Presidential Medal of Freedom

E4297

civilian award state decoration

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award in the United States, bestowed by the President to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the country, world peace, or cultural and other significant public or private endeavors.

Aliases (7)

Medal of Freedom ×7
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005) ×1
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2016) ×1
Presidential Medal of Freedom (posthumous, 1994) ×1
Presidential Medal of Freedom (recipient as spouse of Hillary Clinton, not as awardee) ×1
Presidential Medal of Freedom 2007 ×1
US Presidential Medal of Freedom ×1

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	civilian award → state decoration →
alsoKnownAs	Medal of Freedom →
awardedFor	especially meritorious contribution to cultural endeavors → especially meritorious contribution to other significant private endeavors → especially meritorious contribution to other significant public endeavors → especially meritorious contribution to the national interests of the United States → especially meritorious contribution to the security of the United States → especially meritorious contribution to world peace →
awardingAuthority	discretion of the President of the United States →
awardingBody	Executive Office of the President of the United States →
awardingFrequency	irregular, at the President’s discretion →
canBeAwardedMultipleTimes	true →
canBeAwardedPosthumously	true →
country	United States →
eligibility	civilians → military personnel → non‑citizens →
establishedBy	Executive Order 11085 → John F. Kennedy →
establishedOn	1963 →
firstAwarded	1963 →
hasGrades	with Distinction → without Distinction →
insigniaType	neck decoration →
isCivilianEquivalentOf	Congressional Gold Medal in terms of prestige →
isHighest	civilian award in the United States →
legalBasis	Executive Order 11085 of February 22, 1963 →
predecessor	Medal of Freedom (1945) →
presentedBy	President of the United States →
purpose	to recognize contributions to cultural endeavors → to recognize contributions to world peace → to recognize especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States → to recognize significant private endeavors → to recognize significant public endeavors →
rank	higher than Congressional Gold Medal in protocol of U.S. civilian awards →
relatedAward	Congressional Gold Medal → Presidential Citizens Medal →
replaced	Medal of Freedom (1945) →
ribbonColor	blue with white edge stripes →
scope	national and international contributions →
status	currently awarded →
typeOfDecoration	single‑grade decoration with optional degree of Distinction →
typicalRecipients	artists → athletes → civil rights leaders → humanitarians → political leaders → scientists →

Referenced by (260)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
A. Philip Randolph → Aaron Copland → Alan K. Simpson → Andrew S. Grove → Andy Griffith → Angela Merkel → Angela Merkel → Anthony S. Fauci → Antonin Scalia → Aretha Franklin → Arthur Laffer → Audrey Hepburn → Aung San Suu Kyi → B. B. King → Barbra Streisand → Barry Goldwater → Bayard Rustin → Ben Bradlee → Benjamin Hooks → Betty Ford → Bill Cosby → Bill Russell → Billie Jean King → Billie Jean King → Billy Graham → Bob Cousy → Bob Dole → Bob Dylan → Bob Dylan → Bob Hope → Brent Scowcroft → Brooke Astor → Buzz Aldrin → C. Everett Koop → Carol Burnett → Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison → Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison → Chuck Yeager → Clare Boothe Luce → Clark Kerr → Colin Powell → Count Basie → César Chávez → David Brinkley → David Rockefeller → Dean Acheson → Desmond Tutu → Diana Ross → Diane Nash → Dick Cheney → Donald Rumsfeld → Douglas Dillon → Edmund Muskie → Eldred Gregory Peck → Elie Wiesel → Eliezer Wiesel → Ella Fitzgerald → Ellen DeGeneres → Ellen Johnson Sirleaf → Erwin N. Griswold → Ethel Kennedy → Eudora Welty → Francis Collins → Frank Church → Frank Sinatra → Fred Haise → Fred Rogers → Fred Rogers → Friedrich Hayek → Gary Becker → Gaylord Nelson → George F. Kennan → George H. W. Bush → George Meany → Georgia O’Keeffe → Gordon E. Moore → Grace Hopper → Gregory Peck → Harold Brown → Harper Lee → Heinz Alfred Kissinger → Helen Keller → Helmut Kohl → Henry A. Kissinger → Henry Ford II → Henry Kissinger → Henry Luce → Howard Baker → Isaac Stern → Isabel Allende → Itzhak Perlman → J. Edgar Hoover → Jack Swigert → Jackie Robinson → Jacques-Yves Cousteau → James A. Michener → James Baker → James E. Webb → James Farmer → James H. Doolittle → James Q. Wilson → James R. Killian Jr. → James R. Schlesinger → James Stewart → James Watson → Jasper Johns → Jean Monnet → Jeane Kirkpatrick → Jeane Kirkpatrick ("Medal of Freedom") → Jesse Jackson → Jesse Owens → Jim Lovell → Jimmy Carter → Jimmy Carter → John Glenn → John J. McCloy → John Kenneth Galbraith → John Lewis → John Negroponte → John Paul Stevens → John Steinbeck → John von Neumann → Johnny Carson → Julia Child → Kirk Douglas → Lady Bird Johnson → Laurance Rockefeller → Lech Wałęsa → Lewis F. Powell Jr. → Lilly Ledbetter → Lorne Michaels → Lorne Michaels → Lucille Ball → Madeleine Albright → Margaret Mead → Margaret Mead → Marian Anderson → Mark O. Hatfield → Martin Luther King Jr. → Martin Luther King Jr. → Mary Robinson → Mary Therese Winifred Bourke → Maya Angelou → Maya Lin → Maya Lin ("Presidential Medal of Freedom (2016)") → Melinda French Gates → Meryl Streep → Michael Collins → Mildred Dresselhaus → Milton Friedman → Muhammad Ali ("Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005)") → Nancy Goodman Brinker → Natan Sharansky → Neil A. Armstrong → Nelson Mandela → Norman Mineta → Norman Rockwell → Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. → Omar Bradley → Orrin Hatch → Pat Summitt → Paul A. Volcker → Paul Nitze → Plácido Domingo → Rachel Carson → Ralph Abernathy → Ralph Bunche ("Medal of Freedom") → Ralph Bunche → Ralph Ellison → Richard Russell Jr. → Robert Byrd → Robert Kahn → Robert M. Gates → Roger Nash Baldwin ("Medal of Freedom") → Roger Penske → Rosa Parks → Rosalynn Carter → Roy Wilkins → Sally K. Ride → Sally Ride → Sandra Day O’Connor → Shimon Peres → Shimon Peres → Stephen Hawking → Stephen Sondheim → Stevie Wonder → Stevland Hardaway Judkins → Telford Taylor ("Medal of Freedom") → Tip O'Neill → Tom Brokaw → Tom Hanks → Tommy Franks → Toni Morrison → Vernon E. Jordan Jr. → Vin Scully → Vinton Cerf → Walt Disney → Walter Annenberg → Walter Reuther → Warren Buffett → Whitney Young → Willem de Kooning → William D. Ruckelshaus → William F. Buckley Jr. → William Felton Russell → William H. Foege → William H. Foege → William J. Brennan Jr. → William P. Rogers → Yitzhak Rabin ("US Presidential Medal of Freedom") → Yo-Yo Ma → Yo-Yo Ma → Yogi Berra →	awardReceived
Brooke Astor → Hank Aaron → Harper Lee ("Presidential Medal of Freedom 2007") → Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis ("Presidential Medal of Freedom (posthumous, 1994)") → Luis Muñoz Marín ("Medal of Freedom") → Stan Musial → Tip O'Neill → Willie Mays → Yogi Berra →	honor
César Chávez → Kareem Abdul-Jabbar → Lee Iacocca → Muhammad Ali → Thomas Stafford →	awarded
Andrew Young → Angela Dorothea Kasner → Bill Clinton ("Presidential Medal of Freedom (recipient as spouse of Hillary Clinton, not as awardee)") → Gerald Ford → John L. Lewis →	hasHonor
Bruce Springsteen → David Packard → Duke Ellington → Oprah Winfrey →	notableAward
Medal for Merit ("Medal of Freedom") → Medal for Merit → Medal of Freedom (1945) → Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction →	relatedAward
Medal for Merit → National Security Medal → Presidential Citizens Medal →	higherAward
Eunice Kennedy Shriver → Jean Kennedy Smith →	award received
Medal of Freedom (1945) → Presidential Unit Citation (United States) →	isDifferentFrom
Presidential Medal of Freedom ("Medal of Freedom") →	alsoKnownAs
The Boss →	associatedWithRecognition
Congressional Gold Medal →	distinctFrom
Executive Order 11085 →	establishedFrameworkFor
Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction →	higherRankThan
United States awards and decorations →	includes
Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction →	isHighestGradeOf
Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction →	partOf
J. Edgar Hoover →	posthumousAward
Billie Jean Moffitt →	receivedAward
Congressional Space Medal of Honor →	relatedTo
Medal of Freedom (1945) →	replacedBy
Executive Order 11085 →	subject