17 named to receive Medal of Freedom
Biden will award the highest civilian honor to the late Sen. John McCain and others.
WASHINGTON — President Biden will present the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to 17 people, including actor Denzel Washington, gymnast Simone Biles and the late Sen. John McCain.
Biden will also recognize Sandra Lindsay, the New York City nurse who rolled up her sleeve on live television in December 2020 to receive the first COVID-19 vaccine dose in the United States, the White House announced Friday.
Biden’s honors list includes living and deceased honorees from the worlds of Hollywood, sports, politics, the military, academia, and civil rights and social justice advocacy.
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.
Biden will present the medals at the White House next week.
Biles, the most decorated U.S. gymnast in history, is an outspoken advocate on issues including athletes’ mental health, children in foster care and sexual assault victims.
McCain, who died of brain cancer in 2018, represented Arizona in both houses of Congress and was the Republican presidential nominee in 2008.
Washington is a double Oscar-winning actor, director and producer. He has 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. The other recipients are:
■ 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 economic justice, overhauling the U.S. immigration system and healthcare policy.
■ Julieta Garcia. 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.
■ Gabrielle Giffords. A former U.S. House member from Arizona, the Democrat founded Giffords Law Center, an organization dedicated to ending gun violence. She was shot in the head in January 2011 during a constituent event in Tucson.
■ Fred Gray. Gray was one of the first Black members
of the Alabama Legislature after Reconstruction. He was a prominent civil rights attorney who represented Rosa Parks, the NAACP and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
■ Steve Jobs. Jobs was the co-founder, chief executive and chair of Apple Inc. He died in 2011.
■ Father Alexander Karloutsos. Karloutsos is the assistant to Archbishop Demetrios of America. The White House said Karloutsos has counseled several U.S. presidents.
■ Khizr Khan. An immigrant from Pakistan, Khan’s Army officer son was killed in Iraq. Khan gained national prominence, and became a target of Donald Trump’s wrath, after speaking at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
■ 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.
■ Megan 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 prominent advocate for gender pay equality, racial justice and LGBTQ rights.
■ Alan Simpson. The retired U.S. senator from Wyoming served with Biden and has been a prominent advocate for campaign finance reform, responsible governance and marriage equality.
■ 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.
■ Wilma Vaught. A brigadier general, Vaught is one of the most decorated women in U.S. military history, breaking gender barriers as she has risen through the ranks. When Vaught retired in 1985, she was one of only seven female generals in the U.S. armed forces.
■ Raúl Yzaguirre. A civil rights advocate, Yzaguirre was president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza for 30 years. He served as U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic under Obama.