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5 unusual facts about Presidential Medal of Freedom


Eric Hoffer

He was the author of ten books and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February 1983.

George Meany

President John F. Kennedy established the Presidential Medal of Freedom (not to be confused with the World War II era Medal of Freedom) on February 22, 1963.

Qiu Qingquan

General Qiu Qinguan married twice and had two sons, his family now lives in Taiwan, throughout his career, he decorated with the Order of Blue Sky and White Sun, the Order of the Cloud and Banner, the Order of the Precious Tripod and Presidential Medal of Freedom from the Americans.

Roderick Stephens

He received the Medal of Freedom, the United States's highest civilian award, for his contributions during World War II in his design and engineering of the DUKW ("duck") military amphibious vehicle.

The Payne Family Native American Center

Joseph Medicine Crow wore his Presidential Medal of Freedom as he tapped the building with a coup stick; a common practice that warriors used when a new lodge or teepee was raised.


Dambisa Moyo

In 2013, Moyo was awarded the Hayek Lifetime Achievement Award, named for the Nobel Prize winner and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Friedrich Hayek.

Elma Lewis

She was also given a Presidential Medal for the Arts by President Ronald Reagan in 1983.

Gero von Schulze-Gaevernitz

He became a crucial assistant of Allen Dulles in Europe and was awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1945 for his skillful negotiations in Ascona, Switzerland, for the surrender of a million Nazi forces in World War II, with specific reference to Italy (Operation Sunrise).

Mendez v. Westminster

On February 15, 2011, President Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Sylvia Mendez, the daughter of Gonzalo Mendez who was the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.

Ralph Ellison

In 1969 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom; the following year, he was made a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France and became a permanent member of the faculty at New York University as the Albert Schweitzer Professor of Humanities, serving from 1970 to 1980.

Ruth Johnson Colvin

She was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush on December 15, 2006, in the East Room of the White House.

Tex Thornton

Thornton was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan in October, 1981, one month before he died in November.

The Walt Disney Family Museum

The lobby displays 248 awards that Disney won during his career, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and many Academy Awards--including the honorary award for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which consists of one full-sized Oscar alongside seven miniature ones.


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