Medal Of Freedom

WASHINGTON -- President Bush selected 12 leaders in arts, sports, entertainment, politics and newspaper journalism--from Nancy Reagan to Mister Rogers--for the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom. The medal recipients, announced Thursday at the White House, will claim the nation's highest civilian honor at a White House ceremony with the president next month. Bush is awarding one medal posthumously, to former Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, who died last year at 84.

With barely five months remaining in his presidency, President Clinton presented the Medal of Freedom on Wednesday to 15 Americans, honoring among others heroes of the Democratic Party's most liberal factions with whom he often has been at odds. The honorees included former Sen. George S. McGovern, the South Dakota Democrat whose campaign for the presidency, fueled by sentiment against the Vietnam War, was swamped by Richard Nixon in 1972. The Rev.

Sister M. Isolina Ferre, 85, a U.S. Medal of Freedom winner known as the Mother Teresa of Puerto Rico for her work among the poor on that island and the U.S. mainland. Ferre was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in 1914, the youngest daughter of one of Puerto Rico's wealthiest families. The Ferre family owned two of the island's leading newspapers and her brother, former Gov. Luis A. Ferre, founded the ruling New Progressive Party and Ponce Art Museum.

President Clinton said Thursday that he will bestow the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, next week on 15 distinguished Americans, including three senators, an economist, a general, an admiral and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Clinton announced that he will recognize the individuals at a White House ceremony Wednesday. Established by President Truman as a wartime honor, the medal was reintroduced by President Kennedy as way to honor civilian service.

President Clinton bestowed the nation's highest civilian award on former President Ford at the White House and praised him for ending the "long national nightmare" of Watergate. Ford and seven others received the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a ceremony that recognized the former president for steadying the nation when he took power 25 years ago this week after President Nixon resigned at the height of the Watergate scandal. Ford pardoned Nixon for any Watergate-related crimes.

A society matron and a civil rights pioneer who led lunch-counter protests were honored by President Clinton with the nation's highest civilian award Thursday. Millionaire philanthropist Brooke Astor and activist James Farmer were among a number of Americans awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a ceremony in the White House East Room. The presentation of medals occurred on the 69th anniversary of the birth of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

In a gesture of his determination to put the partisan wars of the last four years behind him, President Clinton bestowed the nation's highest civilian honor on erstwhile political nemesis and presidential rival Bob Dole. But no sooner did Clinton drape the Presidential Medal of Freedom around Dole's neck than the flinty Kansas Republican infused the solemn White House ceremony with his trademark irreverence.

President Clinton plans to present Bob Dole with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award. A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Clinton plans to award the medal to Dole on Friday during an event to unveil the winning design for a World War II battle monument. During the presidential campaign, Clinton spoke highly of Dole, honoring his record in World War II and his 35 years of service in the Senate.

President Clinton honored civil rights heroine Rosa Parks for "one modest act of defiance that changed the course of history," awarding her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in an Oval Office ceremony. Parks was not able to attend earlier ceremonies in which 10 other distinguished Americans also were recognized and thus got her medal, the nation's highest civilian award, solo.