Christian Smith
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 people, including civil rights icons like the late Medgar Evers, prominent political leaders like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. James Clyburn, and actress Michelle Sim.
Biden said the recipients of the nation’s highest civilian honor are “incredible people whose tireless curiosity, inventiveness, ingenuity and hope have maintained faith in a better tomorrow.”
One of them, Clarence B. Jones, said in an interview that he thought a prankster was on the phone when he answered and heard the caller say he was from the White House.
“I said, ‘Is this a joke or is this serious?’” Jones recalled. The caller swore he was serious and called with the news that Biden wanted to recognize Jones with the medal.
Jones, 93, was honored for his activism during the Civil Rights Movement. He is a lawyer who provided legal advice to Martin Luther King Jr. and helped write the opening paragraphs of the “I Have a Dream” speech that King delivered at the Lincoln Memorial at the 1963 March on Washington.
The White House said the recipients are “exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant social, public, or private endeavors.”
The 10 men and nine women come from the worlds of politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights and LGBTQ+ advocacy, science and religion. Three medals were awarded posthumously.
Seven politicians were among the recipients: former New York mayor and philanthropist Michael Bloomberg, former Senator Elizabeth Dole, climate activist and former Vice President Al Gore, former Biden climate envoy John Kerry, former -Senator Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who died in 2013, Clyburn, the Democratic congressman from South Carolina, and Pelosi, the Democratic congresswoman from California.
Biden, in his remarks, acknowledged that Clyburn’s endorsement in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary helped him win a resounding victory in South Carolina, propelling him to his party’s nomination and, ultimately, the White House. Bloomberg has mounted a short-lived bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
“I can say this without fear of contradiction,” Biden said. “I wouldn’t be here as president presenting these awards if it weren’t for Jim. I mean this sincerely.
In addition to representing North Carolina in the Senate, Dole, a Republican and widow of former Senator Bob Dole, also served as Secretary of Transportation and Secretary of Labor and was president of the American Red Cross. She currently leads a foundation supporting military caregivers.
Pelosi is the first and only woman elected to the position of speaker of the House, which places her second in the line of succession to the presidency. Biden referenced her legislative achievements, noted her actions during the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021, and said that “history will remember you, Nancy, as the greatest orator of the House of Representatives.”
Evers received posthumous recognition for his work more than six decades ago combating segregation in Mississippi in the 1960s as the state’s first NAACP field officer. He was 37 when he was shot dead in his driveway in June 1963. His daughter, Reena, who was 8 when her father was killed, accepted his medal.
Yeoh made history last year by becoming the first Asian woman to win the Oscar for best actress for her performance 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 after her son, a 21-year-old gay University of Wyoming student who died in 1998 after being beaten and tied to a fence.
Jones said he felt “very emotional” after digesting what the caller had said.
“I’m 93 years old and have some health issues, but I woke up this morning thanks to the grace of God,” he told The Associated Press in a phone interview Thursday. “I look forward to whatever the White House would like me to do.”
The other medal winners are:
—Gregory Boyle, a Catholic Jesuit priest who founded and runs Homeboy Industries, a gang intervention and rehabilitation program.
— Phil Donahue, journalist and former daytime TV talk show host.
—Katie Ledecky, the most decorated swimmer in history.
– Opal Lee, an activist best known for pushing for June 19 to be a federal holiday. Biden did this in 2021.
—Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman in space and the second woman director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
—Jane Rigby, astronomer and chief scientist of the world’s most powerful telescope. 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 endorsed Biden’s re-election bid and supported him in 2020.
In 2022, Biden presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 17 people, including gymnast Simone Biles, the late Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, and gun control advocate Gabby Giffords.
Biden knows what it’s like to receive the medal. As president, Barack Obama presented Biden, his vice president, with the medal a week before the end of his government in 2017.
