    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
    [December 15, 2006]
    [Pages 2185-2189]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom
    December 15, 2006

        The President. Please be seated. Thank you all for coming. Welcome.
    Mr. Vice President, members of my Cabinet,
    Laura and I are pleased you could join us on this
    special occasion. We're delighted to welcome our distinguished honorees
    as well as their families and friends to the White House. Thanks for
    coming.
        The Presidential Medal of Freedom is our Nation's highest civil
    honor. The Medal recognizes high achievement in public service, science,
    the arts, education, athletics, and other fields. Today we honor 10
    exceptional individuals who have gained great admiration and respect
    throughout our country.
        Norman Y. Mineta personifies the terms
    ``public servant'' and ``patriot.'' He served as an Army intelligence
    officer, the mayor of San Jose, California, 10-term U.S. Congressman,
    and a Cabinet member under Presidents of both parties. He was my
    Secretary of Transportation. No Secretary of Transportation ever served
    longer or confronted greater challenges than Norm Mineta.
        On September the 11th, 2001, he led the
    effort to bring thousands of commercial and private aircraft swiftly and
    safely to the ground. Norm was calm, and he was decisive in a moment of
    emergency. He showed those same qualities in the months and years
    afterward, ably transforming his Department to face the dangers of a new
    era.
        Norm Mineta's whole life has been an
    extraordinary journey. At the age of 10, he was sent with his mom and
    dad to an internment camp for Japanese Americans. Such wrongful
    treatment could have left a person bitter, but not Norm Mineta. Instead,
    he has given his country a lifetime of service, and he's given his
    fellow citizens an example of leadership, devotion to duty, and personal
    character. Mr. Secretary, you're a good friend and a great man, and our
    country honors you.
        With us today is Warren O'Neil, who will
    accept the Medal of Freedom on behalf of his brother, John Jordan
    ``Buck'' O'Neil. Buck O'Neil passed
    away in October, after a baseball career spanning more than seven
    decades. He joined the Negro League in 1938, as a first baseman for the
    Kansas City Monarchs. Buck O'Neil won two batting titles and played on
    nine championship teams, and as a manager, guided the Monarchs to four
    league titles. After finishing his playing career, Buck O'Neil

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    joined the Chicago Cubs as a scout and later as the first African
    American coach in the major leagues. He never did slow down. For the
    rest of his life, he was active in baseball, not just from the stands or
    the dugout.
        In July of this year, he took a
    turn at bat in a minor league all-star game in Kansas City. They wisely
    pitched around him--[laughter]--he drew a walk--at the age of 94 years
    old. [Laughter] Buck O'Neil is also remembered as one of the game's best
    historians and ambassadors. He was the driving force behind the Negro
    Leagues Baseball Museum; he was proud to be its chairman. But he once
    said: ``It never should have been a Negro League. Shouldn't have been.''
    Buck O'Neil lived long enough to see the game of baseball and America
    change for the better. He's one of the people we can thank for that.
    Buck O'Neil was a legend, and he was a beautiful human being. And we
    honor the memory of Buck O'Neil.
        One day in 1961, Ruth Colvin of
    Syracuse, New York, read a disturbing statistic in the morning
    newspaper. She learned that more than 11,000 people in her hometown
    could not read. Ruth wondered, ``Why isn't somebody doing something
    about it?'' Ruth decided that she would do something. Working out of her
    basement, she formed a network of citizens willing to donate their time
    as reading tutors. Before long, that network reached beyond Syracuse and
    beyond New York, and it had a name: Literacy Volunteers of America. Over
    the years, the volunteers have helped hundreds of thousands of adults
    learn the reading and language skills they need to build a better life.
    Ruth rightly says, ``The ability to read and write is critical to
    personal freedom and the maintenance of a democratic society.''
        Ruth's good influence has continued
    to grow. She travels the world promoting literacy with her husband and
    best friend, Bob. She started literacy campaigns
    on multiple continents. Ruth has also made many dear friends, including
    another great crusader for literacy, my mother.
    [Laughter] Ruth's children, Terry and
    Lindy, know what I know--that you better listen
    to your mother. [Laughter] Ruth has said, ``I am and always have been a
    volunteer.'' More than that, Ruth Colvin is a person of intelligence and
    vision and heart, and she has earned the gratitude of many and the
    admiration of us all. Congratulations.
        Like Ruth, Dr. Norman C.
    Francis has dedicated his life to
    education. He achieved early distinction as the first African American
    to graduate from the Loyola University College of Law. In 1968, he
    became president of his alma mater, Xavier University in New Orleans,
    and he is today the longest serving university president in the United
    States. Dr. Francis is known across Louisiana and throughout our country
    as a man of deep intellect and compassion and character. He's an Army
    veteran. He led the United Negro College Fund. He was chairman of the
    board of the Educational Testing Service, and he holds only 35 honorary
    degrees. [Laughter]
        Last year, after Hurricane Katrina did great damage to the Xavier
    campus, Dr. Francis vowed the university
    would overcome and reopen its doors by January, and he kept that pledge.
    Dr. Francis continues to help the people of southeast Louisiana as the
    leader of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. As they continue to rebuild
    from the devastation of the hurricanes, the people of the Pelican State
    will benefit from the leadership of this good man. And all of us admire
    the good life and remarkable career of Dr. Norman C. Francis.
        Joshua Lederberg has always seemed
    ahead of his time. He was researching genetics when the field was
    scarcely understood. He was studying the implications of space travel
    before there were astronauts. And even three decades ago, he was warning
    of the dangers of biological warfare. All of his life, people have seen
    something special in this rabbi's son from Montclair, New Jersey.
    Someone who knew him in

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    college said, ``You could tell that Joshua was in the lab because you
    could hear the breaking glass.'' [Laughter] ``He was so young, bursting
    with potential.''
        He earned his Ph.D. in his early
    twenties. At the age of 33, he won the Nobel Prize. Dr. Lederberg has
    remained at the top of the scientific field as a professor, researcher,
    and writer. As a columnist and adviser to many administrations, he
    brought clear, independent thinking and wisdom to matters of public
    policy, especially in national security and nonproliferation. For his
    brilliant career, his high ethical standards, and his many contributions
    to our country, the United States thanks Joshua Lederberg.
        Americans first came to know Natan Sharansky as a voice for freedom inside an empire of tyranny.
    As a Jew applying to immigrate to Israel, he was refused and harassed by
    the Soviet regime. Natan Sharansky became a leading dissident and
    advocate for human rights. And after a show trial, he was sentenced to a
    gulag for 10 years. The authorities may have hoped the world would
    forget the name Sharansky. Instead, leaders like President Reagan and
    Ambassador Kirkpatrick spoke often of his persecution, and the case of
    Natan Sharansky became a symbol of the moral emptiness of imperial
    communism.
        Today, the Soviet Union is history, but the world still knows the
    name Sharansky. As a free man, he's
    become a political leader in Israel, winning four elections to the
    Knesset and serving more than 8 years in the Cabinet. He remains, above
    all, an eloquent champion for liberty and democracy. Natan reminds us
    that every soul carries the desire to live in freedom and that freedom
    has a unique power to lift up nations, transform regions, and secure a
    future for peace. Natan Sharansky is a witness to that power, and his
    testimony brings hope to those who still live under oppression. We honor
    Natan Sharansky for his life of courage and conviction.
        The struggle between freedom and tyranny has defined the past 100
    years, and few have written of that struggle with greater skill than
    Paul Johnson. His book, ``Modern Times: The
    World from the Twenties to the Eighties,'' is a masterful account of the
    grievous harm visited on millions by ideologies of power and coercion.
    In all his writings, Paul Johnson shows great breadth of knowledge and
    moral clarity and a deep understanding of the challenges of our time.
    He's written hundreds of articles and dozens of books, including ``The
    History of the Jews,'' ``The History of Christianity,'' ``The Quest for
    God,'' and ``The Birth of the Modern.'' Obviously, the man is not afraid
    to take on big subjects. [Laughter]
        Eight years ago, he published ``A History
    of the American People,'' which Dr. Henry Kissinger said was ``as majestic in scope as the country it
    celebrates.'' In the preface, Paul Johnson called Americans ``the most
    remarkable people the world has ever seen.'' He said, ``I love them, and
    I salute them.'' That's a high tribute from a man of such learning and
    wisdom, and America returns the feeling. Our country honors Paul Johnson
    and proudly calls him a friend.
        One of America's unique gifts to the world is a music called the
    blues. And in that music, two names are paramount: B.B. King and his guitar, Lucille. [Laughter] It has been said
    that when John Lennon was asked to name his great ambition, he said,
    ``to play the guitar like B.B. King.'' Many musicians have had that same
    goal, but nobody has ever been able to match the skill or copy the sound
    of the ``King of the Blues.''
        He came up the hard way in the Deep
    South, living alone when he was 9 years old, walking miles to school and
    picking cotton for 35 cents a day. Barely out of his teens, he made his
    first trip to Memphis, Tennessee, with his guitar and $2.50 in his
    pocket. He made his name on Beale Street, and his studio recordings made
    him

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    a national favorite. B.B. King has sold more than 40 million records. He
    won 14 Grammys. He has a place on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He's
    influenced generations of musicians from blues to rock, and he's
    performed in venues from roadside nightclubs to Carnegie Hall. He's
    still touring, and he's still recording, and he's still singing, and
    he's still playing the blues better than anybody else. In other words,
    the thrill is not gone. [Laughter] America loves the music of B.B. King,
    and America loves the man himself. Congratulations.
        William Safire joined the White House
    staff nearly 38 years ago as a speechwriter to the President. President
    Nixon once introduced Bill this way: ``This is Safire, absolutely
    trustworthy, but watch what you say--he's a writer.'' [Laughter] Writing
    has been at the center of Bill Safire's eventful life, going back to his
    days in the U.S. Army and as a PR man in New York. As a young
    speechwriter drafting remarks for a New York City official, he used the
    word ``indomitable.'' When they asked Bill to find a better speech-word,
    he suggested ``indefatigable.'' [Laughter] They fired him. [Laughter]
    We're a little more lenient about speechwriting here. [Laughter]
        From the White House, Bill moved to the
    New York Times, where he spent more than 30 years as a columnist who was
    often skeptical about our Government but never cynical about our
    country. He always was committed to the cause of human freedom. His wit
    and style and command of English earned him another spot, his own page
    in the Times magazine every Sunday. Bill has said that his ``On
    Language'' column attracts more mail than any of his other work. People
    write me about my language too. [Laughter] Bill Safire has also written
    novels and a respected political dictionary. He won the Pulitzer Prize
    for commentary. He's a voice of independence and principle, and American
    journalism is better for the contributions of William Safire.
    Congratulations.
        David McCullough has won the Pulitzer
    Prize twice, for ``Truman'' and ``John Adams,'' two of the most
    successful biographies ever published. In person and on the printed
    page, David McCullough shares the lessons of history with enthusiasm and
    insight. He has written definitive works on the Johnstown flood, the
    building of the Brooklyn Bridge, and the digging of the Panama Canal.
    His first book out came--came out nearly 40 years ago; all of his books
    are still in print. David McCullough is also, for millions of Americans,
    the voice of history, as the narrator of Ken Burns's ``The Civil War''
    and other films.
        For those who question the importance of history, David likes to quote Harry Truman, who said, ``The only thing
    new in the world is the history you do not know.'' David McCullough
    reminds us that ``the laws we live by, the freedoms we enjoy, the
    institutions that we take for granted are all the work of other people
    who went before us.'' He's a passionate man about our responsibility to
    know America's past and to share it with every new generation. He's
    fulfilled that duty in his own career with splendid results. This
    chronicler of other times is one of the eminent Americans of our own
    time. The Nation owes a debt of gratitude to a fine author and a fine
    man, David McCullough.
        Now the military aide will read the citations for the Presidential
    Medal of Freedom.

    [At this point, Lt. Cmdr. Robert A. Roncska, USN, Navy Aide to the
    President, read the citations, and the President presented the medals.]

        The President. Thank you all for coming. Congratulations to our
    honorees. Laura and I would like to invite you to
    a reception here to pay tribute to some of the finest citizens the
    Almighty has ever produced.
        God bless you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:18 a.m. in the East Room at the White
    House.

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