Athletes Who Have Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Can all of America "Say Hey"? Yes we can, yes we can.

Today is the 3rd Monday in February, Presidents Day. When Martin Luther King's birthday was approved as a national holiday, the 3rd Monday in January (his actual birthday was January 15), 2 holidays, Lincoln's Birthday (February 12, regardless of the day of the week) and Washington Birthday's (February 22, but celebrated on the 3rd Monday in February) were combined into Presidents Day.

America does not have knighthoods. Our equivalent, our highest civilian decoration, is the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It was first awarded by John F. Kennedy in 1963, to, among others, recently retired Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, former Secretary of Defense Robert Lovett, Senator Herbert Lehman of New York (also a former Governor), Governor Luis Muñoz Marín of Puerto Rico, diplomats Ralph Bunche and Ellsworth Bunker, architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, painter Andrew Wyeth, labor leader George Meany; music figures Marian Anderson, Pablo Casals and Rudolf Serkin; and writers E.B. White, Edmund Wilson and Thornton Wilder.

Unfortunately, while JFK selected these people, he was assassinated before the ceremony to award the medals could be held. The new President, Lyndon Johnson, rescheduled the ceremony, and held it on December 6, 1963 -- and made Kennedy himself the 1st posthumous recipient of the Medal.

LBJ would receive it posthumously from Jimmy Carter; Carter and Gerald Ford from Bill Clinton; Ronald Reagan from George H.W. Bush; and the elder Bush and Clinton from Barack Obama. So every President from the founding of the award in 1963 through 2001 has received it, except Richard Nixon.

There have been 32 sports figures to receive it:

* Baseball: Joe DiMaggio, from Gerald Ford in one of his last acts as President, 1977; Jackie Robinson, posthumously from Ronald Reagan, 1984; Ted Williams, from George H.W. Bush, 1991; Hank Aaron, from George W. Bush in 2002; Roberto Clemente, posthumously from Dubya, 2003; Frank Robinson, from Dubya, 2005; Buck O'Neil, from Dubya, 2006; Stan Musial, from Barack Obama, 2011; Ernie Banks, from Obama, 2013; Yogi Berra and Willie Mays, both from Obama in 2015, although in Yogi's case it was posthumous; broadcaster Vin Scully, from Obama in 2016; and, in what can only have been a tremendous oversight, maybe people thought he'd already gotten it until discovering that he hadn't, Babe Ruth, from Donald Trump, 2018.

* Football: Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, posthumously from Reagan, 1983; coach Earl "Red" Blaik, from Reagan, 1986; and Roger Staubach and Alan Page, from Trump, 2018. Page has also been a Justice of the State Supreme Court in Minnesota, where he played most of his career and attended law school.

* Basketball: Coach John Wooden, from Dubya, 2003; Bill Russell, from Obama, 2011; coach Pat Summitt, from Obama, 2012; coach Dean Smith, from Obama, 2013; and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan, both from Obama in 2016.

* Hockey: So far, none.

* Soccer: So far, none.

* Boxing: Muhammad Ali, from Dubya, 2005. While Joe Louis was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Reagan's order, he was never given the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Nor have Ali's fellow Olympic Gold Medalists turned Heavyweight Champions Floyd Patterson, Joe Frazier and George Foreman.

* Track & Field: Jesse Owens, from Ford, 1976.

* Tennis: Arthur Ashe, posthumously from Clinton, 1993; and Billie Jean King, from Obama, 2009.

* Swimming: Robert Kiphuth, from JFK, 1963, the 1st sports-connected person so honored. Why him? Not so much for coaching the swim team at Yale University from 1918 to 1959, although he won 528 meets and lost only 12, making him the winningest coach in the history of U.S. collegiate swimming; more for his coaching the U.S. Olympic teams during that time.

* Golf, if you consider that a sport: Arnold Palmer in 2004, and Jack Nicklaus in 2005, both by Dubya; and Charles Sifford, the 1st black player on the PGA Tour, in 2014, by Obama. (Sifford was ill, and died a few weeks after the award.)

* And auto racing, if you consider that a sport: Richard Petty, by the elder Bush in 1992.

Note that, of the 32, only 2 qualify as "team owners," and that's not why they were honored. They are Michael Jordan, who now owns the NBA's Charlotte Hornets; and Richard Petty, whose NASCAR unit is called the Petty Enterprises Team.

By President:

* John F. Kennedy: Robert Kiphuth.

* Gerald Ford: Jesse Owens and Joe DiMaggio.

* Ronald Reagan: Bear Bryant, Jackie Robinson, Red Blaik.

* George H.W. Bush: Ted Williams, Richard Petty.

* Bill Clinton: Arthur Ashe.

* George W. Bush: Hank Aaron, John Wooden, Roberto Clemente, Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali, Frank Robinson, Jack Nicklaus, Buck O'Neil.

* Barack Obama: Billie Jean King, Stan Musial, Pat Summitt, Bill Russell, Ernie Banks, Dean Smith, Charles Sifford, Yogi Berra, Willie Mays, Vin Scully, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan.

* Donald Trump: Babe Ruth, Roger Staubach, Alan Page.