CNN
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President Joe Biden will award the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to 19 people on Saturday, honoring a wide range of luminaries in politics, culture and the arts, including former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, designer Ralph Lauren and the soccer superstar Lionel Messi, U2 frontman Bono and philanthropist and mega-donor George Soros.

The medal is awarded to individuals “who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values ​​or security of the United States, to world peace or to other significant societal, public or private endeavors,” a White House statement said. Biden himself is a recipient, He was awarded the medal by then-President Barack Obama in the final days of his term in office.

“President Biden believes that great leaders keep their faith, give everyone a fair chance and put decency above all else,” the White House said the statement. “These nineteen individuals are great leaders who have made America a better place. They are great leaders because they are good people who have made extraordinary contributions to their country and the world.”

Two prominent American politicians will be honored posthumously: former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and former Republican Governor of Michigan George Romney, the father of former Senator Mitt Romney.

In a eulogy for Kennedy’s wife Ethel last year, Biden said he had “only two political heroes in my life: Dr. (Martin Luther King Jr.) and Bobby Kennedy,” while also mentioning that he decorated his Oval Office with a bust of Kennedy. The traditional political family made national headlines in recent months when the Kennedys’ second eldest son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was controversially chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Biden has already honored a number of political allies with the award, including last year former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina.

The president’s decision to honor Clinton caps a long history of mutual admiration between the two Democratic leaders and comes after Bill and Hillary Clinton honored Biden with the Clinton Global Citizen Award in a surprise ceremony in New York last September. Biden accepted the award emotionally, thanking the former secretary of state “for the way you helped me, for the way you advocated for me with so much passion.”

“I can’t tell you, you can ask Jill, I – anyway, I love you. I love you,” Biden said.

The president will also recognize Soros, a major liberal donor who the White House says has “supported organizations and projects around the world that strengthen democracy, human rights, education and social justice,” and famed Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who hosted political fundraisers for the Biden campaign .

Lauren, a titan of the design industry, is also among the honorees on Saturday. Lauren’s clothing has long been a favorite of the Biden family, including first lady Jill Biden, who wore a Ralph Lauren design on the cover of Vogue in August, and her first granddaughter Naomi Biden, who wore a Ralph Lauren dress at her White House wedding Lauren wore 2022.

Celebrity chef, humanitarian and outspoken Trump critic José Andrés is being recognized for his work with World Central Kitchen, which the White House said has “revolutionized the way food assistance reaches communities affected by natural disasters and conflict around the world.” “.

In the entertainment sector, actors Michael J. Fox and Denzel Washington as well as Messi and former NBA player Earvin “Magic” Johnson are to be honored. Washington was expected to be among the honorees in 2022, but he had to pull out of the ceremony after testing positive for Covid-19.

Last year, musician and humanitarian Bono joined Jill Biden in her box at the State of the Union address, where he praised his work fighting AIDS and building support for the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). was honored, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. Bono and his U2 bandmates were also among the honorees at the 2022 Kennedy Center Honors ceremony. He will receive the Medal of Freedom on Saturday.

On the science front, Biden will recognize Bill Nye, CEO and climate activist of the Planetary Society, and world-renowned conservationist Jane Goodall. Nye has worked with the administration in the past to advance the Biden White House’s climate initiatives and recorded an interview with Biden at the White House in 2021 to advance the president’s “Build Back Better” plan. A scaled-down version of the law was eventually called the Inflation Reduction Act after the original bill failed to gain sufficient support in Congress.

Posthumous medals will be awarded to civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer and former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, while LGBT advocate Tim Gill, private equity leader David Rubenstein and American Film Institute and Kennedy Center Honors founder George Stevens Jr. , rounding out the list.