Jan. 4 (UPI) — Controversial Open Society Foundations founder George Soros and 18 others are recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, including politicians, scientists, entertainers, athletes and humanitarians, President Joe Biden announced Saturday.
“Great leaders keep the faith, give everyone a fair shot and put decency above all else,” White House officials said Saturday in an online announcement.
“These 19 individuals are great leaders who have made America and the world a better place,” the announcement continues. “They are great leaders because they are good people who have made extraordinary contributions to their country and the world.”
Soros is an “investor, philanthropist and founder of the Open Society Foundations,” White House officials said. “Through his network of foundations, partners and projects in more than 120 countries, Soros has focused on global initiatives that strengthen democracy, human rights, education and social justice.”
Also named recipients of the Medal of Freedom are politicians and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and former Michigan Gov. George W. Romney.
Kennedy and Romney are among four posthumous recipients.
Fannie Lou Hamer, who founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, and former Secretary of Defense Ashton Baldwin Carter also are posthumous recipients of the Medal of Freedom.
World Central Kitchen founder chef José Andrés, ethologist and conservationist Jane Goodall and The Carlyle Group founder David Rubenstein also will receive medal Saturday.
Renowned “Science Guy” and engineer Bill Nye, fashion designer Ralph Lauren, Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour and entrepreneur Tim Gill also are among recipients.
So are U2 singer Bono, actors Michael J. Fox and Denzel Washington and American Film Institute founder George Stevens Jr., who also created the Kennedy Center Honors.
Current and former athletes Lionel Messi and Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who also founded the philanthropic Magic Johnson Foundation, can add the Medal of Freedom to their respective trophy cases.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the United States’ highest civilian honor and is presented to individuals “who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values or security of the United States, world peace or other significant, public or private endeavors,” the White House announcement says.
The Medals of Freedom will be presented to recipients during a formal ceremony at the White House on Saturday.
