Cheney, Thompson Among 20 to Receive Presidential Citizens Medal

WASHINGTON — Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., are among the 20 individuals who will be honored at the White House Thursday as recipients of the Presidential Citizens Medal.

President Joe Biden will present the medals after delivering remarks during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House Thursday evening.

The honor, originally established by President Richard Nixon in 1969, is the second-highest civilian award bestowed in the United States and is intended to recognize individuals who have performed “exemplary deeds or services for his or her country or fellow citizens.”

Thompson was the chair of the House Select Committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, siege on the U.S. Capitol, and Cheney, of course, was one of only two Republican members to serve on the panel.

Cheney’s role in the investigation ultimately cost her her political career, but the White House noted, she nevertheless continued to be an outspoken advocate for bipartisanship and decency in politics.

Among other things, Cheney campaigned last year for Vice President Kamala Harris, who was running against Cheney’s longtime foe, former President Donald Trump.

Thompson, meanwhile, has not only enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the House, but was an early and active participant in the Civil Rights movement.

All recipients of the citizens medal must be U.S. citizens, but the president otherwise has considerable latitude in who is selected to be honored.

This year, the president has chosen a number of the lawmakers he served with over the years, including former Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., a longtime friend of Biden and the Biden family.

“Chris Dodd has served our nation with distinction for more than 50 years as a United States congressman, senator, respected lawyer, and diplomat,” the White House announcement of the honor said. “From advancing childcare, to reforming our financial markets, to fostering partnerships across the Western Hemisphere — he has stood watch over America as a beacon to the world.”

Another longtime Biden friend being recognized is former Sen. Ted Kaufman, D-Del. Kaufman worked on Biden’s 1972 Senate campaign and went on to serve as his chief of staff.

In 2008, Kaufman was chosen to replace Biden in the Senate by Delaware’s governor, after Biden became the nation’s vice president.

Thursday morning the White House described him as “a master of the Senate who championed everyday Americans and public servants, he’s been at the forefront of consequential debates about the courts, the financial system, and more.”

Other Biden selections share or shared a belief in causes that the president has fought for over the years including women’s rights, gay rights, gun control and cancer research.

This included former Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., who served in Congress for 18 years after her husband was killed and her son gravely wounded by a gunman on the Long Island Rail Road.

While in Congress, McCarthy, a former nurse, championed a number of gun safety measures including improved background checks.

Another former lawmaker being honored is former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, the first woman elected to represent Kansas in the chamber.

During her tenure, Kassabaum advocated strongly for a woman’s right to choose and for health care reform.

Another prominent name from Biden’s years on the Hill is that of former Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J., who went from being a two-time NBA champion to a lawmaker pushing for tax reform, water rights and civil rights.

The White House noted that even while retired, Bradley continueds to seek “to deepen our common humanity with humility and heart.”

Another individual being honored for her work on civil rights is attorney and activist Mary Bonauto, who fought to legalize same-sex marriage in Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maine before arguing before the Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges.

Obergefell established marriage equality as the law of the land.

Frank Butler Jr., a former Navy Seal and dive medicine innovator, introduced Tactical Combat Casualty Care that set new standards for tourniquet use not only for injuries in war, but injuries across daily civilian life. 

His work transformed battlefield trauma care for the United States military and is credited with saving countless lives.

Diane Carlson Evans, an Army Navy nurse during the Vietnam War, founded the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation to ensure female service members received recognition for their service and sacrifice.

Other recipients include Bobby Sager, a photographer and philanthropist whose work is dedicated to bringing attention to strife in war-torn countries.

Eleanor Smeal, who led massive women’s rights protests in the 1970s and went on to steer progress for equal pay and helping the Violence Against Women Act become law.

Thomas Vallely, a U.S.Marine during the Vietnam War, who went on to establish Fulbright University Vietnam, fostering greater economic and cultural exchange in the process.

Frances Visco, president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, who has fought and continues to fight to increase federal funding for breast cancer research, early detection education, and access to women’s healthcare. 

Paula Wallace, founder and president of the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Evan Wolfson, an early leader of the marriage equality movement.

A number of individuals are being honored posthumously. 

These include:

Mitsuye Endo Tsutsumi, who was incarcerated alongside more than 120,000 Japanese Americans. Undaunted, she challenged the injustice and reached the Supreme Court. 

Her resolve allowed thousands of Japanese Americans to return home and rebuild their lives, reminding us that we are a nation that stands for freedom for all.

Collins Seitz, who as a state judge in Delaware, became the first judge in America to integrate a White public school, dismantling the doctrine of “separate but equal” with exacting detail and reverence for the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

Joseph Galloway, a wart correspondent during the Vietnam War.

Louis Lorenzo Redding, who was the first Black attorney admitted to the bar in Delaware, where he argued against segregation in the seminal cases of Bulah v. Gebhart and Belton v. Gebhart – laying the legal framework for Brown v. Board of Education. 

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