Hillary Rodham Clinton receives 2013 Liberty Medal
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton received the 2013 Liberty Medal in front of Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center on Tuesday night.
Clinton received the medal in recognition of her lifelong career in public service and her ongoing advocacy efforts on behalf of women and girls around the globe. She appeared in an outside ceremony on the mall that overlooks Independence Hall.
“I am honored and overwhelmed by this extraordinary event,” Clinton said. She also spoke about the importance of the Founding Fathers, the start of the women’s rights movement and the battle for civil rights during her acceptance speech.
“We are still on our way to that more perfect union,” she said.
The Liberty Medal was established in 1988 to commemorate the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution. Given annually, the medal honors men and women of courage and conviction who strive to secure the blessings of liberty to people around the globe. The Liberty Medal was first administered by the National Constitution Center in 2006, when Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton were honored for their bipartisan humanitarian efforts on behalf of the victims of the tsunami in Southeast Asia and the hurricanes on the Gulf Coast.
Clinton is the 25th recipient of the medal. Last year’s medal was awarded to Muhammad Ali.
Other past Liberty Medal winners include Nelson Mandela, Shimon Peres, Kofi Annan, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, former Prime Minister Tony Blair, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, and Bono. The Medal also has been awarded to organizations, including Doctors Without Borders and CNN International. Six recipients of the Medal subsequently have won the Nobel Peace Prize.
For more on Clinton and the Liberty Medal, visit http://constitutioncenter.org/libertymedal/recipient_2013.html
