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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient
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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients
Commander-in-Chief of the United States Armed Forces President George W. Bush June 2, 2004.
White House photo by Eric Draper.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award in the United States.
It was established by President Harry Truman in 1945 to honor service during WWII. President John F. Kennedy revived the medal and began the tradition of awarding the medal annually, on or near July 4. The award is awarded to several people annually. Unlike many other US awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom can be awarded to non-US citizens.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom recognizes individuals who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, or to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."
Presidential Medals of Freedom Awarded by George W. Bush
President George W. Bush presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to baseball legend Henry Aaron during a ceremony at the White House, July 9, 2002. "The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civil honor our nation can bestow. And we award it today to 12 outstanding individuals," said the President. "The men and women we honor span the spectrum of achievement. Some are fighters; others are healers; all have left an enduring legacy of hope and courage and achievement."
July 9, 2002
Hank Aaron
Bill Cosby
Placido Domingo
Peter Drucker
Katherine Graham
D. A. Henderson
Irving Kristol
Nelson Mandela
Gordon Moore
Nancy Reagan
Fred Rogers
A. M. Rosenthal
July 23, 2003
Jacques Barzun
Julia Child
Roberto Clemente
Van Cliburn
Vaclav Havel
Charlton Heston
Edward Teller
Dave Thomas
Byron White
James Q. Wilson
John R. Wooden
November 12, 2003
Lord Robertson
December 2, 2003
Robert L. Bartley
June 4, 2004
Pope John Paul II
June 23, 2004
Arnold Palmer
Edward Brooke
Doris Day
Vartan Gregorian
Gilbert Grosvenor
Gordon B. Hinckley
Estee Lauder
Rita Moreno
Arnall Patz
Norman Podhoretz
Walter Wriston
December 14, 2004
L. Paul Bremer III
Tommy R. Franks
George J. Tenet
The Bush Administration “Dream Team”:
Highly Qualified, More Diverse Than Any Other Presidency
Bush has some of the most respected politicians and military leaders in the country
Many political pundits and analysts have stated that President George W. Bush has surrounded himself with an all-star team comprised of the most qualified and diverse people our government has ever seen. Unlike the previous administration, this President has surrounded himself with an honest, qualified and hard working staff needed to most effectively serve the American people. Also, our government is the most diverse in history, with the first ever African American to serve as Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and the first African American woman to serve as National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice.
We all should be aware of those individuals who will shape the history of our nation in this time of crisis. The hunting down of Osama bin Laden, the bombing of Afghanistan, and the downfall of the Taliban government is in the hands of our National Security “Dream Team” hand picked by President Bush. Their mission is to design a plan of attack that will achieve the specific goals of Operation Enduring Freedom. To attain a better understanding of those who hold our lives in their hands, we will look at four key members of the current Bush administration and analyze their role in shaping the outcome of this war on terrorism.
Vice-President Richard B. Cheney has one of the most distinguished careers in Washington. His career in public service began with the Nixon Administration in 1969 serving in a variety of positions at the Cost of Living Council, the Office of Economic Opportunity, and within the White House. When Gerald Ford assumed the presidency in 1974, Mr. Cheney served on the transition team and later as Deputy Assistant to the President and in 1975 was named as Ford’s Chief of Staff. After returning to his home state of Wyoming, Cheney served as the state’s lone congressman for six consecutive terms. He was elected Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee from 1981 to 1987. In 1987 he was elected Chairman of the House Republican Conference and Minority Whip in 1988. As Secretary of Defense from March 1989 to January 1993, Cheney coordinated two of the largest military campaigns since Vietnam : Operation Just Cause in Panama and Operation Desert Storm in the Middle East. For his leadership during the Gulf War, Secretary Cheney was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George Bush Sr. on July 3, 1991. He is considered the most highly qualified Vice-President in history and will be instrumental in advising the President on military actions that should be taken by the United States.
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice graduated from the University of Denver at age 19 with a bachelor’s degree in political science (cum laude). She earned her master’s at the University Of Notre Dame and a doctorate from the University of Denver’s Graduate School of International Studies. In 1986, Rice went to Washington D.C. to work on nuclear strategic planning at the Joint Chiefs of Staff as part of a Council on Foreign Relations fellowship. Returning to Washington in 1989 as director of Soviet and East European affairs with the National Security Council, she was also appointed special assistant to the president for national security affairs and senior director for Soviet affairs and aided in bringing democratic reforms to Poland while under President George Bush Sr. She played a vital role in the policy making with the former Soviet Union in the Bush Sr. White House. Now her knowledge and experience will be utilized once again by George W. Bush and the current administration to ensure that appropriate policy objectives are carried out against the terrorists in the Middle East.
Donald Rumsfeld is serving his second tenure as this nation’s Secretary of Defense. Under Gerald Ford, Rumsfeld became the 13th U.S. Secretary of Defense in 1975 and at the age of 43 he was the youngest to ever hold the position. He first went to Washington in 1957 during the Eisenhower administration as an Administrative Assistant to a Congressman. In 1962, Rumsfeld was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois and served four terms in that office. By the Nixon administration, Rumsfeld resigned his congressional position to serve as the Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity and as Counselor to the President from 1969 to 1972. In 1973, he left Washington for an ambassadorship to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Brussels, Belgium. When Ford assumed the office in 1974, he named Rumsfeld as his Chief of Staff and later as the Secretary of Defense. After working in the private sector and serving in a variety of public posts from 1977 to 2001, President George W. Bush offered him his second tenure as Secretary of Defense. Now it is the job of an older, wiser Donald Rumsfeld to make sure that our military is ready to fight for the abolition of the terrorist bin Laden and the destruction of the Taliban. He must aid in the designing of military operations and campaigns that will win the war on terrorism.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate and sworn in as the 65th Secretary of State on January 20, 2001. Born in New York to Jamaican immigrants, Powell was educated in New York City public schools and attended the City College of New York where he participated in ROTC. Upon graduation in 1958 he was commissioned as an Army second lieutenant. Secretary Powell was a professional soldier for 35 years, during which he served two tours of duty in Vietnam and a variety of command and staff positions. He rose to the rank of 4-star General and his last assignment was as the 12th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military position in the Department of Defense from October 1, 1989 to September 30, 1993. During this time he oversaw 28 crises, including Operation Desert Storm in the victorious 1991 Persian Gulf War. Prior to his current appointment, Powell was the chairman of America’s Promise – The Alliance for Youth, a national non-profit organization dedicated to mobilizing people from every sector of American life to build the character and competence of young people. Now, George W. Bush will use Secretary Powell to aid in creating alliances with foreign nations and gain support for America’s cause in our effort to fight the terrorist Osama bin Laden and his supporters.
This glimpse into the people that define this administration has hopefully provided you with confidence in the leadership of this nation. George W. Bush has shown us his greatness through his leadership during this trying time, his willingness to surround himself with people who have proven their abilities time and time again and his undying faith in the American people and the American way of life. He knows that we will be triumphant and that America’s ability to unite in these times is what makes the United States the greatest country that the world has ever known.
This article is comprised of information attained at the following web sites: www.whitehouse.gov for Dick Cheney, www.state.gov for Colin Powell, www.defenselink.mil for Donald Rumsfeld, and www-hoover.stanford.edu for Condoleezza Rice. Please visit these sites to obtain more information on those who lead this nation.
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Medal History
