WASHINGTON — President Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Tuesday to an eclectic mix of Americans from the sciences, arts, sports, politics and human rights, some of them household names and others who he indicated should be.
Among those honored were such iconic figures as Willie Mays, Barbra Streisand, Itzhak Perlman, James Taylor, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Stephen Sondheim and Steven Spielberg. There was also the widow of a general who helped other survivors, and a space scientist who was a pioneer in diversity as well as the cosmos.
“This is an extraordinary group,” Mr. Obama said during the ceremony in the East Room of the White House. “Even by the standards of Medal of Freedom recipients, this is a class act. We are just reminded when we see these individuals here on the stage what an incredible tapestry this country is.”
He added: “They represent what’s best in us.”
The Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor the president can bestow, and Mr. Obama has used his selections over the years to reflect policy priorities, political affiliations and personal hero worship. While the big-name recipients drew a crowd of onlookers, the president seemed just as impressed with those who made a difference without achieving great fame.
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President Obama, hugging Mr. Spielberg on Tuesday, has used his selections to reflect policy priorities and to honor his heroes. Credit Zach Gibson/The New York Times
He draped the medal around the neck of Bonnie Carroll, who founded the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, or TAPS, after her husband, Brig. Gen. Tom Carroll, died in a military plane crash in 1992. Mr. Obama extolled Katherine G. Johnson, a NASA mathematician who opened the door for women and African-Americans as she calculated historic spaceflights of the astronauts Alan Shepard and John Glenn.
The president also posthumously honored Billy Frank Jr., a lifelong advocate of Indian treaty rights who led so-called fish-ins to preserve salmon resources in Washington State, and Minoru Yasui, who fought a World War II military curfew for Japanese-Americans all the way to the Supreme Court.
Mr. Obama included a few fellow politicians in the 17 recipients honored, including Senator Barbara A. Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland, the longest-serving woman in Congress, and former Representative Lee H. Hamilton, Democrat of Indiana, who helped lead panels on the Iraq war and the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Mr. Obama honored two other Americans posthumously: Yogi Berra, the legendary baseball player and coach, and Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman elected to Congress.
Mr. Obama seemed in a lighthearted mood. In reciting the achievements of Mr. Berra, known for his malapropisms as well as his gifts on the field, the president said, “One thing we know for sure — if you can’t imitate him, don’t copy him.”
The audience laughed — eventually. “It took everybody a while,” Mr. Obama said with a smile.
When a telephone rang during his description of Mr. Spielberg’s many movies, the president joked: “Somebody is calling to see if they can book him for a deal right now. They want to make a pitch.”
And then he made one of his own: “So there’s this really good-looking president,” he started.
But Mr. Obama also reflected on how that president got to be on that stage on Tuesday. In introducing Mr. Mays, one of the early African-American stars in Major League Baseball, Mr. Obama said, “It’s because of giants like Willie that someone like me could even think about running for president.”
Correction: November 24, 2015
An earlier version of a picture caption incorrectly identified Peggen Frank as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Ms. Frank received the medal on behalf of her father, Billy Frank Jr., an environmental activist who died last year.
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