WASHINGTON ― President Joe Biden on Saturday named former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and billionaire political activist and philanthropist George Soros recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, part of a group of 19 people selected for the nation's highest civilian honor. Others to be presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom by the outgoing president at a White House ceremony Saturday include U2 frontman Bono, actor Michael J. Fox, actor Denzel Washington , chef José Andrés and William Sanford Nye, better known as television's " Bill Nye the Science Guy .
" From the sports world, decorated professional soccer player Lionel Messi of Argentina and retired NBA legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson will also receive the medal. "President Biden believes great leaders keep the faith, give everyone a fair shot, and put decency above all else," the White House said in a statement. "These 19 Americans are great leaders who have made America a better place.
" Four recipients are being recognized posthumously: former Defense Secretary Ash Carter , civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer ; Robert F. Kennedy , the former U.S.
Attorney General and U.S. senator from New York, who was assassinated while running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968; and George Romney, a former Republican Michigan governor and chairman of American Motors Corporation.
Kennedy, a longtime hero of Biden, was the brother of the late President John F. Kennedy and father of Robert F. Kenne.
