President Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to seventeen individuals Thursday.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor in the U.S., and Thursday’s list of recipients included seven-time Olympic medalist Simone Biles, late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, National Women’s Soccer League athlete Megan Rapinoe and late Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain. (RELATED: Trump To Give Reps. Jim Jordan, Devin Nunes Presidential Medal Of Freedom)
Biden is also awarding the civilian honor to actor and director Denzel Washington, multiple notable civil rights activists and Sandra Lindsay, a New York critical care nurse who was the first American to get a COVID-19 vaccine following clinical trials.
“We, the people, doing what we can to ensure the idea of America, the cause of freedom, shines like the sun to light up the future of the world,” Biden said at the ceremony. “That’s the soul of our nation.”
“And that’s who we are as Americans, and that’s what we see in an extraordinary, extraordinary group of Americans up here in the stage that I have the honor to recognize today with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, our nation’s highest civilian award,” Biden continued.
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Three of the recipients – Jobs, McCain and former AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka – will receive the honor posthumously. Washington was absent from Thursday’s ceremony, and Biden noted that he’d receive his medal at a later date.
“The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the Nation’s highest civilian honor, 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,” the White House noted in a fact sheet on the news.
“President Biden has long said that America can be defined by one word: possibilities,” the fact sheet continued. “These seventeen Americans demonstrate the power of possibilities and embody the soul of the nation – hard work, perseverance, and faith. They have overcome significant obstacles to achieve impressive accomplishments in the arts and sciences, dedicated their lives to advocating for the most vulnerable among us, and acted with bravery to drive change in their communities – and across the world – while blazing trails for generations to come.”
In addition to being one of the greatest gymnasts around, Biles was one of the most notable athletes to speak out against sexual abuse. She testified before the Senate in 2021 about Larry Nassar, a sports physician who pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct and is serving up to 175 years in prison, ABC News reported.
McCain, another recipient, received the Purple Heart after serving in Vietnam. He died in 2018. Biden recently reminisced on his friendship with McCain during a speech in May at the Naval Academy graduation.
“You’ve chosen the honorable path that few before you have done. You’re going to look to uphold the honor of this institution and a generation of proud patriots who passed this way before you. Patriots like a dear friend of mine, John McCain,” Biden told the graduating class.