President Obama Names 15 Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients

president barack obama today named 15 recipients of the presidential medal of freedom. the medal of freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the national interests or security of the united states, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant private or public endeavors. the awards will be presented at a white house ceremony early next year.

obama said, "these outstanding honorees come from a broad range of backgrounds & they've excelled in a broad range of fields, but all of them have lived extraordinary lives that have inspired us, enriched our culture & made our country & our world a better place. i look forward to awarding them this honor."

the recipients are: 1) george h.w. bush, 41st us president, vp during the reagan administration & former cia director; 2) chancellor angela merkel, the 1st woman & 1st east german to serve as chancellor of a unified germany, which this year marks its 20th anniversary; 3) congressman john lewis (d-ga), an american hero & freedom fighter during the civil rights movement who served as chairman of the student nonviolent coordinating committee at age 19 & continues to serve georgia's fifth district since 1987.

4) john h. adams, who co-founded the national defense resources council in 1970, served as executive director & later, as president of the nonprofit environmental advocacy group until 2006; 5) dr. maya angelou, activist, actress, author, educator, filmmaker, humanitarian, poet & producer who is currently the reynolds professor of american studies at wake forest university; 6) warren buffett, an american industrialist, investor & philanthropist, he's one of the most successful investors in the world.

7) jasper johns, an american artist who produced a distinguished body of work dealing with themes of identity & perception since the mid-1950's whose work has influenced pop, minimal & conceptual art; 8) gerda weissman klein, a jewish holocaust survivor who's written several books about her experiences & recently founded citizenship counts, a an organization teaching students to cherish the value of their american citizenship; 9) dr. tom little, an optometrist who was brutally murdered 8/6/10 by the taliban in the kuran wa munjan district of afghanistan along with nine other members of a humanitarian team on a mission to provide vision care in nuristan.

10) yo-yo ma, recognized as a prodigy since age five he made his carnegie hall debut in nyc at age nine & is considered the world's greatest cellist whose celebrity transcends the world of classical music; 11) sylvia mendez, a civil rights activist of mexican & puerto rican descent whose victorious lawsuit after being denied entry into an all-white school at age eight was a landmark case in the movement against segregation; 12) stan "the man" musial, a baseball legend & hall of fame first baseman for the st. louis cardinals for 22 years who was a 24 time all-star selection, three time most valuable player & member of three world series teams.

13) bill russell, the former boston celtics' captain who revolutionised professional basketball with his defensive prowess leading boston to 11 nba titles in 13 years, including a record eight in a row, five time most valuable player & the first african-american to coach in the nba; 14) jean kennedy smith, who in 1974 founded vsa, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the john f. kennedy center promoting the artistic talents of children, youth & adults with disabilities; 15) john j. sweeney, the current president emeritus of the afl-cio who served as their president from 1995 to 2009, revitalizing the american labor movement by emphasizing social justice, union organizing & workers' advocacy rights.