18/11/2010 10:08
Obama awards freedom medal to Bush senior, Merkel, Yo-Yo Ma
President Barack Obama on Wednesday named billionaire Warren Buffett a winner of the 2010 Medal of Freedom, along with former President George H.W. Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, RIA Novosti reports citing the White House.
The president picked a total of 15 people for the 2010 award, the highest U.S. civilian honor, which will be presented at a White House ceremony early next year.
In addition to Bush, other politicians named by Obama were civil rights champion Congressman John Lewis and Merkel, the first woman and first East German to serve as Chancellor of a unified Germany.
Writer Maya Angelou, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and murdered aid worker Doctor Tom Little, who was killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan in August, were also named, as well as basketball great Bill Russell and baseball Hall of Famer Stan 'The Man' Musial.
The Medal of Freedom is given to people deemed to have made particularly significant contributions to U.S. security, peace generally, or in cultural or other significant areas, the White House reports.