WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama recognized one former president and 14 artists, athletes, civil-rights activists, humanitarians and others Tuesday with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for contributions to society that he said speak to “who we are as a people.”
The medal is the nation’s highest civilian honor. It is given in recognition of contributions to U.S. national security, world peace, culture or other significant public or private endeavors.
Some of the loudest applause was reserved for George H.W. Bush, the former Republican president who has devoted nearly 70 of his 86 years to public service, starting when he joined the Navy on his 18th birthday. He served as a congressman from Texas, U.N. ambassador, Republican Party chairman, U.S. envoy to China, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, a two-term vice president and one term as the 41st president.
“His life is a testament that public service is a noble calling,” Obama said, as Bush’s wife, Barbara, and their children listened from the front row. “His humility and his decency reflect the very best of the American spirit. Those of you who know him, this is a gentleman.”
Obama lauded Bill Russell, the former captain of the Boston Celtics and first black man to become an NBA head coach, as “someone who stood up for the rights and dignity of all men.”
Another robust round of applause went to Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. Lewis was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the 1960s and helped organize the first civil-rights sit-ins at lunch counters that refused to serve blacks. A particularly touching moment occurred during the presentation for Dr. Tom Little, an optometrist who was slain by the Taliban in August in Afghanistan. His wife, Libby, accepted.
The other medal recipients are:
• John H. Adams, co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
• Maya Angelou, author and poet.
• Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway. The famed investor known as the “Oracle of Omaha” is also a philanthropist.
• Jasper Johns, an artist whose work has dealt with themes of perception and identity.
• Gerda Weissmann Klein, a Holocaust survivor and author who founded Citizenship Counts, an organization that teaches students to cherish being American citizens. Klein gained notoriety in Colorado when she spoke to students and parents at Columbine High School some months after the April 1999 shootings that left 15 people dead, including the two gunmen, encouraging them to “become the leaders for hope and reconciliation” in the world.
• Yo-Yo Ma, a renowned cellist and 16-time Grammy Award winner.
• Sylvia Mendez, a civil-rights activist of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent.
• Angela Merkel, the first woman and first East German to serve as chancellor of a unified Germany. She did not attend the ceremony.
• Stan Musial, Hall of Fame baseball player who spent 22 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals.
• Jean Kennedy Smith, founder of VSA, a nonprofit organization that promotes the artistic talents of people with disabilities.
• John J. Sweeney, president emeritus of the AFL-CIO.
