2001 Citizens' Medal Presentation Ceremony
1/8/2001
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This video shows President William Jefferson Clinton presenting the Presidential Citizens Medal on the South Lawn at the White House. This footage is official public record produced by the White House Television (WHTV) crew.
The Presidential Citizens Medal recipients included:
The Presidential Citizens Medal recipients included:
- Sports legend Henry "Hank" Aaron, who set baseball's all-time homerun record and tore down racial barriers in the process
- Boxer and a social activist Muhammad Ali
- Co-Founder, President, and Executive Director of the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute, Juan Andrade
- Ruby Bridges, who became famous as the first African-American child to desegregate the all-White William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana, walking past angry protestors in order to enter
- Ron Brown (posthumously), the first African American to become a partner in his law firm, chairman of a major political party, and Secretary of Commerce
- Don Cameron, Executive Director of the National Education Association (NEA) and as Founding Co-Chair of the CEO Forum on Education and Technology
- Sister Carol Coston, founder of Partners for the Common Good, for promoting human rights and social justice, and helping to bring economic development to low-income areas
- Archibald Cox, who argued numerous landmark civil rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court as Solicitor General under President John F. Kennedy, and served as special prosecutor during the Watergate scandal
- Biophysicist Dr. Charles DeLisi, the first government scientist to outline the feasibility, goals, and parameters of the Human Genome Project
- Jack Greenberg, who argued 40 civil rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including Brown v. Board of Education, and worked as a law professor, advocate for international human rights, and head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- Researcher, physician, and virologist David Ho, one of the world's leading scientists in the fight against HIV/AIDS
- Dr. I. King Jordan, the first deaf president of Gallaudet University, who played a key role in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and professor Anthony Lewis, defender of freedom of speech and civil rights
- Irene Morgan, who was arrested, tried, and fined for breaking segregation laws after refusing to surrender her seat to a White couple on a Greyhound bus in 1944 — she won a landmark Supreme Court victory that outlawed segregation in interstate transportation.
- Judge Constance Baker Motley, key legal strategist of the civil rights movement, who won nine cases before the Supreme Court and became the first Black woman to be appointed as a federal judge
- Dr. Helen Rodriguez-Trias, pediatrician, educator, and dynamic leader in public health
- Edward Roybal, founder of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who was at the forefront of efforts to advance civil rights, establish rural mental health programs, fund AIDS research, and improve support services for veterans and the elderly
- Robert Rubin, Director of the National Economic Council and Secretary of the Treasury
- Senator Warren B. Rudman, Co-Founder of the Concord Coalition and Chairman of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
- Charles Ruff (posthumously), who served as Watergate Special Prosecutor, Acting Deputy Attorney General, United States Attorney, Corporation Counsel for the District of Columbia, and Counsel to the President
- Holocaust survivor Rabbi Arthur Schneier, international envoy for the Chairman of the Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad, and founder and president of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation
- Eli J. Segal, founder of AmeriCorps and the first Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service
- Advocate for the environment Congressman John F. Seiberling, who championed numerous bills, including the Alaska Lands Act, to safeguard millions of acres of parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and wilderness areas
- John Sengstacke (posthumously), crusader for equal opportunity for African Americans and owner, publisher, and editor of the Chicago Defender, who played a crucial role in helping to integrate the Armed Forces, major league baseball, the U.S. Postal Service, and the White House press corps
- Hero of the civil rights movement Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth, founder of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and Co-Founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
- Actor Elizabeth Taylor, a dedicated leader in the fight against AIDS
- Editor, translator and producer, Marion Wiesel, who translated 14 of her husband Elie Wiesel’s books from French to English, including Night
- Disability rights activist Patrisha Wright, who was instrumental in the campaign to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
This primary source comes from the Collection WJC-WHTV: Video Recordings of the White House Television Office (Clinton Administration).
National Archives Identifier: 6850713
Full Citation: Video MT12399, MT12400; 2001 Citizens' Medal Presentation Ceremony; 1/8/2001; Video Recordings Relating to the Clinton Administration, 1/20/1993 - 1/20/2001; Collection WJC-WHTV: Video Recordings of the White House Television Office (Clinton Administration); William J. Clinton Library, Little Rock, AR. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/citizens-medal-ceremony, April 25, 2025]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
