It’s been a busy week at the White House. Following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, a trip overseas, and calls to change the filibuster, President Biden today announced the recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. And Steve Jobs has posthumously made the cut.
The CEO, co-founder, and chair of Apple, passed away in 2011 but the iPhone and Pixar Animation Studios live on. The White House website states “His vision, imagination and creativity led to inventions that have, and continue to, change the way the world communicates, as well as transforming the computer, music, film and wireless industries.”
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest honor that can be bestowed on to civilians in the United States. It is presented to individuals who have “made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.”
Some of the recipients include Megan Rapinoe, an advocate for LGBT rights (Justice Clarence Thomas recently wrote his opinion to start to reconsider Lawrence v. Texas and Obergefell v. Hodges, which protect same-sex relationship and same-sex marriage), Gabrielle Giffords who is survivor of gun violence (the Supreme Court struck down a New York State law that required applicants of a concealed-carry permit to prove that they had “proper cause” for doing so), oh yeah and Steve Jobs.
President Biden named seventeen recipients in total. That recipient list includes: Simone Biles, Denzel Washington, Sister Simone Campbell, Julieta Garcia, Gabrielle Giffords, Fred Gray, Father Alexander Karloutsos, Khizr Khan, Sandra Lindsay, John McCain (posthumous award), Diane Nash, Megan Rapinoe, Alan Simpson, Richard Trumpka (posthumous award), Wilma Vaught, and Raul Yzaguirre.
The awards will be presented on July 7 at the White House.
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