Presidential Medal of Freedom – History, meaning, recipients, & facts

In 1963, 35^th U.S. President John F. Kennedy established our nation’s highest civilian honor: The Presidential Medal of Freedom. And since its establishment, the honor has been bestowed upon individuals that have excelled tremendously well in their chosen profession in a manner that brings benefits to the American people or to the world at large, say in the area of world peace and economic progress. What it means is that, the Medal of Freedom has been bestowed upon some non-Americans, including the likes of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, anti-apartheid icons Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, and Mother Theresa.

Honorees of this prestigious award have come from diverse disciplines, including arts, music, public service, business, education, engineering, and medicine. Notable recipients include the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., U.S. President Ronald Reagan, Muhammad Ali, Oprah Winfrey, Stephen Hawking, Maya Angelou, and Walt Disney.

How did the Presidential Medal of Freedom come to be? And how are the honorees selected? Below is a brief history of our nation’s highest civilian honor. The article also includes a complete list of all the recipients from 1963 to 2020.

History of the Presidential Medal of Freedom

The history of the Presidential Medal of Freedom began in 1963, when then-U.S. President John F. Kennedy used Executive Order 11085 to establish the award. The award became higher in precedence to the Medal for Merit. It was intended to be awarded annually on or around July 4 or other times chosen by the U.S. president. However, in some years, the award was not given; for example in the years 2001 and 2010.

By the executive order, the President of the United States is the one that selects the honorees; although he does so with recommendations from the Distinguished Civilian Service Awards Board.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom can be awarded to an individual more than once. For example, former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell received the award on two occasions, in 1991 (from George H.W. Bush) and in 1993 (from President Bill Clinton).

The Presidential Medal of Freedom can also be posthumously awarded; notable posthumous honorees are Pope John XXIII, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, Elvis Presley, and Babe Ruth.

Interesting facts about the Presidential Medal of Freedom

• Our nation’s two highest civilian awards are the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.
• The awards are not confined to civilians (both American citizens and non-citizens); military men and women are eligible for the award as well.
• Prior to the Presidential Medal of Freedom, there was the Medal of Freedom, which was established by Harry S. Truman in 1945. That award was presented to individuals that served in civilian capacity during the Second World War. The Medal of Freedom was outranked by the Medal of Merit.

Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom

The total number of recipients of the award since its inception is a bit difficult to track; however, World History Edu has compiled a list of most of the honorees according to their nationality, the year of receipt, and the U.S. president that awarded the medal.

*with distinction

**posthumously awarded

Presidential Medal of Freedom Honorees during the Presidency John F. Kennedy

Honoree	Year	Profession	Nationality
Marian Anderson	1963	Opera Singer	American
Ralph Bunche *	1963	Political scientist	American
Ellsworth Bunker*	1963	Businessman	American
Pablo Casals	1963	Cellist and music composer	Catalan
Genevieve Caulfield	1963	Teacher	American
James B. Conant*	1963	Chemist	American
John Franklin Enders	1963	Biomedical scientist	American
Felix Frankfurter*	1963	Lawyer	Austrian-American
Robert J. H. Kiphuth	1963	College sports coach	American
Edwin H. Land	1963	Scientist and inventor	American
Herbert H. Lehman	1963	Politician (45th Governor of New York)	American
Robert A. Lovett*	1963	Politician and secretary of defense	American
J. Clifford MacDonald	1963	Businessman	American
John J. McCloy*	1963	Lawyer and diplomat	American
George Meany	1963	Labor union leader	American
Alexander Meiklejohn	1963	Philosopher	English
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe	1963	Architect	German-American
Jean Monnet*	1963	Entrepreneur	French
Luis Muñoz Marín*	1963	Journalist and first elected governor of Puerto Rico	Puerto Rican
Clarence B. Randall	1963	Lawyer	American
Rudolf Serkin	1963	Pianist	American
Edward Steichen	1963	Photographer and painter	Luxembourgish American
George W. Taylor	1963	Professor	American
Alan Tower Waterman	1963	Physicist	American
Annie Dodge Wauneka	1963	Member of the Navajo Nation Council	Navajo Nation
E. B. White	1963	Writer	American
Thornton Wilder	1963	Novelist and playwright	American
Edmund Wilson	1963	Writer	American
Andrew Wyeth	1963	Visual artist	American

Presidential Medal of Freedom Honorees during the Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson

Honoree	Year	Profession	Nationality
Karl Holton	1963	Probation officer	American
John XXIII**	1963	Bishop of Rome/head of the Catholic Church
John F. Kennedy**	1963	American president and politician	American
Ellsworth Bunker*	1963	Businessman	American
Mark S. Watson	1963	Editor	American
Dean Acheson*	1964	Statesman and lawyer	American
Detlev Bronk	1964	Scientist	American
Aaron Copland	1964	Composer	American
Willem de Kooning	1964	Expressionist artist	Dutch-American
Walt Disney	1964	Entrepreneur and film producer	American
J. Frank Dobie	1964	Writer and newspaper columnist	American
Lena Frances Edwards	1964	Physician	American
T. S. Eliot	1964	Poet and playwright	British
Lynn Fontanne	1964	Actress	British
John W. Gardner	1964	Secretary of Health	American
Theodore Hesburgh	1964	Reverend	American
Clarence Johnson	1964	Aeronautical engineer	American
Frederick Kappel	1964	Businessman	American
Helen Keller	1964	Author and activist	American
John L. Lewis	1964	Labor unionist	American
Walter Lippmann	1964	Writer and poet	American
Alfred Lunt	1964	Stage director and actor	American
Ralph McGill	1964	Journalist	American
Samuel Eliot Morison	1964	Historian	American
Lewis Mumford	1964	Historian and philosopher	American
Edward R. Murrow*	1964	War correspondent and journalist	American
Reinhold Niebuhr	1964	Theologian and ethicist	American
Leontyne Price	1964	Opera star	American
A. Philip Randolph	1964	Labor unionist	American
Carl Sandburg	1964	Poet and journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner	Swedish-American
John Steinbeck	1964	Author and Nobel Prize winner in literature	American
Helen B. Taussig	1964	Cardiologist	American
Carl Vinson	1964	Politician (U.S. House of Representative)	American
Thomas Watson Jr.	1964	Businessman and philanthropist	American
Paul Dudley White	1964	Cardiologist	American
Robert Komer	1967	National security adviser	American
Eugene M. Locke	1967	Lawyer and diplomat	American
Robert McNamara	1968	Secretary of Defence	American
James E. Webb	1968	Government official	American
Clark Clifford*	1969	Lawyer	American
Ralph Ellison	1969	Novelist	American
Bob Hope	1969	Comedian and actor	British-American
Gregory Peck	1969	Actor	American
Dean Rusk	1969	U.S. Secretary of State	American
Merriman Smith	1969	Reporter	American
William S. White	1969	Journalist	American
Roy Wilkins	1969	Civil rights activist	American

Recipients of the Medal of Freedom from President Richard Nixon

Presidential Medal of Freedom Honorees during the Presidency of Gerald Ford

Honoree	Year	Profession/job	nationality
Paul G. Hoffman	1974	Business executive and statesman	American
Melvin Laird	1974	Politician	American
David K. E. Bruce*	1976	Diplomat	American
Martha Graham*	1976	Dancer and choreographer	American
Jesse Owens	1976	Track and field athlete	American
Arthur Rubinstein*	1976	Pianist	Polish-American
Iorwith Wilbur Abel	1977	Labor unionist	American
John Bardeen	1977	Physicist	American
Irving Berlin	1977	Music Composer	American
Norman Borlaug	1977	Agronomist	American
Omar Bradley	1977	Military officer	American
Arleigh Burke	1977	Military officer	American
Alexander Calder**	1977	Sculptor	American
Bruce Catton	1977	Historian and journalist	American
Joe DiMaggio	1977	Baseball player	American
Ariel Durant	1977	Researcher	American
Will Durant	1977	Writer and historian	American
Arthur Fiedler	1977	Symphony conductor	American
Henry Friendly	1977	Lawyer and jurist	American
Lady Bird Johnson	1977	First Lady of the United States	American
Henry Kissinger	1977	Secretary of State under Richard Nixon	American
Archibald MacLeish	1977	Poet and writer	American
James A. Michener	1977	Author	American
Georgia O’Keeffe	1977	Artist	American
Nelson Rockefeller	1977	Businessman	American
Norman Rockwell	1977	Painter	American
Donald Rumsfeld*	1977	Secretary of Defense of the U.S.	American
Catherine Filene Shouse	1977	Researcher	American
Lowell Thomas	1977	Writer and actor	American
James Watson	1977	Biologist	American

Presidential Medal of Freedom Honorees during the Presidency of Jimmy Carter

Honoree	Year	Profession/job	Nationality
Martin Luther King Jr.**	1977	Civil rights activist	American
Jonas Salk	1977	Medical researcher and virologist	American
Arthur Goldberg	1978	Statesman and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court	American
Margaret Mead**	1979	Cultural anthropologist	American
Ansel Adams	1980	Photographer and environmentalist	American
Horace M. Albright	1980	Conservationist	American
Rachel Carson**	1980	Marine biologist and author	American
Lucia Chase	1980	Dancer and actress	American
Hubert Humphrey**	1980	Politician – 38th vice president of the United States	American
Iakovos	1980	Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America
Lyndon B. Johnson**	1980	37th President of the United States	American
Clarence Mitchell Jr.	1980	Civil rights activist	American
Roger Tory Peterson	1980	Illustrator and ornithologist	American
Hyman G. Rickover	1980	Admiral in the U.S. Navy	American
Beverly Sills	1980	Operatic soprano	American
Robert Penn Warren	1980	Novelist and poet	American
John Wayne**	1980	Actor and filmmaker	American
Eudora Welty	1980	Writer and photographer	American
Tennessee Williams	1980	Playwright	American
Roger Nash Baldwin	1981	1st Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union	American
Walter Cronkite	1981	Broadcast journalist	American
Kirk Douglas	1981	Actor and director	American
Margaret McNamara	1981	Wife of Robert McNamara	American
Esther Peterson	1981	Women’s rights advocate	American
Gerard C. Smith	1981	Attorney	American
Robert S. Strauss	1981	Diplomat and politician	American
Elbert Tuttle	1981	U.S. Circuit Judge	American
Andrew Young	1981	Diplomat and activist	American

Recipients of the Medal of Freedom from President Ronald Reagan

Recipient	Year	Profession	Nationality
Eubie Blake	1981	Pianist and music composer	American
Harold Brown	1981	Nuclear physicist	American
Zbigniew Brzezinski	1981	Diplomat	Polish-American
Warren Christopher	1981	Lawyer and diplomat	American
Ella Grasso**	1981	Politician	American
Bryce Harlow	1981	Government official	American
Walter Judd	1981	Politician and physician	American
Morris I. Leibman	1981	Attorney	American
Karl Menninger	1981	Psychiatrist	American
Edmund Sixtus Muskie	1981	Statesman and politician	American
Charles Bates Thornton	1981	Business executive	American
Earl Warren	1981	Politician and jurist	American
Philip Habib	1982	Diplomat	American
Eric Hoffer	1982	Philosopher	American
Kathryn Elizabeth Smith	1982	Singer	American
George Balanchine	1983	Ballet choreographer	American
Ann Clare Boothe Luce	1983	Author and politician	American
Paul Bear Bryant	1983	College football coach	American
James Burnham	1983	Philosopher	American
James Edward Cheek	1983	President of Howard University	American
Buckminster Fuller	1983	Architect and author	American
Billy Graham	1983	Evangelist	American
Jacob Javits	1983	Politician	American
Dumas Malone	1983	Historian	American
Mabel Mercer	1983	Singer	American
Simon Ramo	1983	Engineer and businessman	American
Howard Baker	1984	Politician and diplomat	American
James Cagney	1984	Actor and dancer	American
Whittaker Chambers**	1984	Writer	American
Leo Cherne	1984	Economist	American
Terence Cooke**	1984	Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church	American
Denton Cooley	1984	Heart surgeon	American
Tennessee Ernie Ford	1984	Singer and TV host	American
Hector Garcia	1984	Physician	American
Andrew Jackson Goodpaster	1984	Army general	American
Henry M. Jackson**	1984	Politician	American
Lincoln Kirstein	1984	Writer and philanthropist	American
Louis L’Amour	1984	Novelist	American
Joseph Luns	1984	Politician	Dutch
Norman Vincent Peale	1984	Author	American
Jackie Robinson**	1984	Baseball player	American
Carlos P. Romulo	1984	Diplomat and soldier	American
Anwar el-Sadat**	1984	Egyptian politician	Egyptian
Eunice Kennedy Shriver	1984	Philanthropist	American
Count Basie**	1985	Jazz pianist and composer	American
Albert Coady Wedemeyer	1985	Army commander	American
Jacques Cousteau	1985	Naval officer and filmmaker	French
Jerome H. Holland**	1985	Diplomat	American
Sidney Hook	1985	Philosopher	American
Jeane Duane Kirkpatrick	1985	Diplomat and political scientist	American
George Low**	1985	NASA administrator	American
Paul Nitze	1985	Politician	American
Frank James Reynolds**	1985	Television journalist	American
Frank Sinatra	1985	Singer and actor	American
James Stewart	1985	Actor and singer	American
Mother Teresa	1985	Roman Catholic nun and missionary	Albanian
Juan Tery Trippe**	1985	Entrepreneur	American
Albert James Wohlstetter	1985	Political scientist	American
Roberta Wohlstetter	1985	Historian	American
Chuck Yeager	1985	Air Force officer	American
Walter Hubert Annenberg	1986	Businessman	American
Earl Blaik	1986	Football player and coach	American
Barry Goldwater	1986	Politician and businessman	American
Helen Hayes MacArthur	1986	Actress	American
Vladimir Horowitz	1986	Classical composer and pianist	American
Matthew Ridgway	1986	Senior Army officer	American
Joseph John Rochefort**	1986	Naval officer	American
Vermont C. Royster	1986	Editor	American
Albert Bruce Sabin	1986	Medical researcher	American
An Wang	1986	Computer engineer	American
Anne Armstrong	1987	Diplomat and politician	American
Justin Whitlock Dart Sr.**	1987	Businessman	American
Irving Kaufman	1987	Circuit Judge	American
Danny Kaye	1987	Singer and actor	American
Lyman Louis Lemnitzer	1987	Army general	American
John A. McCone	1987	Businessman and politician	American
Frederick Patterson	1987	Former president of Tuskegee University	American
Mstislav Rostropovich	1987	Cellist and conductor	Russian
William B. Walsh	1987	Physician	American
Caspar Weinberger*	1987	Politician and businessman	American
Meredith Reiniger Willson**	1987	Conductor and playwright	American
Pearl Bailey	1988	Actress and singer	American
Malcolm Baldrige Jr. **	1988	Businessman and Secretary of Commerce	American
Irving Brown	1988	Labor unionist	American
Warren E. Burger	1988	Chief Justice of the Supreme Court	American
Peter Carington	1988	Politician	British
Edward DeBartolo	1988	Businessman	American
Milton Friedman	1988	Economist and Nobel Prize winner in Economics	American
Jean MacArthur	1988	Army general	American
J. Willard Marriott **	1988	Businessman	American
David Packard	1988	Electrical engineer and co-founder of Hewlett-Packard	American
Roger L. Stevens	1988	Arts administrator and executive	American

 

Presidential Medal of Freedom Honorees during the Presidency of George H.W. Bush (1989-1993)

Honoree	Year	Profession	Nationality
Lucille Ball**	1989	Actress and comedian	American
C. Douglas Dillon	1989	Diplomat and politician	American
Jimmy Doolittle	1989	Military general	American
George F. Kennan	1989	Diplomat and historian	American
Mike Mansfield	1989	Politician	American
Claude Pepper	1989	Politician	American
George Shultz	1989	Economist and politician	American
Margaret Madeline Chase Smith	1989	Politician	American
Lech Wałęsa	1989	Statesman	Polish
Walker Hancock	1990	Sculptor and teacher	American
James Baker	1991	Attorney	American
William F. Buckley Jr.	1991	Author	American
Dick Bruce Cheney	1991	Politician	American
Luis A. Ferré	1991	Engineer and politician	Puerto Rican
Betty Ford	1991	First Lady of the United States	American
Hanna Holborn Gray	1991	Historian	American
Friedrich Hayek	1991	Economist and philosopher	British
Tip O’Neill	1991	Politician	American
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar	1991	Diplomat and politician	Peruvian
Colin Powell	1991	Politician and diplomat	American
Norman Schwarzkopf Jr.	1991	Army general	American
Brent Scowcroft	1991	U.S. Air Force officer	American
Leon Sullivan	1991	Civil rights leader	American
Margaret Thatcher	1991	Politician	British
Russell E. Train	1991	Government official	American
Vernon A. Walters	1991	Army officer and diplomat	American
William Webster	1991	Attorney	American
Ted Williams	1991	Baseball player	American
David Brinkley	1992	Newscaster	American
Johnny Carson	1992	Comedian and T.V. host	American
Ella Fitzgerald	1992	Jazz singer	American
Audrey Hepburn	1992	Actress and humanitarian	British
Richard Petty	1992	Race driver	American
Harry W. Shlaudeman	1992	Diplomat	American
Isaac Stern	1992	Violinist	American
John W. Vessey	1992	Army officer	American
Sam Walton	1992	Businessman and entrepreneur	American
Elie Wiesel	1992	Writer and professor	American
I. M. Pei	1993	Architect	American
Ronald Reagan*	1993	Politician	American
Strom Thurmond	1993	Judge and politician	American

Individuals that received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton (1993-2001)

Honoree	Year	Profession	Nationality
Arthur Ashe**	1993	Tennis player	American
William J. Brennan Jr.	1993	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court	American
Marjory Stoneman Douglas	1993	Journalist and author	American
J. William Fulbright	1993	Politician	American
Thurgood Marshall**	1993	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court	American
Colin Powell*	1993	Politician	American
Joseph L. Rauh Jr. **	1993	Civil rights lawyer	American
Martha Raye	1993	Actress and singer	American
John Minor Wisdom	1993	Politician	American
Herbert L. Block	1994	Cartoonist	American
Cesar Chavez**	1994	Labor unionist	American
Arthur Sherwood Flemming	1994	Government official	American
James P. Grant	1994	Diplomat	American
Dorothy Height	1994	Civil rights activist	American
Barbara Jordan	1994	Educator and lawyer	American
Lane Kirkland	1994	Labor unionist	American
Robert H. Michel	1994	Politician	American
Sargent Shriver	1994	Diplomat and politician	American
Peggy Sundelle Charren	1995	Activist	American
William T. Coleman Jr.	1995	Attorney and judge	American
John Hope Franklin	1995	Historian	American
Joan Ganz Cooney	1995	Television producer	American
A. Leon Higginbotham Jr.	1995	Author and civil rights activist	American
Frank Minis Johnson	1995	U.S. Judge	American
C. Everett Koop	1995	Surgeon	American
Gaylord Nelson	1995	Politician	American
Walter Philip Reuther **	1995	Labor unionist and civil rights activist	American
James Rouse	1995	Businessman	American
Willie Velasquez **	1995	Social activist	American
Lew Wasserman	1995	Talent agent	American
Joseph Louis Bernardin	1996	Archbishop of Cincinnati	American
James Brady	1996	White House Press Secretary	American
Millard Fuller	1996	Humanitarian	American
David A. Hamburg	1996	Psychiatrist	American
John H. Johnson	1996	Businessman and publisher	American
Eugene Lang	1996	Philanthropist	American
Jan Nowak-Jeziorański	1996	Journalist	Polish
Antonia Pantoja	1996	Social worker and civil rights activist	American
Rosa Parks	1996	Civil rights activist	American
Ginetta Sagan	1996	Human rights activist	American
Mo Udall	1996	Attorney	American
Bob Dole	1997	Politician	American
William Perry	1997	Mathematician	American
John Shalikashvili	1997	Military commander	American
Arnold Aronson	1998	Civil rights activist	American
Brooke Astor	1998	Philanthropist and writer	American
Robert Coles	1998	Author and child psychiatrist	American
Justin Dart Jr.	1998	Activist	American
James Farmer	1998	Civil rights activist	American
Dante Fascell	1998	Politician	American
Zachary Fisher	1998	Businessman	American
Frances Hesselbein	1998	Writer and management consultant	American
Fred Korematsu	1998	Civil rights activist	American
Sol Linowitz	1998	Businessman and lawyer	American
Wilma Mankiller	1998	Activist and social worker	American
Margaret Murie	1998	Author and conservationist	American
Mario G. Obledo	1998	Civil rights activist	American
Elliot Richardson	1998	Lawyer	American
David Rockefeller	1998	Banker	American
Albert Shanker **	1998	Educator and labor unionist	American
Elmo Zumwalt	1998	U.S. Navy officer	American
Lloyd Millard Bentsen	1999	Politician	American
Edgar Bronfman Sr.	1999	Businessman	American
Jimmy Carter	1999	Politician and 39th President of the United States	American
Rosalynn Carter	1999	First Lady of the United States	American
Evelyn Dubrow	1999	Labor lobbyist	American
Isolina Ferré	1999	Religious sister	Puerto Rico
Gerald Ford	1999	Politician and 38th president of the United States	American
Oliver Hill	1999	Civil rights lawyer	American
Max Kampelman	1999	Diplomat	American
Helmut Kohl	1999	Statesman	German
George J. Mitchell	1999	Lawyer and businessman	American
Edgar Wayburn	1999	Environmentalist	American
James E. Burke	2000	Business executive	American
John Chafee**	2000	Politician	American
Wesley Clark	2000	Army officer	American
William J. Crowe	2000	Navy admiral	American
Marian Wright Edelman	2000	Activists	American
John Kenneth Galbraith	2000	Economist and diplomat	American
George G. Higgins	2000	Labor activist	American
Jesse Jackson	2000	Civil rights activist	American
Mildred Jeffrey	2000	Political and social activist	American
Mathilde Krim	2000	Medical researcher	American
George McGovern	2000	Politician and historian	American
Daniel Patrick Moynihan	2000	Politician and sociologist	American
Cruz Reynoso	2000	Civil rights lawyer and jurist	American
Aung San Suu Kyi	2000	Diplomat and politician	Burmese
Gardner C. Taylor	2000	Baptist preacher	American
Simon Wiesenthal	2000	Writer	Austrian

Presidential Medal of Freedom Honorees during the Presidency of George W. Bush (2001-2009)

Honoree	Year	Profession	Nationality
Hank Aaron	2002	Baseball player	American
Bill Cosby	2002	Actor, comedian and author	American
Plácido Domingo	2002	Opera singer	Spanish
Peter Drucker	2002	Management consultant, author and educator	American
Katharine Graham **	2002	Publisher	American
Donald Henderson	2002	Medical doctor	American
Irving Kristol	2002	Journalist	American
Nelson Mandela	2002	Political leader	South African
Gordon Moore	2002	Businessman and engineer	American
Nancy Reagan	2002	First Lady of the United States	American
Fred Rogers	2002	T.V. host and producer	American
A. M. Rosenthal	2002	Journalist	American
Robert Bartley	2003	Editor	American
Jacques Barzun	2003	Historian	American
Julia Child	2003	Author	American
Roberto Clemente **	2003	Baseball player	Puerto Rican
Van Cliburn	2003	Pianist	American
Václav Havel	2003	Writer and statesman	Czech
Charlton Heston	2003	Actor and political activist	American
George Robertson	2003	Politician	British
Edward Teller	2003	Physicist	American
Rex Dave Thomas **	2003	Businessman and philanthropist	American
Byron White **	2003	Lawyer and football player	American
James Q. Wilson	2003	Academic and political scientist	American
John Wooden	2003	Basketball player	American
Paul Bremer	2004	Diplomat	American
Edward Brooke	2004	Politician	American
Doris Day	2004	Actress and singer	American
Tommy Franks	2004	Army general	American
Vartan Gregorian	2004	Academic and educator	American
Gilbert Melville Grosvenor	2004	Editor	American
Gordon B. Hinckley	2004	Religious leader and author	American
John Paul II *	2004	Roman Catholic Pope	Polish
Estée Lauder	2004	businesswoman	American
Rita Moreno	2004	Actress and dancer	Puerto Rican
Arnold Palmer	2004	Golfer	American
Arnall Patz	2004	Medical doctor and research professor	American
Norman Podhoretz	2004	Writer	American
George Tenet	2004	Professor and security expert	American
Walter Bigelow Wriston	2004	Banker and business executive	American
Muhammad Ali	2005	Boxer	American
Carol Burnett	2005	Actress, singer and writer	American
Vinton Gray Cerf	2005	Internet expert	American
Robert Conquest	2005	Historian and poet	British
Aretha Franklin	2005	Singer, songwriter and civil rights activist	American
Alan Greenspan	2005	Economist	American
Andy Griffith	2005	Comedian and actor	American
Paul Harvey	2005	Radio broadcaster	American
Bob Kahn	2005	Electrical engineer	American
Sonny Montgomery	2005	Army officer	American
Richard Myers	2005	Army general	American
Jack Nicklaus	2005	Golfer	American
Frank Robinson	2005	Baseball player	American
Paul Rusesabagina	2005	Activist and humanitarian	Rwandan
Ruth Johnson Colvin	2006	Educator	American
Norman Christopher Francis	2006	Lawyer and educator	American
Paul Johnson	2006	Journalist and author	English
B.B. King	2006	Singer, songwriter and guitarist	American
Joshua Lederberg	2006	Molecular biologist	American
David Gaub McCullough	2006	Author and historian	American
Norman Mineta	2006	Politician	American
Buck O’Neil**	2006	Baseball player and manager	American
William Lewis Safire	2006	Author and journalist	American
Natan Sharansky	2006	Politician	Israeli
Gary Becker	2007	Economist	American
Óscar Elías Biscet	2007	Physician and human rights activist	Cuban
Francis Collins	2007	Physician and geneticist	American
Benjamin Hooks	2007	Civil rights leader	American
Henry Hyde	2007	Politician	American
Brian Patrick Lamb	2007	Journalist and business executive	American
Nelle Harper Lee	2007	Novelist	American
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf	2007	Politician	Liberian
Benjamin Solomon Carson	2008	Politician and neurosurgeon	American
Anthony Fauci	2008	Physician and immunologist	American
Tom Peter Lantos	2008	Politician	American
Peter Pace	2008	Marine Corps general	American
Donna Edna Shalala	2008	Politician	American
Laurence Hirsch Silberman	2008	Lawyer and jurist	American
Tony Blair	2009	Politician	British
Ryan Clark Crocker	2009	Diplomat	American
John Howard	2009	Politician	Australian
Álvaro Uribe	2009	Politician	Colombian

Individuals that received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama (2009-2017)

Recipient	Year	Profession	Nationality
Nancy Brinker	2009	Diplomat	American
Joe Medicine Crow	2009	Chief and historian of the Crow Nation	Indigenous American (Crow Nation)
Pedro José Greer	2009	Physician	American
Stephen Hawking	2009	Theoretical physicist	English
Jack Kemp **	2009	Politician	American
Ted Kennedy **	2009	Politician	American
Billie Jean King	2009	Tennis player	American
Joseph Echols Lowery	2009	Methodist Church minister	American
Harvey Bernard Milk	2009	Politician	American
Sandra Day O’Connor	2009	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court	American
Sidney Poitier	2009	Actor and film director	American
Chita Rivera	2009	Actress and dancer	American
Mary Therese Robinson	2009	Politician	Irish
Janet Davison Rowley	2009	Human geneticist	American
Desmond Tutu	2009	Anglican archbishop	South African
Muhammad Yunus	2009	Social entrepreneur, banker and economist	Bangladeshi
John H. Adams	2011	Activist and lawyer	American
Maya Angelou	2011	Poet and civil rights activist	American
Warren Buffett	2011	Investor and philanthropist	American
George H. W. Bush	2011	41st President of the United States	American
Robert Gates	2011	Intelligence analyst	American
Jasper Johns	2011	Painter and printmaker	American
John Lewis	2011	Statesman and civil rights activist	American
Tom Little **	2011	Optometrist	American
Yo-Yo Ma	2011	Cellist	American
Sylvia Mendez	2011	Civil rights activist	American
Angela Merkel	2011	Politician	German
Stan Musial	2011	Baseball player	American
Bill Russell	2011	Basketball player	American
Jean Kennedy Smith	2011	Diplomat and activist	American
John J. Sweeney	2011	Labor leader	American
Gerda Weissmann Klein	2011	Writer and human rights activist	American
Madeleine Albright	2012	Politician and diplomat	American
Bob Dylan	2012	Singer-songwriter and author	American
William Foege	2012	Physician and epidemiologist	American
John Glenn	2012	Engineer and astronaut	American
Juliette Gordon Low **	2012	Women’s activist	American
Gordon Hirabayashi **	2012	Sociologist	American
Dolores Huerta	2012	Labor leader and civil rights activist	American
Jan Karski **	2012	Soldier and diplomat	Polish
Toni Morrison	2012	Novelist and professor	American
Shimon Peres	2012	Politician	Israeli
John Paul Stevens	2012	Lawyer and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court	American
Pat Summitt	2012	Basketball coach	American
Patricia Wald	2012	Judge	American
Ernie Banks	2013	Baseball player	American
Ben Bradlee	2013	Journalist	American
Bill Clinton	2013	42nd President of the United States	American
John Doar	2013	Lawyer	American
Daniel Inouye **	2013	Politician	American
Daniel Kahneman	2013	Economist and psychologist	Israeli
Richard Lugar	2013	Politician	American
Loretta Lynn	2013	Singer and songwriter	American
Mario J. Molina	2013	Chemist	Mexican
Sally Ride **	2013	Astronaut and physicist	American
Bayard Rustin **	2013	Civil rights activist	American
Arturo Sandoval	2013	Jazz pianist and trumpeter	American
Dean Smith	2013	College basketball coach	American
Gloria Steinem	2013	Journalist	American
Cordy Tindell Vivian	2013	Author and minister	American
Oprah Winfrey	2013	T.V. show host, actress, author and philanthropist	American
Alvin Ailey **	2014	Dancer	American
Isabel Allende	2014	Writer	Chilean
Thomas John Brokaw	2014	Journalist and author	American
James Chaney **	2014	Social worker	American
John David Dingell	2014	Politician	American
Mildred Dresselhaus	2014	Nanotechnologist	American
Andrew Goodman **	2014	Social worker	American
Ethel Kennedy	2014	Human rights advocate	American
Abner Joseph Mikva	2014	Politician	American
Patsy Mink	2014	Attorney	American
Edward Roybal **	2014	Politician	American
Michael Schwerner **	2014	Social worker	American
Suzan Shown Harjo	2014	Rights activist, poet and writer	American
Charlie Sifford	2014	Golfer	American
Robert Solow	2014	Economist	American
Meryl Streep	2014	Actress	American
Marlo Thomas	2014	Actress and author	American
Stevie Wonder	2014	Singer and songwriter	American
Steven Spielberg	2015	Film director and screenwriter	American
Emilio Estefan	2015	Musician	Cuban
Gloria Estefan	2015	Singer, songwriter	American
Itzhak Perlman	2015	Violinist, music teacher	American
Stephen Sondheim	2015	Composer and lyricist	American
Barbra Streisand	2015	Singer, actress	American
James Taylor	2015	Singer, songwriter	American
Minoru Yasui **	2015	Lawyer	American
Billy Frank Jr. **	2015	Environmentalist	American
Shirley Chisholm  **	2015	Educator, politician	American
Lee H. Hamilton	2015	Politician, lawyer	American
Barbara Mikulski	2015	Politician, social worker	American
William Ruckelshaus	2015	Attorney	American
Katherine Johnson	2015	Mathematician	American
Yogi Berra **	2015	Baseball player	American
Bonnie Carroll	2015	Social worker	American
Willie Mays	2015	Baseball player	American
Frank Gehry	2016	Architect	American
Richard Garwin	2016	Physicist	American
Maya Lin	2016	Architect, sculptor	American
Robert Redford	2016	Actor and director	American
Robert De Niro	2016	Actor, film producer and director	American
Tom Hanks	2016	Actor, producer	American
Cicely Tyson	2016	Actress, model	American
Diana Ross	2016	Singer, actress	American
Bruce Springsteen	2016	Singer, songwriter	American
Grace Hopper **	2016	Computer scientist, Navy rear admiral	American
Margaret Heafield Hamilton	2016	Computer scientist	American
Eduardo J. Padrón	2016	Professor, economist, educator	Cuban
Newton N. Minow	2016	Attorney	American
Lorne Michaels	2016	Television producer	Canadian
Ellen DeGeneres	2016	Actress, T.V. show host, writer, actress	American
Bill Gates	2016	Software developer, philanthropist	American
Melinda Gates	2016	Philanthropist	American
Elouise Pepion Cobell **	2016	Activist, rancher
Vin Scully	2016	Sportscaster	American
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	2016	Basketball player	American
Michael Jordan	2016	Basketball player	American
Joe Biden*	2017	47th vice president of the United States	American

Honorees during the Presidency of Donald Trump (2017-2021)

Honoree	Year	Profession/job	Nationality
Elvis Presley **	2018	Singer, actor	American
Alan Page	2018	Jurist and football player	American
Antonin Scalia **	2018	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court	American
Miriam Adelson	2018	Philanthropist	American
Orrin Hatch	2018	Politician and attorney	American
Babe Ruth **	2018	Baseball player	American
Roger Staubach	2018	Football player	American
Arthur Laffer	2019	Economist and author	American
Edwin Meese	2019	Law professor, author, attorney	American
Tiger Woods	2019	Golfer	American
Bob Cousy	2019	Basketball player	American
Jerry West	2019	Basketball player	American
Mariano Rivera	2019	Baseball player	American
Roger Penske	2019	Businessman	American
Jack Keane	2020	Army general	American
Rush Limbaugh	2020	Author, political commentator	American
Jim Ryun	2020	Politician	American
Lou Holtz	2020	Football player, coach	American
Dan Gable	2020	Wrestler, coach	American