U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients

Historical Heroes

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is one of the two highest civilian awards in the United States, considered the equivalent of the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor. It is designed to recognize individuals who have made 'an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, or to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.' Moe Berg respectfully rejected it.

Vote Ranking  

1

Jasper Johns

Artist

100% (1 of 1 votes)

2

Paul Rusesabagina

Hero

100% (1 of 1 votes)

3

Whittaker Chambers

Commentator

100% (1 of 1 votes)

4

Sidney Hook

Philosopher

100% (1 of 1 votes)

5

James Baker

U.S. Secretary of State

100% (2 of 2 votes)

6

Zbigniew Brzezinski

Politician

100% (1 of 1 votes)

7

Edmund Wilson

Author

100% (1 of 1 votes)

8

Muhammad Yunus

Economist

100% (1 of 1 votes)

9

A.M. Rosenthal

Commentator

100% (1 of 1 votes)

10

McGeorge Bundy

Politician

100% (1 of 1 votes)

11

Roy Wilkins

Advocate

100% (1 of 1 votes)

12

Hyman Rickover

Military Personnel

100% (1 of 1 votes)

13

Mstislav Rostropovich

Musician

100% (1 of 1 votes)

14

Milton Friedman

Economist

100% (1 of 1 votes)

15

A. Philip Randolph

Advocate

100% (1 of 1 votes)

16

Warren Burger

U.S. Chief Justice

100% (1 of 1 votes)

17

Tommy Franks

Military Personnel

100% (2 of 2 votes)

18

George Tenet

Spy

100% (1 of 1 votes)

19

Wesley Clark

Military Personnel

100% (1 of 1 votes)

20

L. Paul Bremer

Diplomat

100% (1 of 1 votes)

21

Anwar Sadat

World Leader

100% (1 of 1 votes)

22

Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Explorer

100% (1 of 1 votes)

23

Daniel Patrick Moynihan

U.S. Senator

100% (1 of 1 votes)

24

Edmund Muskie

U.S. Senator

100% (1 of 1 votes)

25

Pablo Casals

Musician

100% (1 of 1 votes)

26

Eric Hoffer

Philosopher

100% (1 of 1 votes)

27

Archbishop Iakavos of America

Religious Figure

100% (1 of 1 votes)

28

Edward Steichen

Photographer

100% (1 of 1 votes)

29

Edgar Bronfman, Sr.

Entrepreneur

100% (1 of 1 votes)

30

William H. Webster

Politician

100% (2 of 2 votes)

31

Gary Player

Golfer

100% (1 of 1 votes)

32

Annika Sorenstam

Golfer

100% (1 of 1 votes)

33

Khizr Khan

Attorney

100% (1 of 1 votes)

34

Sylvia Mendez

Student

100% (1 of 1 votes)

35

Steve Jobs

Computer Tech

80.0% (4 of 5 votes)

36

Ansel Adams

Photographer

80.0% (4 of 5 votes)

37

Norman Podhoretz

Commentator

75.00% (3 of 4 votes)

38

Barry Goldwater

U.S. Senator

66.67% (2 of 3 votes)

39

John Wooden

Basketball Player

62.50% (5 of 8 votes)

40

Donald Rumsfeld

Politician

61.11% (11 of 18 votes)

41

James Earl Carter

U.S. President

60.11% (315 of 524 votes)

42

John Wayne

Actor

60.06% (212 of 353 votes)

43

Mariano Rivera

Baseball Player

60.0% (3 of 5 votes)

44

Bill Cosby

Comedian

58.99% (397 of 673 votes)

45

Joe DiMaggio

Baseball Player

58.74% (131 of 223 votes)

46

Neil Armstrong

Astronaut

58.67% (88 of 150 votes)

47

Denzel Washington

Actor

58.18% (32 of 55 votes)

48

Mother Teresa (Saint Teresa of Calcutta)

Religious Figure

57.52% (88 of 153 votes)

49

Gerald Ford

U.S. President

56.80% (71 of 125 votes)

50

John Lewis

U.S. Congressman

54.84% (17 of 31 votes)

51

Gabrielle Giffords

U.S. Congressman

54.05% (40 of 74 votes)

52

Rosalynn Carter

First Lady

53.04% (61 of 115 votes)

53

Jackie Robinson

Baseball Player

52.61% (121 of 230 votes)

54

Jesse Owens

Athlete

52.00% (26 of 50 votes)

55

Simone Biles

Gymnast

51.54% (67 of 130 votes)

56

Ellsworth Bunker

Diplomat

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

57

Marcario Garcia

Hero

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

58

Gerda Weissmann Klein

Advocate

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

59

Alan Page

Football Player

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

60

Jack Nicklaus

Golfer

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

61

Walter Brennan

Actor

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

62

Samuel Goldwyn

Producer

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

63

Rachel Carson

Advocate

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

64

Elie Wiesel

Author

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

65

Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Advocate

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

66

J. William Fulbright

U.S. Senator

50.0% (2 of 4 votes)

67

Brent Scowcroft

Crime Fighter

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

68

Tony Blair

World Leader

50.0% (2 of 4 votes)

69

Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr.

Military Personnel

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

70

Ralph Bunche

Diplomat

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

71

W. Averell Harriman

U.S. Governor

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

72

Yo-Yo Ma

Musician

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

73

Arleigh Burke

Military Personnel

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

74

Katherine Johnson

Mathematician

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

75

Lew Wasserman

Agent

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

76

Ben Carson

Doctor

50.0% (58 of 116 votes)

77

Vaclav Havel

World Leader

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

78

John Foster Dulles

Politician

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

79

Warren Christopher

U.S. Secretary of State

50.0% (1 of 2 votes)

80

Ronald Reagan

U.S. President

49.31% (250 of 507 votes)

81

Angela Merkel

World Leader

48.39% (15 of 31 votes)

82

Babe Ruth

Baseball Player

47.83% (55 of 115 votes)

83

Colin Powell

U.S. Secretary of State

47.62% (10 of 21 votes)

84

Megan Rapinoe

Soccer Player

47.56% (39 of 82 votes)

85

Margaret Thatcher

World Leader

46.81% (44 of 94 votes)

86

Charlton Heston

Actor

46.77% (29 of 62 votes)

87

Jim Jordan

U.S. Congressman

45.45% (115 of 253 votes)

88

Lyndon Baines Johnson

U.S. President

45.00% (9 of 20 votes)

89

Tiger Woods

Golfer

44.90% (22 of 49 votes)

90

Andrew Young, Jr.

U.S. Congressman

44.44% (4 of 9 votes)

91

Maya Angelou

Poet

43.75% (21 of 48 votes)

92

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

U.S. President

42.17% (132 of 313 votes)

93

Thurgood Marshall

U.S. Supreme Court Justice

42.06% (53 of 126 votes)

94

Henry Kissinger

U.S. Secretary of State

42.06% (135 of 321 votes)

95

Bob Hope

Comedian

37.21% (32 of 86 votes)

96

Aretha Franklin

Vocalist

37.21% (16 of 43 votes)

97

George Herbert Walker Bush

U.S. President

37.04% (100 of 270 votes)

98

Jesse Jackson

Advocate

35.36% (93 of 263 votes)

99

Rush Limbaugh

Radio Personality

35.11% (112 of 319 votes)

100

Nelson Mandela

World Leader

34.50% (59 of 171 votes)

101

Billy Graham

Religious Figure

34.00% (17 of 50 votes)

102

Marian Anderson

Vocalist

33.75% (27 of 80 votes)

103

Pearl Bailey

Vocalist

33.33% (1 of 3 votes)

104

James Stewart

Actor

33.33% (53 of 159 votes)

105

Roger Baldwin

Advocate

33.33% (1 of 3 votes)

106

Marian Wright Edelman

Advocate

33.33% (1 of 3 votes)

107

Arnold Palmer

Golfer

33.33% (5 of 15 votes)

108

John Ford

Filmmaker

33.33% (1 of 3 votes)

109

Roger Penske

Entrepreneur

33.33% (1 of 3 votes)

110

Hank Aaron

Baseball Player

33.01% (34 of 103 votes)

111

Lucille Ball

Comedienne

32.53% (27 of 83 votes)

112

Nancy Davis Reagan

First Lady

32.53% (27 of 83 votes)

113

Jean Kennedy Smith

Politician

32.43% (12 of 37 votes)

114

Eunice Kennedy Shriver

Philanthropist

32.26% (20 of 62 votes)

115

John McCain

U.S. Senator

32.10% (26 of 81 votes)

116

Katharine Hepburn

Actress

32.00% (16 of 50 votes)

117

Sargent Shriver

Politician

32.00% (32 of 100 votes)

118

Johnny Carson

Comedian

32.00% (16 of 50 votes)

119

Muhammad Ali

Boxer

31.93% (53 of 166 votes)

120

Frank Sinatra

Vocalist

31.71% (26 of 82 votes)

121

Helen Keller

Advocate

31.71% (26 of 82 votes)

122

Antonin Scalia

U.S. Supreme Court Justice

31.13% (33 of 106 votes)

123

Dick Cheney

U.S. Vice President

30.77% (64 of 208 votes)

124

Rosa Parks

Advocate

30.08% (40 of 133 votes)

125

Devin Nunes

U.S. Congressman

30.0% (3 of 10 votes)

126

Walter Cronkite

Commentator

29.68% (46 of 155 votes)

127

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Advocate

29.61% (106 of 358 votes)

128

Elvis Presley

Vocalist

28.47% (39 of 137 votes)

129

Pope John Paul II

Religious Figure

26.32% (10 of 38 votes)

130

Lloyd Bentsen, Jr.

U.S. Senator

25.00% (1 of 4 votes)

131

Warren Buffett

Financier

21.21% (7 of 33 votes)

132

Anthony Fauci

Doctor

20.0% (1 of 5 votes)

133

George McGovern

U.S. Senator

20.0% (1 of 5 votes)

134

Lou Holtz

Football Coach

16.67% (1 of 6 votes)

135

Ralph Ellison

Author

16.67% (1 of 6 votes)

136

James Cagney

Actor

14.29% (1 of 7 votes)

137

Rita Moreno

Actress

13.33% (2 of 15 votes)

138

Carol Burnett

Comedienne

12.50% (2 of 16 votes)

139

Patsy Mink

U.S. Congressman

12.50% (1 of 8 votes)

140

Bob Dole

U.S. Senator

12.12% (4 of 33 votes)

141

Doris Day

Actress

11.11% (1 of 9 votes)

142

Kirk Douglas

Actor

11.11% (2 of 18 votes)

143

Mister Fred Rogers

TV Personality

10.0% (2 of 20 votes)

144

Andy Griffith

Actor

10.0% (1 of 10 votes)

145

Frank Robinson

Baseball Player

5.88% (1 of 17 votes)

146

Hubert H. Humphrey

U.S. Vice President

5.88% (1 of 17 votes)

147

Walt Disney

Animator

5.88% (1 of 17 votes)

148

Orrin Hatch

U.S. Senator

5.56% (1 of 18 votes)

149

J. Willard Marriott

Entrepreneur

0% (0 of 0 votes)

150

Earl 'Red' Blaik

Football Coach

0% (0 of 1 votes)

151

Robert Solow

Economist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

152

Fred Gray

Attorney

0% (0 of 1 votes)

153

Vernon A. Walters

Diplomat

0% (0 of 0 votes)

154

Diane Nash

Advocate

0% (0 of 1 votes)

155

Adela Rogers St. Johns

Commentator

0% (0 of 0 votes)

156

Jim Ryun

Athlete

0% (0 of 0 votes)

157

Dan Gable

Wrestler

0% (0 of 5 votes)

158

Jerry West

Basketball Player

0% (0 of 1 votes)

159

Roger Staubach

Football Player

0% (0 of 5 votes)

160

Ed Meese

U.S. Attorney General

0% (0 of 0 votes)

161

Arthur Laffer

Economist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

162

Millard Fuller

Philanthropist

0% (0 of 2 votes)

163

Van Cliburn

Musician

0% (0 of 0 votes)

164

Andrew Wyeth

Artist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

165

Peggy Charren

Advocate

0% (0 of 0 votes)

166

Alexander Calder

Artist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

167

Denton A. Cooley

Doctor

0% (0 of 0 votes)

168

Margaret Hamilton (Software Engineer)

Computer Tech

0% (0 of 2 votes)

169

Caspar Weinberger

Politician

0% (0 of 0 votes)

170

Carl Vinson

U.S. Congressman

0% (0 of 0 votes)

171

Meredith Willson

Songwriter

0% (0 of 0 votes)

172

Samuel Eliot Morison

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

173

Gordon Moore

Computer Tech

0% (0 of 1 votes)

174

Frank Reynolds

Commentator

0% (0 of 0 votes)

175

Ella Grasso

U.S. Governor

0% (0 of 1 votes)

176

Clark Clifford

Attorney

0% (0 of 0 votes)

177

Karl Menninger

Doctor

0% (0 of 0 votes)

178

Rudolf Serkin

Musician

0% (0 of 0 votes)

179

Mike Mansfield

U.S. Senator

0% (0 of 0 votes)

180

Bob Michel

U.S. Congressman

0% (0 of 0 votes)

181

Joe Medicine Crow

Native American Icon

0% (0 of 1 votes)

182

Gene Krantz

Bureaucrat

0% (0 of 0 votes)

183

Melvin Laird

Politician

0% (0 of 0 votes)

184

William Ruckelshaus

Politician

0% (0 of 0 votes)

185

Lewis Mumford

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

186

Roger Tory Peterson

Author

0% (0 of 2 votes)

187

John Bardeen

Scientist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

188

H. Norman Schwarzkopf

Military Personnel

0% (0 of 0 votes)

189

Paul Harvey

Commentator

0% (0 of 0 votes)

190

Brooke Astor

Philanthropist

0% (0 of 1 votes)

191

Nelson Rockefeller

U.S. Vice President

0% (0 of 1 votes)

192

Earl Warren

U.S. Chief Justice

0% (0 of 3 votes)

193

Placido Domingo

Vocalist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

194

Cesar Chavez

Advocate

0% (0 of 23 votes)

195

Georgia O'Keeffe

Artist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

196

Irving Kristol

Commentator

0% (0 of 0 votes)

197

Willem De Kooning

Artist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

198

Danny Kaye

Comedian

0% (0 of 1 votes)

199

Omar Bradley

Military Personnel

0% (0 of 1 votes)

200

Bear Bryant

Football Coach

0% (0 of 2 votes)

201

Norman Borlaug

Scientist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

202

Richard B. Myers

Military Personnel

0% (0 of 0 votes)

203

Gaylord Nelson

Politician

0% (0 of 0 votes)

204

John L. Lewis

Advocate

0% (0 of 0 votes)

205

Michael E. DeBakey

Doctor

0% (0 of 0 votes)

206

Helen Hayes

Actress

0% (0 of 2 votes)

207

Gregory Peck

Actor

0% (0 of 2 votes)

208

Moe Berg

Baseball Player

0% (0 of 0 votes)

209

Kate Smith

Vocalist

0% (0 of 2 votes)

210

Ella Fitzgerald

Vocalist

0% (0 of 2 votes)

211

Norman Rockwell

Artist

0% (0 of 2 votes)

212

Chuck Yeager

Military Personnel

0% (0 of 2 votes)

213

Julia Child

Chef

0% (0 of 1 votes)

214

Albert Sabin

Doctor

0% (0 of 0 votes)

215

Babe Didrikson Zaharias

Golfer

0% (0 of 1 votes)

216

Sam Walton

Entrepreneur

0% (0 of 0 votes)

217

John Steinbeck

Author

0% (0 of 3 votes)

218

Roberto Clemente

Baseball Player

0% (0 of 11 votes)

219

Arthur Ashe

Tennis Player

0% (0 of 3 votes)

220

Martha Graham

Choreographer

0% (0 of 0 votes)

221

Irving Berlin

Composer

0% (0 of 0 votes)

222

Aaron Copland

Composer

0% (0 of 1 votes)

223

James Doolittle

Military Personnel

0% (0 of 0 votes)

224

Estee Lauder

Entrepreneur

0% (0 of 0 votes)

225

C. Everett Koop

Doctor

0% (0 of 1 votes)

226

George Balanchine

Choreographer

0% (0 of 0 votes)

227

Margaret 'Mardy' Murie

Advocate

0% (0 of 0 votes)

228

Dave Thomas (Restaurateur)

Restaurateur

0% (0 of 2 votes)

229

Carl Sandburg

Poet

0% (0 of 0 votes)

230

T.S. Eliot

Poet

0% (0 of 1 votes)

231

Edward R. Murrow

Commentator

0% (0 of 11 votes)

232

Ted Williams

Baseball Player

0% (0 of 1 votes)

233

Jonas Salk

Scientist

0% (0 of 2 votes)

234

Robert S. McNamara

Politician

0% (0 of 0 votes)

235

Tip O'Neill

U.S. Congressman

0% (0 of 0 votes)

236

Fred Haise

Astronaut

0% (0 of 0 votes)

237

Jack Swigert

Astronaut

0% (0 of 1 votes)

238

Isaac Stern

Violinist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

239

Peter Drucker

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

240

Thomas J. Watson, Jr.

Entrepreneur

0% (0 of 1 votes)

241

Edward Teller

Scientist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

242

Alan Greenspan

Economist

0% (0 of 1 votes)

243

Helmut Kohl

World Leader

0% (0 of 2 votes)

244

James Michener

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

245

Clare Boothe Luce

Commentator

0% (0 of 1 votes)

246

I.M. Pei

Architect

0% (0 of 0 votes)

247

Simon Wiesenthal

Victim

0% (0 of 1 votes)

248

Ed Brooke

U.S. Senator

0% (0 of 1 votes)

249

Dean Acheson

U.S. Secretary of State

0% (0 of 0 votes)

250

James Brady

Commentator

0% (0 of 5 votes)

251

John H. Johnson

Publisher

0% (0 of 0 votes)

252

William F. Buckley, Jr.

Commentator

0% (0 of 1 votes)

253

Byron White

U.S. Supreme Court Justice

0% (0 of 5 votes)

254

William Stephenson

Spy

0% (0 of 0 votes)

255

Reinhold Niebuhr

Religious Figure

0% (0 of 2 votes)

256

John Kenneth Galbraith

Economist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

257

Friedrich Hayek

Economist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

258

George Shultz

U.S. Secretary of State

0% (0 of 0 votes)

259

Norman Vincent Peale

Religious Figure

0% (0 of 0 votes)

260

Elliot Richardson

Politician

0% (0 of 2 votes)

261

Barbara Jordan

U.S. Congressman

0% (0 of 3 votes)

262

Nancy Wake

Military Personnel

0% (0 of 1 votes)

263

Charlie Sifford

Golfer

0% (0 of 0 votes)

264

George Meany

Advocate

0% (0 of 0 votes)

265

Fred Korematsu

Advocate

0% (0 of 2 votes)

266

Margaret Mead

Scientist

0% (0 of 2 votes)

267

Jeanne Kirkpatrick

Diplomat

0% (0 of 0 votes)

268

James L. Farmer, Jr.

Advocate

0% (0 of 3 votes)

269

Arthur Goldberg

U.S. Supreme Court Justice

0% (0 of 0 votes)

270

Helen B. Taussig

Doctor

0% (0 of 1 votes)

271

Dean Rusk

U.S. Secretary of State

0% (0 of 0 votes)

272

Tennessee Ernie Ford

Vocalist

0% (0 of 0 votes)

273

Brian Lamb

TV Personality

0% (0 of 1 votes)

274

David Packard

Entrepreneur

0% (0 of 0 votes)

275

Edwin H. Land

Inventor

0% (0 of 1 votes)

276

Joan Ganz Cooney

Producer

0% (0 of 0 votes)

277

Jaime Escalante

Mathematician

0% (0 of 1 votes)

278

Benjamin Hooks

Advocate

0% (0 of 0 votes)

279

George F. Kennan

Diplomat

0% (0 of 1 votes)

280

Felix Frankfurter

U.S. Supreme Court Justice

0% (0 of 1 votes)

281

Juan Trippe

Entrepreneur

0% (0 of 2 votes)

282

John Von Neumann

Mathematician

0% (0 of 1 votes)

283

Eugene Ormandy

Conductor

0% (0 of 0 votes)

284

Stan Musial

Baseball Player

0% (0 of 4 votes)

285

Bill Russell

Basketball Player

0% (0 of 1 votes)

286

James B. Reston

Commentator

0% (0 of 0 votes)

287

Matthew Ridgway

Military Personnel

0% (0 of 0 votes)

288

Whitney Young

Advocate

0% (0 of 1 votes)

289

Artur Rubinstein

Musician

0% (0 of 1 votes)

290

Walter Annenberg

Publisher

0% (0 of 2 votes)

291

Jacques Barzun

Author

0% (0 of 0 votes)

292

Claude Pepper

U.S. Congressman

0% (0 of 0 votes)

293

Cyrus Vance

U.S. Secretary of State

0% (0 of 0 votes)

294

Jan Karski

Military Personnel

0% (0 of 0 votes)