Washington — President Biden is presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom Thursday to 17 Americans, including Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, actor Denzel Washington and soccer star Megan Rapinoe. The late Sen. John McCain and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs are among those receiving the award posthumously.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the country’s highest civilian honor, intended for people who have made notable contributions to the U.S., world peace or “significant societal, public or private endeavors.”
“President Biden has long said that America can be defined by one word: possibilities,” the White House said in announcing the awards. “These seventeen Americans demonstrate the power of possibilities and embody the soul of the nation — hard work, perseverance, and faith. They have overcome significant obstacles to achieve impressive accomplishments in the arts and sciences, dedicated their lives to advocating for the most vulnerable among us, and acted with bravery to drive change in their communities — and across the world — while blazing trails for generations to come.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will also attend Thursday’s ceremony.
President John F. Kennedy established the award in the 1960s. Mr. Biden received the award himself from former President Barack Obama in 2017.
Here are Thursday’s recipients:
Simone Biles
One of the most accomplished gymnasts of all time, Biles has advocated for the mental health and safety of athletes, as well as victims of sexual abuse. She testified on Capitol Hill last year about Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics doctors convicted of sexually assaulting hundreds of women and girls.
Sister Simone Campbell
A member of the Sisters of Social Service, Campbell advocates for immigration reform and economic justice.
Julieta García
García is the former president of The University of Texas at Brownsville.
Gabrielle Giffords
Giffords is a former member of Congress who survived an assassination attempt in 2011, and has since dedicated her life to gun violence prevention.
Fred Gray
Gray is a civil rights attorney who represented Rosa Parks, the NAACP and Martin Luther King Jr.
Steve Jobs
Jobs, who revolutionized global communication and computing as a co-founder of Apple, died in 2011.
Father Alexander Karloutsos
Karloutsos was formerly the Vicar General of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and has advised multiple U.S. presidents.
Khizr Khan
Khan is the Gold Star father who criticized Trump in a speech at the 2016 Democratic convention.
Sandra Lindsay
Lindsay is a New York nurse who served on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
John McCain
A naval aviator, McCain was held as a prisoner of war for years in Vietnam, and went on to serve as a congressman and senator for decades. He was the Republican Party’s presidential nominee in 2008, and died in 2018.
Diane Nash
Nash organized key civil rights campaigns during segregation.
Megan Rapinoe
Rapinoe, an Olympic gold medalist and World Cup champion as a member of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, has advocated for gender pay equality and LBGTQ+ rights.
Alan Simpson
Simpson was a U.S. senator from Wyoming for 18 years.
Richard Trumka
Trumka led the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor coalition, for more than a decade before he died last year.
Wilma Vaught
Brigadier General Wilma Vaught broke barriers for women in the military, and was one of only seven female generals across the Armed Forces when she retired in 1985, according to the White House.
Denzel Washington
An Oscar-winning actor, Washington has played advocated for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America for more than a quarter of a century.
Raúl Yzaguirre
A civil rights advocate, Yzaguirre was the U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic under former President Barack Obama.
