[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 28 (Monday, July 15, 2002)]
[Pages 1164-1165]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom

July 9, 2002

    The President. Please be seated. Thank you all very much. Good 
afternoon, and welcome to the White House. Laura and I are honored to 
welcome our recipients and family members and friends to the people's 
house.
    As we honor today's Presidential Medal of Freedom winners, I want to 
acknowledge the presence of our great Secretary of State, Colin Powell, 
and his wife, Alma. Secretary Powell has won the Presidential Medal of 
Freedom twice--once with distinction. I'm not sure what happened the 
other time. [Laughter]
    The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civil honor our 
Nation can bestow, and we award it today to 12 outstanding individuals. 
The men and women we honor span the spectrum of achievement. Some are 
fighters; others are healers; all have left an enduring legacy of hope 
and courage and achievement.
    Hank Aaron overcame poverty and racism to become one of the most 
accomplished baseball players of all time. ``When I was in a ballpark,'' 
he said, ``I felt like I was surrounded by angels, and I had God's hand 
on my shoulder.'' By steadily pursuing his calling in the face of 
unreasoning hatred, Hank Aaron has proven himself a great human being, 
as well as a great athlete.
    Bill Cosby is a gifted comedian who has used the power of laughter 
to heal wounds and to build bridges. ``I don't think you can bring the 
races together by joking about the differences between them,'' he said. 
``I'd rather talk about the similarities, about what's universal in 
their experiences.'' By focusing on our common humanity, Bill Cosby is 
helping to create a truly united America.
    Placido Domingo has performed in more roles than any other tenor in 
the history of opera. His boundless admiration for the composers of the 
great operatic music makes him push himself to the limit. ``They spend 
years creating operas,'' Placido has said, ``lots of suffering and lots 
of sweating.'' Well, by suffering and sweating himself, Placido Domingo 
is making sure that the great music of the past will continue to delight 
opera lovers the world over.
    The week after September the 11th, Peter Drucker sent a letter to 
his friends and associates urging them ``not to abandon daily life and 
civil society. That's exactly what the terrorist wants,'' he said. Peter 
Drucker has devoted his life to strengthening civil society. His 
determination to help our nonprofit and faith-based institutions carry 
out their desperately needed missions more effectively has made him one 
of the greatest management experts of our time.
    Katharine Graham was a forceful, courageous, and deeply principled 
newspaper publisher. She described herself as someone who suffered from 
a sense of inferiority but who was forced to become a leader after her 
husband's death. ``What I essentially did,'' she wrote, ``was to put one 
foot in front of the other, shut my eyes, and step off the edge.'' Under 
her brilliant guidance, the Washington Post has become one of America's 
most powerful newspapers. Katharine Graham will always be remembered for 
her determined pursuit of journalistic excellence.
    D.A. Henderson is a great general in mankind's war against disease. 
From 1966 to 1977 he led the World Health Organization's global smallpox 
eradication campaign. Today, he is helping protect America from the 
threat of bioterrorism. ``We need to plan, not panic,'' says this master 
medical planner. Our Nation is fortunate to be able to draw on D.A. 
Henderson's great store of wisdom and experience as we work to lift the 
dark threat of terrorism from the nation and our world.
    Irving Kristol is a wide-ranging thinker whose writings have helped 
transform America's political landscape. As young men, he and his fellow 
student radicals in City College's ``alcove number one,'' devoted 
themselves to solving the ultimate problems of the human race. Today, 
Irving Kristol is still grappling with ultimate problems, and in 
thinking them through, he has vastly enlarged the conservative vision.
    Shortly after he arrived on South Africa's Robben Island to begin 
serving his prison

[[Page 1165]]

sentence for resisting apartheid, Nelson Mandela refused an order to jog 
from the harbor to the prison gate. When a prison warden threatened to 
kill him, here's what he said: ``If you so much as lay a hand on me, I 
will take you to the highest court in the land, and when I finish with 
you, you'll be as poor as a church mouse.'' [Laughter] The warden backed 
off and so, eventually, did other, more powerful representatives of 
apartheid--all of whom were humbled by Mandela's immense moral 
authority. It is this moral stature that has made Nelson Mandela perhaps 
the most revered statesman of our time.
    Gordon Moore is a great businessman and innovator. His interest in 
science was sparked by a chemistry set when he was a boy. ``With the 
chemistry set,'' he recalls, ``I had to get a good explosion at the end, 
or I wasn't happy.'' [Laughter] In the worlds of business, science, and 
philanthropy, Gordon Moore has been setting off explosives ever since. 
And the ripple effects of his explosive genius have helped create our 
age of information.
    Nancy Reagan has devoted herself to her family and her country. As 
first lady of California, she spoke out eloquently on behalf of POWs and 
American servicemen missing in action. As First Lady of the United 
States, she has led an antidrug campaign--she led an antidrug campaign 
that helped reduce teenage drug abuse. Today we honor Nancy Reagan for 
her eloquent example of loyalty and courage and abiding love.
    Fred Rogers has proven that television can soothe the soul and 
nurture the spirit and teach the very young. ``The whole idea,'' says 
the beloved host of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, ``is to look at the 
television camera and present as much love as you possibly could to a 
person who needs it.'' This message of unconditional love has won Fred 
Rogers a very special place in the heart of a lot of moms and dads all 
across America.
    A.M. Rosenthal's calling is journalism; his passion is human rights. 
``When I come out for human rights,'' he says, ``I'm not talking in the 
abstract. I know that if I lived in a dictatorship, I would be in jail 
very quickly.'' A.M. Rosenthal's outspoken defense of persecuted 
Christians in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East have truly made him his 
brother's keeper.
    Each of these men and women has enriched the life of America and the 
world. And we're honored to have them with us here today.
    And now the military aide will call each of the winners forward and 
read their citations.

[At this point, Maj. James M. McAllister, USA, Army Aide to the 
President, read the citations, and the President presented the medals.]

    The President. Again, I want to thank you all for coming to honor 
such remarkable men and women. The Presidential Medal of Freedom, 
established by President Kennedy in 1963, recognizes individuals who 
have made ``an especially meritorious contribution to the security or 
national interests of the United States, or to world peace, or to 
cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.'' I'm sure 
you'll agree that today's Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients 
richly deserve their honor.
    And now, Laura and I would like to invite you all to join us for a 
reception in honor of today's distinguished Presidential Medal of 
Freedom recipients, in the room back here in the back.
    May God bless our recipients, and may God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 3:05 p.m. in the East Room at the White 
House.