Hillary Clinton awarded Medal of Freedom

US President Joe Biden has awarded the nation’s highest civilian honour to 19 people, including actors, athletes and fashion leaders.

Hillary Clinton receives the Medal of Freedom from United States President Joe Biden at the White House. Picture: AFP

President Biden named 19 Medal of Freedom recipients Saturday, awarding the nation’s highest civilian honour to political luminaries such as former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and the late-civil rights pioneer Fannie Lou Hamer.

Also on the list were actors, athletes and fashion leaders such as editor Anna Wintour and designer Ralph Lauren.

Those chosen for the honour are people “who have made extraordinary contributions to their country and the world,” the White House said in a statement. The honour is usually an opportunity for the White House to herald people and values that the president sees as particularly significant.

Former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy – the father of Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who President-elect Trump has nominated to be his secretary of Health and Human Services – was posthumously awarded the medal. Philanthropist and Democratic donor George Soros also was among the recipients, as was world-renowned scientist and conservationist Jane Goodall.

Ethologist and conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall. Picture: AFP

Actor Denzel Washington greets US President Joe Biden. Picture: Getty

Actor Michael J. Fox receives the Medal of Freedom. Picture: AFP

Biden also chose U2 frontman Bono, actors Michael J. Fox and Denzel Washington, along with William Nye, better known as Bill Nye the Science Guy. Soccer superstar Lionel Messi and retired basketball player Earvin Magic Johnson also made the list, as did Spanish chef José Andrés, whose World Central Kitchen travels to conflict zones and areas hit by natural disasters to feed local communities.

Chef Jose Andres, left, and U2 singer Bono embrace after being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Picture: Getty

Other recipients include former Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, as well as George W. Romney, the former Michigan governor and father of Utah Sen. Mitt Romney. Both were awarded the medal posthumously, along with Hamer, a co-founder of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Hamer, who died in 1977, helped lay the groundwork for the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Tim Gill, an entrepreneur and LGBTQ activist, David Rubenstein, the co-founder and co-chairman of The Carlyle Group, and George Stevens Jr. – founder of the American Film Institute, and co-creator of the Kennedy Center Honors – were also awarded the medal.

The Wall Street Journal