NATIONAL
February 15, 2011 | By Julie Mianecki, Los Angeles Times
President Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Tuesday to former President George H.W. Bush and 14 others, including poet Maya Angelou, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, investor Warren Buffett and basketball legend Bill Russell. The medal is the nation's highest civilian honor and is awarded to individuals who have made significant contributions "to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.
NEWS
March 4, 2012 | By Ian Duncan
Reporting from Washington -- Israeli President Shimon Peres will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom this spring, President Obama announced at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington. "Shimon once described the story of the Jewish people by saying it proved that, 'slings, arrows and gas chambers can annihilate man, but cannot destroy human values, dignity and freedom,'" Obama said as he announced the award. "He has lived those values. He has taught us to ask more of ourselves and to empathize more with our fellow human beings.
NATIONAL
July 31, 2009 | Mark Silva
President Obama, attempting to spotlight those who have acted as "agents of change," announced Thursday that he would bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honor, on a cast of living and deceased figures widely known in politics, the arts and sciences, sports and social movements. The 16 honorees named by the White House include Harvey Milk, the San Francisco supervisor who led an early movement for gay rights in public life and was assassinated.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
May 2, 1985
Ernest B. Furgurson (Editorial Pages, April 16) notes that Presidential Medal of Freedom winner Sidney Hook's views on affirmative action are consonant with those of President Reagan and many of his appointees. In all fairness to both Reagan and Hook, however, Furgurson might also have observed that Reagan's and Hook's anti-quota attitudes mirror those of the vast majority of Americans, according to public opinion surveys made during the past 15 years. More important, however, Furgurson should have pointed out that Hook's public, articulated opposition to race and sex quotas was not always appreciated by powerful and influential people--quite the contrary.
NEWS
November 10, 2011 | By Colby Itkowitz, The Morning Call
The shock waves from the explosive scandal at Penn State are reaching Washington. Pennsylvania Sens. Pat Toomey and Bob Casey will rescind their Medal of Freedom nomination for former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno in the wake of the child abuse scandal involving his former assistant coach, the senators said Thursday. Paterno was fired Wednesday evening by the school's board of trustees, ending his 46-year-tenure as head coach. The award is considered the highest honor a civilian can receive.