January 4 (UPI) — George Soros, the controversial founder of the Open Society Foundations, and 18 others, including politicians, scientists, entertainers, athletes, and humanitarians, will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, President Joe Biden announced on Saturday.
“Great leaders maintain faith, give everyone a fair chance, and prioritize decency over all else,” White House officials said in an online announcement Saturday.
“These 19 individuals are great leaders who have made America and the world a better place,” the announcement states. “They are great leaders because they are good people who have made extraordinary contributions to their country and the world.”
President Biden delivers remarks during a Medal of Freedom ceremony. https://t.co/zEVTZ3oHkK — The White House (@WhiteHouse), January 4, 2025.
Soros is a “investor, philanthropist, and founder of the Open Society Foundations,” according to White House officials. “Through his network of foundations, partners and projects in more than 120 countries, Soros has focused on global initiatives that strengthen democracy, human rights, education and social justice.”
Politicians including former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and former Michigan Governor George W. Romney have also been awarded the Medal of Freedom.
Kennedy and Romney are among the four posthumous recipients.
Fannie Lou Hamer, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party’s founder, and former Secretary of Defense Ashton Baldwin Carter have also received the Medal of Freedom posthumously.
Chef José Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen, ethologist and conservationist Jane Goodall, and David Rubenstein, founder of The Carlyle Group, will all receive medals on Saturday.
Among the recipients are renowned “Science Guy” and engineer Bill Nye, fashion designer Ralph Lauren, Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour, and entrepreneur Tim Gill.
U2’s Bono, actors Michael J. Fox and Denzel Washington, and American Film Institute founder George Stevens Jr., who also established the Kennedy Center Honors, are among those honored.
Current and former athletes Lionel Messi and Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who founded the philanthropic Magic Johnson Foundation, can now add the Medal of Freedom to their trophy cases.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor in the United States, awarded to individuals “who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant, public or private endeavors,” according to a White House announcement.
On Saturday, recipients will receive their Medals of Freedom in a formal ceremony at the White House.
