U.S.

The Medal Of Freedom

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

August 9, 2000 / 1:11 PM EDT / CBS

President Clinton bestowed that nation's highest civilian honor on the Rev. Jesse Jackson, former presidential nominee George McGovern, retiring New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Holocaust survivor Simon Wiensenthal, and 11 others in a White House ceremony Wednesday.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom was established by President Kennedy in 1963. It honors "those persons whom (the President) deems to have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."

Clinton praised Jackson for his "powerful voice in the struggle for civil rights, economic opportunity, and social justice." Jackson, a long-time civil rights advocate, is the founder and president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and the Wall Street Project.

Clinton called Moynihan, the man his wife Hillary hopes to succeed in the Senate, "a subtle, sophisticated wit -- and a tough, blunt critic of social injustice."

Clinton noted Moynihan has served four presidents, including John F. Kennedy. In fact, Moynihan helped Kennedy create the freedom medal.

McGovern, a former war hero, senator, and Democratic presidential nominee, was honored for his being "one of the greatest humanitarians of our time, and the world will benefit from his legacy for generations to come." McGovern is the representative to the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization.

A survivor of World War II concentration camps, Wiesenthal was honored for "devoting his life to bringing perpetrators of Nazi atrocities to justice."

Clinton also honored Jim Burke, CEO of Johnson & Johnson for his work as chairman of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America; retired General Wesley Clark, who led NATO's Kosovo campaign; Retired Adm. William J. Crowe, Jr., former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children's Defense Fund; John Kenneth Gailbraith, a renowned economist;
Monsignor George Higgins, for strengthening the labor movement and protecting workers from exploitation; Mildred McWilliams Jeffery, the first director of the women's department of the United Auto Workers, a founding member of the National Women's Political Caucus, and an advisor to Presidents Kennedy and Carter; Mathilde Krim, PhD., founder of the American Foundation for AIDS Research; Cruz Reynoso, for his work on behalf of immigrant rights; and Gardner Calvin Taylor, a civil rights pioneer and longtime pastor of Brooklyn's Concord Baptist Church.

The late Senator John Chafee of Rhode Island also was honored for efforts to conserve the environment and help the disabled -- and for setting a tone of civility in the Senate.

Citizens of other nations may receive the Medal, and honorees may receive it posthumously. Recipients are awarded a medal and a citation signed by the president.