Hillary Clinton, Soros, WCK’s Andres to be awarded US Presidential Medal of Freedom

Biden also to confer highest civilian honor on Denzel Washington, Lionel Messi, Michael J. Fox, Ralph Lauren, Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson, David Rubenstein, Bono

Former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative, on Sept. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative, on Sept. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

WASHINGTON — Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Democratic philanthropist George Soros and actor-director Denzel Washington will be awarded the United States’ highest civilian honor on Saturday in a White House ceremony.

US President Joe Biden will bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 of the most famous names in politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights, LGBTQ+ advocacy and science.

The White House said the recipients have made “exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.”

Four medals are to be awarded posthumously. They are going to Fannie Lou Hamer, who founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and laid the groundwork for the 1965 Voting Rights Act; former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; George W. Romney, who served as both a Michigan governor and secretary of housing and urban development; and Ash Carter, the former secretary of defense.

Kennedy is father to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for health and human services secretary. Romney is the father of former Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, one of Trump’s strongest conservative critics.

Major philanthropists receiving the award include Spanish-American chef Jose Andres, whose World Central Kitchen charity has become one of the world’s most recognized food relief organizations, and Bono, the frontman for rock band U2 and a social justice activist.

Chef Jose Andres, founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, speaks during the World Central Kitchen’s memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Andres’s WCK organization has contributed to humanitarian efforts in Israel and Gaza since war broke out in the wake of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught.

Sports and entertainment stars being recognized include professional soccer player Lionel Messi; retired Los Angeles Lakers basketball legend and businessman Earvin “Magic” Johnson; actor Michael J. Fox, who is an outspoken advocate for Parkinson’s disease research and development; and William Sanford Nye, known to generations of students as “Bill Nye the Science Guy.”

Hungarian-born US investor and philanthropist George Soros answers questions after delivering a speech on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on May 24, 2022. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP)

Other awardees include conservationist Jane Goodall; longtime Vogue Magazine editor-in-chief Anna Wintour; American fashion designer Ralph Lauren; American Film Institute founder George Stevens Jr.; entrepreneur and LGBTQ+ activist Tim Gill; and David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group global investment firm.

Last year, Biden bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 19 people, including the late Medgar Evers, House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina and actor Michelle Yeoh.

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