France bestows further honor on former United Nations ambassador and Atlanta mayor Andrew Young

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The former mayor of Atlanta, ambassador to the United Nations under President Jimmy Carter and onetime confidant of Martin Luther King Jr. was further honored by France on Thursday, with Young being promoted to the rank of officer in the country's Legion of Honor. Laurent Bili, the French ambassador to the United States, on Thursday bestowed the 91-year-old Young with the new rank, crediting his work to end racial segregation “and paving the way for a fairer America.” Bili also noted Young's advocacy for human rights and efforts to settle a war in what is now Zimbabwe, ending white minority rule there. Thursday's award came nearly 40 years after French President Francois Mitterrand initially inducted Young into the order during a visit to Atlanta in 1984, when Mitterrand also placed a wreath at the tomb of Martin Luther King Jr. Young was mayor at the time, promoting an economic development policy based in part on international ties. “That’s what made Atlanta work.” Young regaled Bili before the ceremony with how he first met Mitterrand in the late 1950s when Young traveled to France as an employee of the National Council of Churches.