Award Yourself With This Quiz on the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Dolly Parton was chosen to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom on two separate occasions, and both times, she declined. The first time, she turned it down due to her husband’s poor health. The second time, she said she couldn’t justify traveling to the ceremony during the COVID-19 pandemic.

President John F. Kennedy selected 31 individuals to be honored in the Presidential Medal of Freedom’s first class in 1963. The list included a cellist, a singer, a pianist, the president of Harvard, the first elected governor of Puerto Rico, and several writers, one of whom was E.B. White. President Lyndon B. Johnson presented the award to White after Kennedy’s death, describing him as “an essayist whose concise comment on men and places has revealed to yet another age the vigor of the English sentence.”

Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Simone Biles became the youngest-ever recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022, at the age of 25. Biles was honored by President Joe Biden, who said, “Today, she adds to her medal count.” That medal count also includes seven Olympic medals and 25 World Championship medals, making her the most decorated gymnast in World Championship history.

Eight Presidents have received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but only one received the honor prior to taking America’s highest office. In 2017, days before leaving the White House, President Barack Obama surprised his Vice President, Joe Biden, with the honor. President Obama referred to Biden as “the best Vice President America’s ever had” and “a lion of American history.”

When President George W. Bush awarded the medal to 12 people in 2002, he acknowledged his Secretary of State Colin Powell in his remarks, joking, “Secretary Powell has won the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice — once with distinction. I’m not sure what happened the other time.” Powell had previously received the honor from President George H.W. Bush in 1991, as well as President Bill Clinton in 1993. The only other two-time recipient to date is Ellsworth Bunker, who served as ambassador to Argentina, India, Italy, Nepal, and South Vietnam, and was honored with the medal in 1963 and 1967.

With 123 medals awarded, President Obama was more generous with the Presidential Medal of Freedom than any other commander in chief. Even if you count medals Obama gave out jointly as a single tally (such as when he honored Bill and Melinda Gates), his number would be 114 — still 14 ahead of Ronald Reagan’s second-place total of 100 medals awarded.

On February 22, 1963, President Kennedy issued Executive Order 11085, which reestablished the Medal of Freedom as the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The original Medal of Freedom was introduced by President Truman in 1945 as an award for service in World War II. Truman’s award was not solely at the discretion of the President; it could be awarded by secretaries of state, war, or the Navy.

While the Distinguished Civilian Service Awards Board can recommend nominees, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded solely at the discretion of the President. The closest other award in stature is the Congressional Gold Medal, which is Congress’s highest expression of national appreciation for individuals, institutions, or groups.

President Gerald Ford, a former star football player, was the first to give the Presidential Medal of Freedom to an American athlete, though John F. Kennedy included swimming coach Robert J.H. Kiphuth among his first group of honorees. In 1976, Ford honored track athlete and Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Nazi Germany. Joe DiMaggio was the first athlete in a team sport to be honored with the medal, in 1977.

Since the establishment of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, several Presidents have received the honor themselves, including Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush. President John F. Kennedy, the founder of the award, also was honored posthumously in President Johnson’s first list of nominees. However, Richard Nixon did not receive the medal.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded for “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, or cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.” Thanks to this last stipulation, it has been given to many musicians, actors, and artists. Joan Ganz Cooney, for her part, was awarded for founding the Children’s Television Workshop, as well as a series of shows including “Sesame Street.”

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is suspended by a blue ribbon with white edges, and uses a color scheme based on the presidential seal. It features a white star, on which 13 smaller gold stars are found. Each recipient’s name is engraved on the back of their medal. Women may also choose to receive the medal as a bow.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom as we know it began with President John F. Kennedy, who defined it as the nation’s highest civilian honor. Kennedy chose 31 individuals to receive the award, but President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered the honors after Kennedy was assassinated.

Five golden bald eagles with spread wings connect the points of the Presidential Medal of Freedom’s most prominent star. The insignia was designed by Colonel Harry Downing Temple, who was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War and led the Army’s Institute of Heraldry from 1961 to 1966.