"HIS QUEST FOR PEACE & INTEREST IN CREATIVITE WORK"

LBJ AWARDS MEDAL OF FREEDOM TO JFK

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On December 6, 1963, "John Fitzgerald Kennedy was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom* in a moving White House ceremony...that paid tribute to his quest for peace and his boundless interest in the creative work of a free people."

President Lyndon B. Johnson presented the award in the State Dining Room to the late president's brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.  JFK's widow, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, attended the ceremony accompanied by her sister, Princess Lee Radziwell.

All members of the cabinet also attended the ceremony, along with all the justices of the Supreme Court.  The United States Congress was represented by selected members.

*Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor given to scientists, philanthropists, public servants, activists, athletes & artists.

SOURCES

"Kennedy Awarded Medal of Freedom," by Cecil Holland, The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., December 6, 1963, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

"The Presidential Medal of Freedom," The White House, Barack Obama, www.obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/

 

 

The Presidential Medal of Freedom

Image by Jack Ryan Morris

2020

JFK ELEVATED THE ARTS, SCIENCES & PUBLIC SERVICE!

JFK'S SELECTIONS FOR THE MEDAL OF FREEDOM 

Washington, D.C.  (JFK+50) Fifty-four years ago, December 6, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom* posthumously to the late President John F. Kennedy in a ceremony at the White House.

President Johnson also handed out the award to thirty-one individuals who had been selected by his predecessor.  

The President said...

"Over the past two weeks, our Nation has known moments of the utmost sorrow of anguish and shame.  This day, however, is a moment of pride."

Recipients included...

Marian Anderson
Pablo Casals
Edwin H. Land
George Meany
Thornton Wilder 
John McCloy.

Mr. McCloy said...

"(President Kennedy) elevated in the life of the Nation the arts and the sciences, education and the public service.  He had joy in them and his joy was communicated to men and women everywhere."

*The Presidential Medal of Freedom was created by Executive Order 11085 signed by JFK in February 1963.  It would be the highest civilian decoration given by the government of the United States.  

The order stipulated that honorees had made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the U.S., world peace, cultural or other significant...endeavors."

The awards are selected by the incumbent POTUS and are given near July 4th each year.

SOURCES

"A Brief History of the Presidential Medal of Freedom," by Frances Romero, August 12, 2009, Time, www.content.time.com/

"Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients,"  Geni, www.geni.com/

"Remarks of President Johnson and Undersecretary of State George W. Ball at the Presentation of the Medal of Freedom awards," December 6, 1963, The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/

Presidential Medal of Freedom

JFK AWARDED PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM

JFK+50:  Volume 7, No. 2151

LBJ BESTOWS PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM TO JFK

Washington, D.C.  (JFK+50) Fifty-three years ago today, December 6, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom* posthumously to the late President John F. Kennedy in a ceremony at the White House.

President Johnson also handed out the award to thirty-one individuals who had been selected by his predecessor.  

The President said...

"Over the past two weeks, our Nation has known moments of the utmost sorrow of anguish and shame.  This day, however, is a moment of pride."

Recipients included Marian Anderson, Pablo Casals, Edwin H. Land, George Meany, Thornton Wilder and John McCloy.

Mr. McCloy spoke these words...

"(President Kennedy) elevated in the life of the Nation the arts and the sciences, education and the public service.  He had joy in them and his joy was communicated to men and women everywhere."

*The Presidential Medal of Freedom was created by Executive Order 11085 signed by JFK in February 1963.  It would be the highest civilian decoration given by the government of the United States.  

The order stipulated that honorees had made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the U.S., world peace, cultural or other significant...endeavors."

The awards are selected by the incumbent POTUS and are given near July 4th each year.

SOURCES

"A Brief History of the Presidential Medal of Freedom," by Frances Romero, August 12, 2009, Time, www.content.time.com/

"Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients,"  Geni, www.geni.com/

"Remarks of President Johnson and Undersecretary of State George W. Ball at the Presentation of the Medal of Freedom awards," December 6, 1963, The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/

Presidential Medal of Freedom

INDEPENDENCE DECLARED IN PHILADELPHIA

July 4, 2013

INDEPENDENCE DECLARED IN PHILADELPHIA 237 YEARS AGO TODAY

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (JFK+50) The Second Continental Congress, meeting here in Philadelphia 237 years ago today, July 4, 1776, proclaimed the thirteen American colonies were  "free and independent states."

The Declaration of Independence, written primarily by Virginia's Thomas Jefferson, came after more than a year of armed conflict with Great Britain.

The Declaration of Independence begins with these words:

"When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind require that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We  hold these truths to be self evident.  That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Most of the remainder of the document lists specific charges against His Majesty, King George III of Great Britain.

These charges are listed with the intent to demonstrate the fact that the King had violated colonial rights.

Thomas Jefferson drew on George Mason's draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the English Declaration of Rights of 1689.

            Declaration of Independence
                            July 4, 1776
                "Yale Dunlap Broadside"
                  printed by John Dunlap

                     JFK and the Liberty Bell
                         Independence Hall
                         Philadelphia (1962)

JFK NAMED WINNERS OF 1ST PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM 50 YEARS AGO TODAY

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy announced the recipients of the 1st Presidential Medal of Freedom fifty years ago today, July 4, 1963.

Included among the winners of the medal were singer Marian Anderson, cellist Pablo Casals, jurist Felix Frankfurter, inventor Edwin H. Land and Governor Luis Munoz Martin of Puerto Rico.

      
            Presidential Medal of Freedom


SOUTH CAROLINA SIGNERS SACRIFICED FOR THE CAUSE

Charleston, South Carolina (JFK+50) We are back in Charleston for the 4th of July celebration this year and would like to honor three signers of the Declaration of Independence from South Carolina who, like many others, sacrificed for the cause.

Thomas Heyward Jr. fought at Port Royal Island in 1779.  He was wounded and captured the following year during the siege of Charleston.  In 1781, the British pillaged his home.  Heyward was a prisoner of war in St. Augustine and at the end of the war was nearly killed in a fall overboard ship.

Edward Rutledge, 26 years old in 1776, was the youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence.  He was involved in the defense of Port Royal Island and also was captured during the siege of Charleston.  Like Heyward, Rutledge was a prisoner of war at St. Augustine.

Arthur Middleton was the son of one of the richest landowners in South Carolina.  His father owned 50,000 acres of land and 800 slaves.  Like Heyward and Rutledge, he was captured during the siege of Charleston and imprisoned at St. Augustine.  The British destroyed his family home, Middleton, but he later had it restored.

SOURCE

"The Cost of Revolution," by Steve Brodner, The New York Times, Thursday, July 4, 2013.