17 people will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden, including actor and Mount Vernon native Denzel Washington, gymnast Simone Biles, and the late John McCain, a Republican from Arizona with whom Biden shared a Senate seat.
The New York City nurse Sandra Lindsay will also be honoured by Biden, the White House said on Friday.
Lindsay rolled up her sleeve live on television in December 2020 to receive the country’s first injection of the COVID-19 vaccine.
There are both living and deceased honorees from the fields of academia, sports, politics, the military, civil rights, and social justice advocacy on Biden’s honours list, which the White House first revealed to The Associated Press.
The medals will be awarded at the White House the following week by the Democratic president.
Biden is a medal winner himself. A week before they left office in January 2017, President Barack Obama acknowledged Biden’s public service as a longtime senator and vice president by presenting him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The recipients of the medals that Biden will present “have bravely acted to drive change in their communities and around the world, paving the way for future generations, have overcome significant obstacles to achieve impressive accomplishments in the arts and sciences, dedicated their lives to advocating for the most vulnerable among us, “White House statement.
The White House stated that recipients of this medal must have made outstanding contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, to efforts to promote world peace, or to other major public or private activities.
With 32 Olympic and World Championship medals, Biles is the most successful American gymnast in history. She is a vocal supporter of causes close to her heart, such as sexual assault victims, children in foster care, and athletes’ mental health.
After getting the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the United States outside of clinical trials, Lindsay started to support the vaccination program.
McCain, a member of the U.S. Navy who passed away from brain cancer in 2018, spent more than five years in captivity there. Later, he represented Arizona in both houses of Congress, and in 2008, he was the Republican nominee for president. McCain, according to Biden, was a “close friend” and “a hero.”
Actor, director, and producer Denzel Washington have won two Oscars. Along with the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award, he also holds a Tony, two Golden Globes, and other honours. He has represented the Boys & Girls Clubs of America for a very long time.
The 13 other medalists are:
Simone Campbell, a nun Campbell is a Sister of Social Service member and the former executive director of the Catholic social justice group NETWORK. She is an advocate for reworking the U.S. immigration system, health care reform, and economic fairness.
Garcia, Julieta Garcia, a former president of the University of Texas at Brownsville, was the first Latina to lead a university, according to the White House. According to Time magazine, she was one of the top college presidents in the country.
Mrs Gabrielle Giffords Former Arizona representative to the U.S. House of Representatives, the Democrat formed Giffords, a group devoted to putting a stop to gun violence. She suffered severe injuries after being shot in the head in January 2011 in Tucson at a political rally.
Freddie Gray Gray was a pioneering Black legislator in Alabama following Reconstruction. Martin Luther King Jr., the NAACP, and Rosa Parks were all clients of this well-known civil rights lawyer.
Jobs, Steve Jobs served as Apple Inc.’s co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer. 2011 saw his demise.
Sacred Heart Alexander Karloutsos. Archbishop Demetrios of America’s assistant is Karloutsos. Several U.S. presidents, according to the White House, have sought Karloutsos’ advice.
The Khizr Khan. Khan’s son was an Army officer who immigrated from Pakistan and was murdered in Iraq. After giving a speech at the 2016 Democratic Global Convention, Khan acquired national notoriety and came under Donald Trump’s ire.
Linda Nash Nash worked with King and was a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which was responsible for some of the most significant civil rights campaigns of the 20th century.
By Megan Rapinoe. In the National Women’s Soccer League, the two-time Women’s World Cup winner and Olympic gold medalist captains the OL Reign. She is a well-known supporter of racial justice, LGBTQI+ rights, and gender pay equity who has visited Vice President Biden’s White House.
Rapinoe, who was at a training camp in Denver when the White House called to tell her of the award, believed she was receiving a prank call or robocall when she saw “White House” written on her phone, according to a statement from U.S. Soccer. A teammate encouraged her to answer the call after she displayed her phone to him.
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Simpson, Alan The now-retired Wyoming senator who supported marriage equality, ethical leadership, and campaign finance reform worked alongside Biden.
Trumka Richard At the time of his passing in August 2021, Trumka had served as the AFL-president CIO for more than ten years and had 12.5 million members. He had served as the organization’s president in the past.
William Vaught Vaught, a brigadier general and one of the most decorated females in American military history has broken down barriers as she has advanced through the ranks. One of only seven female generals in the military at the time of Vaught’s retirement in 1985.
