Obama reveals recipients of Medal of Honor

mcclatchy tribune

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama, attempting to spotlight those who have acted as “agents of change,” announced Thursday that he will bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor, on a cast of living and deceased figures widely known in politics, the arts and sciences, sports and social movements.

The 16 honorees include Harvey Milk, the San Francisco city supervisor who led an early movement for gay rights in public life and was assassinated. They also include the late Rep. Jack Kemp, R-N.Y., and the ailing Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.

The president’s choices, who will be honored at a White House ceremony Aug. 12, include American civil-rights activist the Rev. Joseph Lowery and South African freedom fighter Desmond Tutu. They include a pioneer in sports for women, tennis star Billie Jean King, and the first woman on the Supreme Court, retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. They include actor Sidney Poitier and singer Chita Rivera.

The White House said Thursday that this year’s honorees were “chosen for their work as agents of change. ... They have blazed trails and broken down barriers.”

In choosing them, Obama has made a calculated statement — just as his predecessor, former President George W. Bush, made statements with some of his selections for the Medal of Freedom, some of which stirred controversy.

Among the last honorees of the Bush White House: former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, two of Bush’s strongest allies in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.