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.
Major philanthropists receiving the award include Spanish American chef José Andrés, whose World Central Kitchen charity has become one of the world’s most recognized food relief organizations, and Bono, the frontman for rock band U2 and a social justice activist.
Sports and entertainment stars being recognized include 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 awardees 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 bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 19 people, including the late Medgar Evers, House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina and actor Michelle Yeoh.