Bush Presents Presidential Medals of Freedom

Bush Presents Presidential Medals of Freedom

Washington Post Staff Writer By Debbi Wilgoren

Monday, November 5, 2007; 1:00 PM

The frail, reclusive author of "To Kill a Mockingbird" and the director of the Human Genome Project were among eight individuals honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony this morning.

The awards are this nation's highest civilian honor.

President Bush presented the gold medals to author Harper Lee and scientist Francis S. Collins, along with economist Gary S. Becker, civil rights leader Benjamin L. Hooks, C-SPAN founder and chief executive Brian P. Lamb and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Medals for retired Republican Rep. Henry J. Hyde of Illinois and jailed Cuban human rights leader and physician Oscar Elias Biscet were accepted on their behalf by their children.

Speaking in the East Room of the White House, Bush lauded the recipients for their contributions to freedom in the United States and elsewhere, and, to varying degrees, their influence and impact on science, literature and public discourse.

"Each of them, by effort and by character, has earned the respect of the American people and holds a unique place in the story of our time," Bush said.

He hailed Biscet, 46, who is imprisoned in Cuba, as "a healer . . . a physician, a community organizer and an advocate for human rights. For two decades, he has told the world what he has seen in Cuba: the arrogance of a one-party state; the suppression of political dissent; the coercion of expectant mothers."

"For speaking the truth, Dr. Biscet has endured repeated harassment, beatings and detentions," Bush continued. " . . . To the Cuban dictatorship, Dr. Biscet is a 'dangerous man.' He is dangerous in the same way that Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi were dangerous. . . . His example is a rebuke to the tyrants and secret police of a regime whose day is passing."

Bush offered his arm to Lee, 81, as she stood to receive her medal. Lee, who won the Pulitzer Prize for her famed 1960 novel about growing up to face injustice in the segregated South, has mostly stayed out of public view in recent years.

"This daughter of Monroeville, Alabama, has something to say about tolerance and honor and love," the president said. " 'To Kill a Mockingbird' has influenced the character of our country for the better. It's been a gift to the entire world."

Hooks, a lawyer, minister and former executive director of the NAACP, was praised by Bush as a "calm yet forceful voice for fairness, opportunity and personal responsibility."

"All Americans can be grateful for the good works and the good life of Benjamin L. Hooks," Bush said. Hooks, 82, leaned on a cane as he stood to receive the medal. He was joined by his wife of nearly 56 years, Frances, who received a warm embrace from the president.

Of Sirleaf, 69, the first woman elected president of an African nation, Bush said, "She's begun an age of reform in a country with a deep historical tie to the United States."

Despite death threats from her political opponents and years in exile, Sirleaf "never wavered," Bush said. "Always a patriot, she loves Liberia and she loves all its people."

Bush praised Collins, 57, as a "wise and humane American scientist . . . relentless in his pursuit of knowledge." Collins directs the National Human Genome Research Institute, which leads U.S. efforts to map and research the human genome.

The president said Lamb, 66, of C-SPAN, has helped revive America's "town hall spirit." And he saluted Becker, one of the first economists to incorporate issues of demography, sociology and race into his work, for making clear the links between economics and human behavior. Becker, 76, is a Nobel laureate.

Bush presented the medal for Hyde to his son, Bob Hyde. He said the longtime congressman, now 83, believes in "a strong and purposeful America" and during his 32 years in Congress was "confident in freedom's advance, and firm in freedom's defense."

As a lawmaker, Bush said, Hyde "stood for limited, accountable government, and the equality of every person before the law. He was a gallant champion of the weak and forgotten, and a fearless defender of life in all its seasons."

The Medal of Freedom was established by President Harry S. Truman in 1945 to recognize notable service during World War II. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy reintroduced it as an honor for distinguished civilian service in peacetime. The honor may be awarded to any person who has contributed significantly to U.S. security or national interests, world peace or a major cultural, public or private endeavor.

A panel called the Distinguished Civilian Service Awards Board recommends individuals to the president, who may make his own selections as well.