Vogue editor Dame Anna Wintour, U2 frontman Bono and billionaire George Soros are among those to receive the nation’s highest civilian honors from outgoing President Joe Biden.
This year, the Presidential Medal of Freedom will be awarded to 19 people, including cultural icons, politicians, and activists.
The White House said they were chosen because they are “good people who have made extraordinary contributions to our country and the world.”
Biden is scheduled to present the medal at a ceremony at the White House on Saturday.
Bono, whose real name is Paul David Hewson, has already been awarded France’s highest cultural honour, including an honorary knighthood.
He is known for his campaign against poverty and support for people living with HIV/AIDS.
One of the most important figures in the fashion world, Wintour has been editor-in-chief of Vogue since 1988 and helped raise more than $20 million for AIDS research, among other charities. .
She also raised money for arts organizations in the UK following funding cuts in 2022.
Billionaire philanthropist and major Democratic donor George Soros and US politician Hillary Clinton are among the recipients.
Soros, a Hungarian-born investor, was one of Donald Trump’s critics targeted in a mail bombing in 2018.
The former US Secretary of State will receive the award weeks before his former political rival is sworn in as president. She lost to Trump in the 2016 election.
Cultural figures including actors Denzel Washington and Michael J. Fox were among those honored with medals, along with football star Lionel Messi, former Los Angeles Lakers basketball player Earvin “Magic” Johnson and fashion designer Ralph Lauren. You will receive it.
American Film Institute founder George Stevens Jr. and former Kennedy Center president David Rubinstein are also among the medal recipients.
Other winners include humanitarian and chef José Andrés. His World Central Kitchen has helped feed civilians in war zones and areas affected by natural disasters. Renowned British conservationist Jane Goodall and science educator Bill Nye.
Former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer, and former Michigan Governor George W. Romney will receive the award posthumously.
The medal was established under former President John F. Kennedy and is awarded at the president’s discretion based on the advice of an external advisory committee.
Previous recipients include Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history, Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh, and Apple founder Steve Jobs.
