Bush 41 Gets Medal of Freedom
USA Today reports:
President Barack Obama paid tribute to "the best of who we are and who we aspire to be" in awarding America's highest civilian honor Tuesday to 15 people, including former President George H.W. Bush, poet Maya Angelou, baseball slugger Stan Musial and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
At a White House ceremony attended by most of the honorees, Obama spoke of why each was receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which the White House said is "presented to individuals who 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.
Other recipients of the medal included Georgia congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis; Natural Resources Defense Council co-founder John Adams; German Chancellor Angela Merkel; investor Warren Buffett; artist Jasper Johns; Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein; humanitarian activist Tom Little, who was killed in Afghanistan; civil rights activist Sylvia Mendez; Boston Celtics NBA legend Bill Russell; nonprofit leader and former Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith; and AFL-CIO chief John Sweeney.
Obama blended humor with solemn platitudes in describing the accomplishments of the honorees.
Speaking of Angelou, he said her voice "has spoken to millions, including my mother, which is why my sister is named Maya."
Of Buffett, the billionaire philanthropist, Obama called him "so thrifty that I had to give him a White House tie the last time he came to visit."
Click here to read more.
