Biden awards the Medal of Freedom to Nancy Pelosi, Medgar Evers, Michelle Yeoh, Al Gore and others

President Biden awards the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to actor Michelle Yeoh on Friday. President Biden bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 19 people Friday, including civil rights icons such as the late Medgar Evers, political leaders such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and actor Michelle Yeoh. Biden said at the White House that the award is “the nation’s highest civilian honor” and that this year’s recipients are “incredible people whose relentless curiosity, inventiveness, ingenuity and hope have kept faith in a better tomorrow.” President Biden hugs Opal Lee during a White House ceremony Friday awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Seven politicians were among the recipients: former New York mayor and philanthropist Michael R. Bloomberg; U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn ; former Sen. Elizabeth Dole ; climate activist and former Vice President Al Gore; Biden’s former climate envoy, former Sen. John F. Kerry ; the late former Sen. Frank Lautenberg ; and Pelosi, the Democratic congresswoman from San Francisco and the only female speaker of the House. President Biden awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, the only woman ever elected speaker of the House.