious?’” Jones recalled. The caller swore it was serious and called with the news that President Joe Biden wanted to recognize Jones with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest citizen. honor.
Jones, 93, will be honored for his activism during the Civil Rights Movement. He is a lawyer who helped Martin Luther King Jr. provided legal advice and helped write the opening paragraphs of the “I Have a Dream” speech King gave at the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington.
Jones is among a diverse group of 19 individuals to be honored Friday by the Democratic president for making what the White House said are “exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values or security of the United States, world peace or other important civic, public or private efforts.”
The ten men and nine women come from the worlds of politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights and LGBTQ+ advocacy, science and religion. Three medals will be awarded posthumously.
“These nineteen Americans built teams, coalitions, movements, organizations and companies that shaped America for the better,” the White House announcement said. “They are the pinnacle of leadership in their field. They have consistently demonstrated the power of community, hard work and science throughout their careers.”
Seven politicians are among the recipients: former New York mayor and philanthropist Michael Bloomberg, Rep. James Clyburn, D.C., former Sen. Elizabeth Dole, climate activist and former Vice President Al Gore, Biden’s former climate envoy John Kerry, former Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N. J., who died in 2013, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Clyburn’s endorsement of his old friend Biden in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries is credited with helping Biden achieve a thunderous victory in South Carolina, which helped him clinch his party’s nomination and ultimately the White House. Bloomberg made a short-lived bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
In addition to representing North Carolina in the Senate, Dole, a Republican, also served as Secretary of Transportation and Labor and as president of the American Red Cross. She currently heads a foundation that supports military caregivers.
Pelosi is the first and only woman ever elected speaker, making her second in the line of succession to the presidency.
Medgar Evers will be posthumously recognized for his work more than 60 years ago in the fight against segregation in Mississippi in the 1960s as the state’s first NAACP field officer. He was 37 when he was fatally shot in the driveway of his home in June 1963.
Michelle Yeoh made history last year by becoming the first Asian woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Everything, Everywhere All at Once.
Jim Thorpe, who died in 1953, was the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal for the United States.
Judy Shepard co-founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation, named for her son, a gay 21-year-old University of Wyoming student who died in 1998 after being beaten and tied to a fence.
Jones said he felt “very moved” after processing what the caller had said.
“I’m 93 years old and I’m dealing with some health issues, but I woke up this morning by the grace of God,” he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Thursday. “I look forward to what the White House would want from me.”
The other medal recipients are:
– Gregory Boyle, a Catholic Jesuit priest who founded and runs Homeboy Industries, a gang intervention and rehabilitation program.
– Phil Donahue, a journalist and former daytime TV talk show host.
— Katie Ledecky, the most decorated swimmer in history.
– Opal Lee, an activist best known for his efforts to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. Biden did that in 2021.
– Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman in space and the second female director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
– Jane Rigby, an astronomer and chief scientist of the most powerful telescope in the world. She grew up in Delaware, Biden’s home state.
– Teresa Romero, president of the United Farm Workers and the first Hispanic woman to lead a national union in the US. The union has endorsed Biden’s re-election bid and supported him in 2020.
In 2022, Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 17 people, including gymnast Simone Biles, the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and gun control advocate Gabby Giffords.
Biden also knows what it feels like to receive the medal. As president, Barack Obama presented Biden, his vice president, with the medal a week before their reign ended in 2017.