President Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 former and current politicians, activists, actors, and athletes Friday at the White House, a ceremony Biden referred to as one of his favorite events of the year.
Biden notably bestowed the nation’s highest civilian honor on political allies, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), former Vice President Al Gore, and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who ran against Biden in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.
The president posthumously honored civil rights leader Medgar Wiley Ever, multisport athlete Jim Thorpe, and former New Jersey Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg, whom Biden served with in the Senate.
Friday’s honorees also featured two female “firsts,” Michelle Yeoh, the first Asian woman to win the Academy Award for best actress, and Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman to travel to space.
The president opened his remarks by quoting writer E.B. White, a member of the first Presidential Medal of Freedom class in 1961.
“Relentless curiosity, inventiveness, ingenuity have led to deep trouble. You can only hope that these same traits will enable us to claw our way out,” Biden recited. “Hang on to your hat, hang on to your hope, wind the clock, and tomorrow is another day.”
“Today, we have another extraordinary honor to bestow the nation’s highest civilian honor on 19 incredible people whose relentless curiosity, inventiveness, ingenuity, and hope have kept faith for a better tomorrow,” he continued.
Biden did have one slip-up while discussing the accomplishments of Olympian Katie Ledeky, stating that he was excited to host her at the White House after she competes in the Paralympics, as opposed to the 2024 Summer Olympics, which will be held in Paris.
“What I had to keep doing when I was writing these introductions was make them shorter and shorter and shorter,” the president joked in closing. “There’s so much more to say for each one of them, but we’d be here for 12 hours.”
The full list of Friday’s recipients:
- Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
- The Rev. Gregory Boyle
- Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC)
- Former North Carolina Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole
- Phil Donahue
- Former Vice President Al Gore
- Clarence Jones
- Former Secretary of State John Kerry
- Katie Ledecky
- Opal Lee
- Ellen Ochoa
- Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
- Jane Rigby
- Teresa Romero
- Judy Shepard
- Michelle Yeoh
Posthumous recipients:
- Medgar Wiley Evers
- Former New Jersey Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg
- Jim Thorpe
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You can watch Biden’s remarks in full below.
