Joe Biden awarded the latest Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, to a group of 18 winners, including Denzel Washington, Hillary Clinton, Bono, Jane Goodall and Michael J. Fox.
The ceremony, held in the East Room, was filled with family and friends, including several members of the Kennedy family, as the president presented a posthumous medal to Robert F. Kennedy. “Anyone who isn't Kennedy stands,” Biden quipped at one point, accepting Kathleen Kennedy and several of the late senator's other children as president. Not attending: Robert Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Hillary Clinton, the award winner, received a standing ovation while receiving her award, and former President Bill Clinton was in the audience, sitting next to First Lady Jill Biden.
Honoree Magic Johnson hovered over Biden, kneeling down so the president could tie the medal around his neck. After the president did the same for Washington, the actor hugged the president.
Other entertainment honorees include Bill Nye, Guy of Science; George Stevens Jr., founder of the American Film Institute and Kennedy Center Honors; and Fox, were honored not only for his acting but also for his work in Parkinson's disease research.
After Fox accepted his award and sat down again, Bono, another of the winners, tapped him on the shoulder in congratulations.
Joe Biden awards the Medal of Freedom to Magic Johnson.
Photo by Tom Brenner/Getty Images
As reporters attended the concert, Bono greeted one of them and joked, “It was really good. Didn't miss anything.”
One recipient was listed among the honorees but did not appear: Lionel Messi, the soccer great. His name was not read among the honorees. It was a scheduling issue, a White House correspondent was told.
Another honoree, George Soros, was also not there, but his son Alex Soros accepted him.
After receiving her medal, Anna Wintour stopped and shook the hand of another winner, Ralph Lauren.
Other honorees include Chef Jose Andrés, philanthropist Tim Gill, and philanthropist David Rubinstein. Mitt Romney accepted another posthumous honor from his father, George Romney; Stephanie Carter has accepted marriage to her late husband, former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter. Doris Hammer Richardson kissed her aunt, the late civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer.
