The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with the comparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States. It recognizes those individuals who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors". The award is not limited to U.S. citizens and, while it is a civilian award, it can also be awarded to military personnel and worn on the uniform.

List of Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients

Arts

Architecture

• Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
• Buckminster Fuller
• Frank Gehry (2016)
• I.M. Pei

Art

• Andrew Wyeth
• Willem de Kooning
• Alexander Calder
• Georgia O'Keeffe
• Norman Rockwell
• Roger L. Stevens
• Jasper Johns

Dance

• Martha Graham
• Lucia Chase
• George Balanchine
• Lincoln Kirstein
• Chita Rivera

Film

• Lucille Ball
• James Cagney
• Doris Day
• Robert De Niro (2016)
• Walt Disney
• Kirk Douglas (1981)
• Lynn Fontanne
• John Ford
• Samuel Goldwyn
• Tom Hanks (2016)
• Helen Hayes
• Audrey Hepburn
• Charlton Heston
• Bob Hope
• Danny Kaye
• Alfred Lunt
• Rita Moreno
• Gregory Peck
• Sidney Poitier
• Martha Raye
• Robert Redford (2016)
• James Stewart
• Lew Wasserman
• John Wayne

Literature

• Harper Lee
• Maya Angelou
• Jacques Barzun
• James Burnham
• J. Frank Dobie
• T. S. Eliot
• Ralph Ellison
• Eric Hoffer
• Louis L'Amour
• Harper Lee
• Archibald MacLeish
• James A. Michener
• Carl Sandburg
• John Steinbeck
• DeWitt Wallace
• Robert Penn Warren
• Eudora Welty
• E.B. White
• Elie Wiesel
• Thornton Wilder
• Tennessee Williams
• Edmund Wilson
• Albert Wohlstetter

Music

• Frank Sinatra
• Marian Anderson
• Pearl Bailey
• Count Basie
• Irving Berlin
• James "Eubie" Blake
• Pablo Casals
• Van Cliburn
• Aaron Copland
• Plácido Domingo
• Duke Ellington
• Arthur Fiedler
• Ella Fitzgerald
• Ernest Jennings "Tennessee Ernie" Ford
• Aretha Franklin
• Vladimir Horowitz
• B. B. King
• Yo-Yo Ma
• Mabel Mercer
• Eugene Ormandy
• Leontyne Price
• Diana Ross (2016)
• Mstislav Rostropovich
• Arthur Rubinstein
• Rudolf Serkin
• Beverly Sills
• Frank Sinatra
• Kate Smith
• Bruce Springsteen (2016)
• Isaac Stern
• Meredith Willson

Photography

• Edwin H. Land
• Edward Steichen
• Ansel Adams

Business and economics

• Alan Greenspan,
• Iorwith Wilbur Abel
• Walter Annenberg
• Gary Becker
• Edgar Bronfman, Sr.
• Irving Brown
• Warren Buffett
• James E. Burke
• Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr.
• Peter Drucker
• David Dubinsky
• Henry Ford II
• Milton Friedman
• John Kenneth Galbraith
• Bryce Harlow
• Friedrich von Hayek
• Paul G. Hoffman
• Edgar Kaiser
• Frederick Kappel
• Lane Kirkland
• Estée Lauder
• John L. Lewis
• J. Willard Marriott
• David Packard
• Clarence B. Randall
• Walter Reuther
• David Rockefeller
• Laurance Rockefeller 1969
• James Rouse
• John J. Sweeney
• Dave Thomas
• Tex Thornton
• Juan Trippe
• Sam Walton
• An Wang
• Thomas Watson, Jr.
• Justin Whitlock Dart
• Walter B. Wriston
• Muhammad Yunus

Computing

• Dr. Gordon Moore
• Dr. Vinton Cerf
• Dr. Robert Kahn

Education

• Detlev Bronk
• Genevieve Caulfield
• Dr. James E. Cheek
• Ruth Johnson Colvin
• Dr. James Bryant Conant
• Norman Francis
• Hanna Holborn Gray
• Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C.
• Jerome H. Holland
• Karl Holton
• Margaret McNamara
• Alexander Meiklejohn
• Antonia Pantoja
• Frederick Patterson
• George W. Taylor (professor)

History

• Bruce Catton 1977
• Robert Conquest 2005
• Ariel Durant 1977
• Will Durant 1977
• John Hope Franklin 1995
• Vartan Gregorian 2004
• Dumas Malone 1983
• David McCullough 2006
• Samuel Eliot Morison 1964
• Roberta Wohlstetter 1985

Humanitarian

• Norman Borlaug 1977
• Nancy Goodman Brinker 2009
• Millard Fuller 1996
• John W. Gardner 1964
• Frances Hesselbein 1998
• Gerda Weissmann Klein 2011
• Paul Rusesabagina 2005
• Eunice Kennedy Shriver March 26, 1984
• Leon Sullivan 1991
• Annie D. Wauneka December 6, 1963

Media

Journalism

• Robert L. Bartley 2004
• Earl Charles Behrens 1970
• Herbert L. Block 1994
• William F. Buckley, Jr. 1991
• Walter Cronkite 1981 and 1965
• Edward T. Folliard 1970
• Katharine Graham 2002 Posthumous award
• William M. Henry 1970
• John H. Johnson 1996
• Paul Johnson 2006
• Arthur Krock 1970
• David Lawrence 1970
• George Gould Lincoln 1970
• Walter Lippmann 1964
• Ralph McGill 1964
• Raymond Moley 1970
• Edward R. Murrow 1964 Awarded with Distinction
• Frank Reynolds 1985 Posthumous award
• Abe Rosenthal 2002
• Vermont C. Royster 1986
• William Safire 2006
• Albert Merriman Smith 1967
• Adela Rogers St. Johns 1970
• Lila Bell Wallace 1972
• Mark S. Watson 1963
• William S. White 1969

Radio

• Lowell Thomas 1977
• Paul Harvey 2005

Television

• Lucille Ball 1989 Posthumous award
• David Brinkley 1992
• Carol Burnett 2005
• Johnny Carson 1992
• Peggy Charren 1995
• Joan Ganz Cooney 1995
• Bill Cosby 2002
• Andy Griffith 2005
• Brian P. Lamb 2007
• Lorne Michaels (2016)
• Fred Rogers 2002

Medicine

• Benjamin Carson (2008)
• Dr. Denton Cooley (March 26, 1984)
• Michael DeBakey (1969)
• Lena Frances Edwards (1964)
• John F. Enders (1963)
• Anthony Fauci (2008)
• Pedro José Greer, Jr. (2009)
• David Hamburg (1996)
• Donald Henderson (2002)
• Surgeon General C. Everett Koop (1995)
• Tom Little (2011, Posthumous)
• Charles LeRoy Lowman (1974)
• Karl Menninger (1981)
• Arnall Patz (2004)
• Janet Davison Rowley (2009)
• Albert Sabin (1986)
• Jonas Salk (1977)
• Helen B. Taussig (1964)
• William B. Walsh (1987)
• Paul Dudley White (1964)

Philanthropy

• J. Clifford MacDonald (1963)
• Lowell Thomas (January 10, 1977)
• Catherine Filene Shouse (1977)
• Morris I. Leibman (1981)
• Brooke Astor (1998)
• Zachary Fisher (1998)
• Eugene Lang (1996)

Philosophy

• Will Durant (January 10, 1977)
• Sidney Hook (1985)
• Friedrich Hayek (1991)

Politics and government

Activism

• Arnold Aronson (1998)
• Roger Nash Baldwin (1981)
• Oscar Elias Biscet (2007)
• César Chávez (1994, posthumously)
• Justin Whitlock Dart, Jr. (1998)
• Evelyn Dubrow (1999)
• Marian Wright Edelman (August 9, 2000)
• James L. Farmer, Jr. (1998)
• Dr. Hector Garcia (March 26, 1984)
• Dorothy Height (1994)
• George G. Higgins (2000)
• Benjamin Hooks (2007)
• Rev. Jesse Jackson (2000)
• Millie Jeffrey (2000)
• Helen Keller (1964)
• Martin Luther King, Jr. (1977, posthumously)
• Fred Korematsu (1998)
• Mary Lasker (1969)
• Rev. Joseph Lowery (2009)
• Sylvia Mendez (2011)[4]
• Harvey Milk (2009, posthumously)
• Clarence M. Mitchell (1980)
• Mario G. Obledo (1998)
• Rosa Parks (1996)
• Esther Peterson (1981)
• Ginetta Sagan (1996)
• Natan Sharansky (2006)
• William C. Velasquez (1995, posthumously)
• Lech Wałęsa (1989)
• Roy Wilkins (1967)
• Andrew Young (1981)

Diplomacy

• Anne L. Armstrong (1987)
• Manlio Brosio (1971)
• David K. E. Bruce (1976) – Awarded With Distinction
• Dr. Ralph J. Bunche (December 6, 1963) – Awarded With Distinction[41]
• Ellsworth Bunker (Twice; December 6, 1963[42] and 1967) – Awarded With Distinction (both awards)
• Ryan Crocker, 2009
• Anne L. Armstrong (1987)
• Manlio Brosio (1971)
• David K. E. Bruce (1976) – Awarded With Distinction
• Dr. Ralph J. Bunche (December 6, 1963) – Awarded With Distinction
• Ellsworth Bunker (Twice; December 6, 1963[36] and 1967) – Awarded With Distinction (both awards)
• Ryan Crocker (2009)
• Andrew Goodpaster (1984)
• Philip Habib (1982)
• George F. Kennan (1989)
• Jeane Kirkpatrick (1985)
• Sol M. Linowitz (1998)
• Harry W. Shlaudeman (1992)
• Gerard C. Smith (1981)
• Jean Kennedy Smith (2011)
• Robert Schwarz Strauss (1981)

Environmentalism

• John H. Adams (2011)
• Horace M. Albright (1980)
• Rachel Carson (1980, posthumously)
• Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1993)
• Gilbert Melville Grosvenor (2004)
• Margaret Murie (1998)
• Roger Tory Peterson (1980)
• Russell E. Train (1991)
• Edgar Wayburn (1999)

Espionage / Service to Country

• Whittaker Chambers (March 26, 1984)
• Jean MacArthur (1988)
• George Tenet (2004)

Foreign heads of state or government

• Tony Blair, 2009
• Margaret Thatcher, 1991
• Don Luis A. Ferré (1991)
• Václav Havel (2003)
• John Howard (2009)
• Helmut Kohl (1999)
• Joseph Luns (1984)
• Nelson Mandela (2002)
• Wilma Mankiller (January 15, 1998)
• Luis Muñoz Marín (1963) – Awarded With Distinction
• Angela Merkel (2011)
• Mary Robinson (2009)
• Carlos P. Romulo (1984)
• President Anwar el-Sadat (March 26, 1984, posthumously)
• Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (2007)
• Margaret Thatcher (1991)
• Álvaro Uribe (2009)

Law

• Henry J. Friendly (1977)
• A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. (1995)
• Oliver White Hill (1999)
• Frank Minis Johnson (1995)
• Irving Robert Kaufman (1987)
• Joseph Warren Madden (1947)
• Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. (1993, posthumously)
• Cruz Reynoso (2000)
• Laurence Silberman (2008)
• Elbert Tuttle (1981)
• John Minor Wisdom (1993)

Military

• Richard Myers, 2005
• General of the Army Omar Bradley (1977)
• Admiral Arleigh Burke (1977)
• General Wesley Clark (2000)
• War Chief Joe Medicine Crow (2009)
• Admiral William J. Crowe (2000)
• Lieutenant General Jimmy Doolittle (1989)
• General Tommy Franks (2004)
• General Lyman Lemnitzer (1987)
• General Richard B. Myers (2005)
• Jan Nowak-Jeziorański (1996)
• General Peter Pace (2008)
• General Matthew B. Ridgeway (1986)
• Captain Joseph Rochefort (1986, posthumously)
• General H. Norman Schwarzkopf (1991)
• General John Shalikashvili (1997)
• John Paul Vann (1972)
• General John W. Vessey (1992)
• James E. Webb (1969)
• General Albert Coady Wedemeyer (1985)
• Major General Chuck Yeager (1985)
• Admiral Elmo Zumwalt (1998)

Supreme Court Justices

• Associate Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. (1993)
• Chief Justice Warren E. Burger (1988)
• Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter (December 6, 1963) – Awarded With Distinction
• Associate Justice Arthur J. Goldberg (1978)
• Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall (1993)
• Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (August 12, 2009)
• Chief Justice Earl Warren (1981, posthumously)
• Associate Justice Byron White (2003, posthumously)

U.S. Cabinet members

• Donald Rumsfeld, displaying 1977 Medal (awarded With Distinction)
• Dean Acheson (1964) – Awarded With Distinction
• James Baker (1991)
• Malcolm Baldrige, Jr. (1988, posthumously)
• Harold Brown (1981)
• Zbigniew Brzezinski (1981)
• Dick Cheney, as Secretary of Defense (July 3, 1991)[49]
• Warren Christopher (1981)
• Clark Clifford (1969) – Awarded With Distinction
• William T. Coleman, Jr. (1995)
• C. Douglas Dillon (1989)
• Robert Gates (2011)
• Averell Harriman (1969) – Awarded With Distinction
• Henry Kissinger (1977)
• Melvin Laird (1974)
• Robert A. Lovett (1963) – Awarded With Distinction
• Robert S. McNamara (1968)
• Norman Mineta (2006)
• William Perry (1997)
• Colin Powell (1991 and 1993)
• Elliot Richardson (1998)
• William P. Rogers (1973)
• Donald Rumsfeld (1977) – Awarded With Distinction
• Dean Rusk (1969) – Awarded With Distinction
• Donna Shalala (2008)
• George P. Shultz (1989)
• Cyrus Vance (1969)
• Caspar Weinberger (1987) – Awarded With Distinction

U.S. First Ladies

• Lady Bird Johnson (January 10, 1977)
• Betty Ford (November 18, 1991)
• Rosalynn Carter (August 9, 1999)
• Nancy Reagan (July 9, 2002)

U.S. members of Congress

• Senator Edward Brooke, 2004
• Senator Strom Thurmond, 1993
• Senator Howard H. Baker, Jr. (March 26, 1984)
• Senator Lloyd M. Bentsen (1999)
• Senator Edward W. Brooke (2004)
• Senator John H. Chafee (2000, posthumously)
• Senator Bob Dole (1997)
• Representative Dante B. Fascell (1998)
• Senator William Fulbright (1993)
• Senator Barry Goldwater (1986)
• Representative Henry Hyde (2007)
• Senator Henry M. Jackson (1984, posthumously)
• Senator Jacob K. Javits (1983)
• Representative Barbara Jordan (1994)
• Representative Walter Judd (1981)
• Representative Jack Kemp (2009, posthumously)
• Senator Edward Kennedy (2009)
• Representative Tom Lantos (2008)
• Representative John Lewis (2011)
• Representative Clare Boothe Luce (1983)
• Senator Mike Mansfield (1989)
• Senator George McGovern (2000)
• Representative Robert H. Michel (1994)
• Senator George J. Mitchell (1999)
• Representative G. V. (Sonny) Montgomery (2005)
• Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (2000)
• Senator Ed Muskie (1981)
• Senator Gaylord Nelson (1995)
• Representative Tip O'Neill (1991)
• Representative Claude Pepper (1989)
• Senator Margaret Chase Smith (1989)
• Senator Strom Thurmond (1993)
• Representative Mo Udall (1996)
• Representative Carl Vinson (1964) – Awarded With Distinction

U.S. Presidents

• President Ronald Reagan, January 13, 1993
• John F. Kennedy (December 6, 1963) 35th President - Posthumous award
• Lyndon B. Johnson (June 9, 1980) 36th President - Posthumous award
• Ronald Reagan (January 13, 1993) 40th President – Awarded With Distinction
• Gerald Ford (August 9, 1999) 38th President
• Jimmy Carter (August 9, 1999) 39th President
• George H. W. Bush (February 15, 2011) 41st President

U.S. Vice Presidents

• Nelson A. Rockefeller (January 10, 1977) 41st Vice President
• Hubert H. Humphrey (June 9, 1980) 38th Vice President, Posthumous
• Dick Cheney (July 3, 1991) Awarded for service as Secretary of Defense, subsequently served as 46th Vice President of the United States

Other political figures

• Eugene R. Black, Sr. (1969)
• James Brady (1996)
• Paul Bremer (2004)
• McGeorge Bundy (1969)
• Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington (1988)
• Leo Cherne (1984)
• Javier Perez de Cuellar (1991)
• Arthur Flemming (1994)
• Paul Drabinski (1993)
• James P. Grant (1994)
• Ella T. Grasso (1981, posthumously)
• William J. Hopkins (1971)
• Max Kampelman (1999)
• Robert W. Komer (1967)
• Irving Kristol (2002)
• Aung San Suu Kyi (2000)
• Governor Herbert H. Lehman (December 6, 1963, Lehman died the day before the ceremony, the medal was presented to his widow on January 28, 1964)
• Eugene M. Locke (1967)
• John Macy (1969)
• John J. McCloy (December 6, 1963) – Awarded With Distinction
• John McCone (1987)
• George Meany (December 6, 1963)[60]
• Jean Monnet (December 6, 1963) – Awarded With Distinction
• Paul Nitze (1985)
• Norman Podhoretz (2004)
• George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen (2003)
• Walt Rostow (1969)
• Brent Scowcroft (1991)
• Albert Shanker (1998, posthumously)
• Sargent Shriver (1994)
• Vernon Walters (1991)
• William Webster (1991)
• Simon Wiesenthal (2000)
• Whitney Young (1969)

Religion

• Cardinal Joseph Bernardin (1996)
• Cardinal Terence Cooke (1984, posthumously)
• Sister M. Isolina Ferré (August 11, 1999)
• Dr. Billy Graham (1983)
• Gordon B. Hinckley (June 23, 2004)
• Archbishop Iakovos of America (1980)
• Reinhold Niebuhr (1964)
• Pope John XXIII (December 6, 1963, posthumously)
• Pope John Paul II (June 4, 2004)
• Dr. Norman Vincent Peale (March 26, 1984)
• Reverend Gardner C. Taylor (August 9, 2000)
• Mother Teresa (1985)
• Archbishop Desmond Tutu (August 12, 2009)

Science

• Stephen Hawking, 2009
• John Bardeen (1977)
• Rachel Carson (1980, posthumously)
• Francis Collins (2007)
• Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1985)
• Clarence Johnson (1964)
• Mathilde Krim (2000)
• Joshua Lederberg (2006)
• George Low (1985, posthumously)
• Margaret Mead (1979, posthumously)
• Lewis Mumford (1964)
• Simon Ramo (1983)
• Edward Teller (2003)
• Alan Tower Waterman (1963)
• James D. Watson (1977)

Sociology

• Robert Coles (1998)
• James Q. Wilson (2003)

Space exploration

• The Apollo 13 astronauts are awarded the medal by President Richard Nixon in 1970.
• Apollo 11 Astronauts
• Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin (1969) – Awarded With Distinction
• Neil Armstrong (1969) – Awarded With Distinction
• Michael Collins (1969) – Awarded With Distinction
• Apollo 13 Astronauts
• Fred Haise (1970)
• Jim Lovell (1970)
• Jack Swigert (1970)
• George Abbey (1970)
• Gerald D. Griffin (1970)
• Gene Kranz (1970)
• Glynn Lunney (1970)
• Edgar Mitchell (1970)
• Siguard A. Sjoberg (1970)
• Milton L. Windler (1970)

Sports

• Arnold Palmer, 2004
• Frank Robinson, 2005
• Hank Aaron (2002)
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (2016)
• Muhammad Ali (2005)
• Arthur Ashe (1993, posthumously)
• Earl Blaik (1986)
• Paul "Bear" Bryant (1983, posthumously)
• Roberto Clemente (2003, posthumously)
• Joe DiMaggio (1977)
• Michael Jordan (2016)
• Billie Jean King (2009)
• Robert J. H. Kiphuth (1963)
• Stan Musial (2011)[4]
• Jack Nicklaus (2005)
• Buck O'Neil (2006)
• Jesse Owens (1977)
• Arnold Palmer (2004)
• Richard Petty (1992)
• Frank Robinson (2005)
• Jackie Robinson (March 26, 1984, posthumously)
• Bill Russell (2011)
• Pat Summitt (2012)
• Ted Williams (1991)
• John Wooden (2003)

Extrernal links

• Wikipedia.org. Presidential Medal of Freedom
• Wikipedia.org. Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients

From other source:

as Presidental Advisor

• John von Neumann