However not many individuals have declined the Presidential Medal of Freedom.“Only a few have accomplished it, whether or not it was out of modesty
However not many individuals have declined the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“Only a few have accomplished it, whether or not it was out of modesty or for particular circumstances,” stated E. Fletcher McClellan, a professor of political science at Elizabethtown School in Pennsylvania who has written in regards to the historical past of the medal.
Mr. Belichick’s refusal to simply accept the award “is by far probably the most public and important rejection,” Professor McClellan stated.
Listed here are the others who’ve turned down presidential honors.
Moe Berg
In 1946, President Harry S. Truman awarded the medal, then identified merely because the Medal of Freedom, to Moe Berg, a former Main League Baseball catcher who performed for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Crimson Sox and was fluent in a minimum of half a dozen languages, together with German and Japanese.
His reward for languages and quick wit made him a great spy throughout World Struggle II, when he was tasked with studying whether or not the Nazis have been making an atomic bomb.
The mission was so dangerous that Berg was given a cyanide pill that he may swallow in case he was caught, in keeping with “The Catcher Was a Spy” by Nicholas Dawidoff.
When Berg discovered he had been awarded the Medal of Freedom, he declined to simply accept it.
In a be aware to a colonel, he stated the story of his “humble contribution” couldn’t be divulged.
“The medal embarrasses me,” he added, in keeping with Mr. Dawidoff’s guide.
“I feel it’s nearly befitting Moe that he didn’t take it,” stated Aviva Kempner, a filmmaker who made a documentary about Berg. “It suits into his character of being secretive.”
She added: “He didn’t spy and threat his life every single day for his nation for a medal. He did it so Nazism might be defeated.”
Berg’s sister later accepted the medal on his behalf and donated it to the Baseball Corridor of Fame.
Jacqueline Kennedy
President John F. Kennedy created the Presidential Medal of Freedom as it’s identified at this time.
When Truman established the Medal of Freedom throughout his administration, it was meant to honor individuals who had demonstrated notable service throughout battle.
In February 1963, Kennedy reintroduced it because the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an honor that might be bestowed on the discretion of the president for varied sorts of service and achievements.
He and Jacqueline Kennedy, the primary woman, designed the brand new medal collectively, stated Kyle Kopko, an adjunct professor at Elizabethtown School who has helped to take care of a database of recipients.
President Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, earlier than the brand new medal was unveiled.
When President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded the medal to him posthumously, he sought to incorporate Ms. Kennedy within the honor.
She declined to simply accept it, nonetheless, probably as a result of she wished to make her husband “the point of interest of the respect,” Professor Kopko stated.
Since 1963, greater than 600 medals have been awarded, Professor McClellan stated.
He stated he was hard-pressed to consider others who had rejected the award.
“If there was a telephone name to a determine who was informed, ‘You’re getting the medal,’ and that determine stated, ‘No thanks,’ we don’t have any report of that,” Professor McClellan stated.
President Truman famously stated he would relatively get the Medal of Honor, a army honor, than be president.
However in 1971, he blocked an try by the Home of Representatives to present him the medal.
In a letter to Congress, he wrote, “I don’t take into account that I’ve accomplished something which needs to be the explanation of any award, Congressional or in any other case.”
The Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for army valor in motion, is historically offered by the sitting president.
Truman served as an artillery officer throughout World Struggle I, however his be aware to Congress advised that he felt that accepting an award meant for “fight bravery” would detract from the respect, in keeping with a Could 1971 article in The New York Occasions.
“This doesn’t imply I don’t admire what you and others have accomplished, as a result of I do admire the type issues which were stated and the proposal to have the award provided to me,” Truman wrote. “Due to this fact, I shut by saying thanks, however I can’t settle for a Congressional Medal of Honor.”