The 17 people are the first people Biden has awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor since taking office. Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Knight Doug Emhoff also attended the ceremony at the White House.
“The week of July 4th reminds us of what united us a long time ago and still unites us, unites us to the fullest, we strive. We, the people, do our best to ensure that the idea of America, the cause of freedom, shines like the sun to illuminate the future of the world, ”Biden said in his opening statements. “This is the soul of our nation. This is who we are as Americans.”
The medal is “given to people who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant social, public, or private efforts,” the White House said.
The president posthumously awarded the medal to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, former Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain and former AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka.
Academy winning actor Denzel Washington had been scheduled to attend the event to receive his medal, but the White House said it had tested positive for Covid-19 before the ceremony. Biden noted the actor’s absence and said he “couldn’t be here today, but he wanted to be” and said he would give him the medal at another time.
Rapinoe, a member of the U.S. women’s soccer national team, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women’s World Cup champion, is the first female soccer player to receive the medal. Biden also noted that Biles, 25, is the youngest person to receive the award.
The list of recipients included Fred Gray, who was one of the first black members of the Alabama state legislature since Reconstruction and who represented Rosa Parks, the NAACP, and Martin Luther King as attorneys. It also included one of the most decorated women in the history of the U.S. Army, retired Brigadier General Wilma Vaught; an intensive care nurse who was the first American to receive a vaccine against Covid-19 outside of clinical trials, Sandra Lindsay; and the first Hispanic woman to serve as university president, Dr. Julieta García.
Lindsay told CNN’s Boris Sanchez on Thursday that she wanted to use her platform to encourage people to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
His message to those who are still skeptical about vaccination, he said, is “keep researching. Reach people you trust. I’m still here, almost three years ago and I’m still advocating for it. So if you don’t. Protected still, please come out and protect yourself. ”
Other recipients were: Catholic leader of social justice, Sister Simone Campbell, the former executive director of NETWORK who runs the “Nuns on the Bus,” a group of politically active nuns; civil rights activist Diane Nash, who worked with Martin Luther King and is a founding member of the Nonviolent Student Coordinating Committee; Father Alexander Karloutsos, former Vicar General of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America; civil rights lawyer Raul Yzaguirre, who served as CEO and chairman of the La Raza National Council and former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming.
“President Biden has long said that America can be defined in one word: possibilities. These 17 Americans demonstrate the power of possibilities and embody the soul of the nation: hard work, perseverance and faith,” he said. say the White House in a statement. .
Biden is himself honored with the Medal of Freedom. Then-President Barack Obama surprised his vice president with the award in 2017.
This story has been updated with additional news on Thursday.
CNN’s Maegan Vazquez contributed to this report.