Washington — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Democratic philanthropist George Soros, and actor-director Denzel Washington will receive the nation’s highest civilian honor on Saturday during a White House ceremony.
President Joe Biden will present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 of the most well-known figures in politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights, LGBTQ+ advocacy, and science.
The White House stated that the recipients made “exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public, or private endeavors.”
Four medals will be awarded posthumously. They are going to Fannie Lou Hamer, who founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and laid the groundwork for the 1965 Voting Rights Act; former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; George W. Romney, who was both Michigan governor and secretary of housing and urban development; and Ash Carter, the former Secretary of Defense.
Kennedy is the father of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary. Romney is the father of former Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, one of Trump’s most vocal conservative critics.
Major philanthropists receiving the award include Spanish-American chef José Andrés, whose World Central Kitchen charity has become one of the world’s most well-known food relief organizations, and Bono, the frontman for rock band U2 and a social justice activist.
Professional soccer player Lionel Messi; retired Los Angeles Lakers basketball legend and businessman Earvin “Magic” Johnson; actor Michael J. Fox, who is an outspoken advocate for Parkinson’s disease research and development; and William Sanford Nye, known to generations of students as “Bill Nye the Science Guy.”
Other recipients include conservationist Jane Goodall, longtime Vogue Magazine editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, American fashion designer Ralph Lauren, American Film Institute founder George Stevens Jr., entrepreneur and LGBTQ+ activist Tim Gill, and David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group global investment firm.
Last year, Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 people, including the late Medgar Evers, House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, and actor Michelle Yeoh.
