WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Democratic philanthropist George Soros and actor-director Denzel Washington will be awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor on Saturday in a White House ceremony.
President Joe Biden will bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 of the most famous names in politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights, LGBTQ+ advocacy and science.
The White House said the recipients have 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 are to 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 and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy; George W. Romney, who served as both a Michigan governor and secretary of housing and urban development; and Ash Carter, a former secretary of defense.
Kennedy is father to 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 strongest conservative critics.
President Joe Biden will bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 of the most famous names in politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights, LGBTQ+ advocacy and science.
The White House said the recipients have 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 are to 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 and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy; George W. Romney, who served as both a Michigan governor and secretary of housing and urban development; and Ash Carter, a former secretary of defense.
Kennedy is father to 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 strongest conservative critics.
Hillary Clinton, George Soros and Denzel Washington will receive the highest US civilian honor
President Joe Biden will bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 of the most famous names in politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights, LGBTQ+ advocacy and science.
apnews.com