Biden Awards Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 in His Final Ceremony as President
On January 4, 2025, President Joe Biden presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 recipients in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. It was the final time Biden presented the nation's highest civilian honor as president.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors. At the ceremony, Biden said: "For the final time as president, I have the honor of bestowing the Medal of Freedom, our nation's highest civilian honor, on a group of extraordinary, truly extraordinary people who gave their sacred effort to shape the culture and the cause of America."
The 19 recipients were: chef and World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés; Bono, frontman of U2 and a pioneering activist against AIDS and poverty; Ashton Carter, the 25th Secretary of Defense (posthumous); former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; actor and Parkinson's disease research advocate Michael J. Fox; entrepreneur and equality philanthropist Tim Gill; ethologist and conservationist Jane Goodall; civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer (posthumous); basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson; former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (posthumous); fashion designer Ralph Lauren; soccer player Lionel Messi; science educator Bill Nye; George Romney, former governor of Michigan and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (posthumous); David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group; George Soros, founder of the Open Society Foundations; George Stevens Jr., founder of the American Film Institute; actor Denzel Washington; and Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue.
Four medals were awarded posthumously, to Carter, Hamer, Kennedy and Romney. At the ceremony, Stephanie Carter accepted on behalf of Ashton Carter, Doris Hamer Richardson accepted on behalf of Fannie Lou Hamer, Kerry Kennedy accepted on behalf of Robert F. Kennedy, and Mitt Romney accepted on behalf of his father George Romney; Alex Soros accepted the medal on behalf of his father, George Soros.
Messi was named a recipient but did not attend the ceremony because of a scheduling conflict.
In his remarks, Biden also cited individual contributions: Andrés's World Central Kitchen provides large-scale relief to communities affected by natural disasters and conflict around the world; Hamer founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and laid the groundwork for the 1965 Voting Rights Act; Messi is the most decorated player in the history of professional soccer and serves as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
(Source: The White House)
Source: The White House
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：总统自由勋章在白宫东厅仪式前陈列于桌上（2025年1月4日）。图：白宫官方照片（Cameron Smith 摄），公共领域，via Wikimedia Commons / Photo: Presidential Medals of Freedom rest on a table before the ceremony in the East Room of the White House on January 4, 2025. Photo: Official White House photo by Cameron Smith, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
