Michael J Fox cheered at White House as he steps forward to receive Medal of Freedom from Biden
Cheers rang out through the East Room of the White House on Saturday as actor and activist Michael J. Fox walked up to the stage to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Joe Biden.
Fox is one of 19 people, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Bono, to be given the award on Saturday, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
“You defend the values of America, even when they’re under attack,” Biden told the honorees. “Together, you leave an incredible mark on our country, with insight and influence that can be felt around the globe.”
Today’s ceremony marked the final time Biden presented the prestigious honor during his term in office.
In addition to Fox and Clinton, the group of awarded luminaries included chef and World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres, late Obama administration defense secretary Ashton Carter, and Los Angeles Lakers basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
The latter honoree elicited laughter from the crowd as he squatted down to let the president put the medal over his head.
Other arts and cultural leaders were also honored, including actor Denzel Washington, longtime Vogue editor Anna Wintour, American Film Institute founder George Stevens Jr, and former Kennedy Center chair David Rubinstein.
In addition, the president commended designer Ralph Lauren, soccer star Lionel Messi, LGBTQ+ activist and entrepreneur Tim Gill, conservationist Jane Goodall and Democratic Party megadonor and philanthropist George Soros.
Biden also posthumously honored voting rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, the late Michigan governor George Romney (father of former Utah senator Mitt Romney) and the late New York senator and U.S. attorney general Robert F Kennedy Sr., whose son, lawyer and anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is set to be nominated as Donald Trump’s next Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Speaking about Kennedy, Biden sounded a personal note.
“Bobby Kennedy is one of my true political heroes,” the president said. “I love and miss him dearly.”
The honor is awarded solely at the discretion of the President of the United States, but recipients are often selected with the help of an outside advisory panel.
Established under the late president John F Kennedy, the medal is “presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.”
“President Biden believes great leaders keep the faith, give everyone a fair shot, and put decency above all else. These 19 Americans are great leaders who have made America a better place. They are great leaders because they are good people who have made extraordinary contributions to their country and the world,” the White House said in a statement announcing the awards.
In 2022, Biden bestowed the medal on 17 recipients, including gymnast Simone Biles and former Arizona congresswoman turned gun safety advocate Gabrielle Giffords.
Last year he awarded the decoration to 19 people, including former vice president Al Gore, ex-New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh.
Michael J. Fox on Parkinson's and how he finds "optimism is sustainable"
Michael J. Fox remembered the first time he came to New York City, to meet with Jane Pauley on "The Today Show." "Me and my friend who came with me to New York wandered down Fifth, and we were at breakfast. And it was $20. I lost my s***. I went, 'Twenty dollars?!?'"
At the time Fox was promoting a new show, "Family Ties," and I introduced a new name in Hollywood: Michael J. Fox, on the cusp of a very bright future. "Family Ties" debuted 40 years ago, and after taping the first show with a live audience, he knew it landed.
He knew he found something – and the moment he'd found it: "I just did this ad-lib thing where I was supposed to say, 'Hello, this is Alex Keaton,' and I just went, 'Hello, this is Alex P. Keaton.' And it became a big part of the character."
"Is P funny?" asked Pauley.
"P is funny," said Fox. "P is percussive. Percussive P!"
Parkinson's? Not funny: an incurable degenerative disease. But for years, Fox has been getting a laugh describing Parkinson's as a gift: "It's the gift that keeps on taking."
Pauley said, "Every time I see you, I can see it's taken a little bit more of something."
"It's been 30+ years; not many of us that have had this disease for 30 years," he said. "It sucks having Parkinson's."
As millions know too well. "For some families, some people, it's a nightmare. It's a living hell," he said. "They have to deal with realities that are beyond most people's understandings."
Fox is first to say he has advantages: "My life is set up so I can pack Parkinson's along with me if I have to."
"But at some point, Parkinson's gonna make the call for you, isn't it?" asked Pauley.
"Yeah, it's, it's banging on the door. Yeah, I mean, I'm not gonna lie. It's gettin' hard, it's gettin' harder. It's gettin' tougher. Every day it's tougher. But, but that's, that's the way it is. I mean, you know, who do I see about that?"
Even talking comes at a price, as he showed us five years ago on "Sunday Morning."
"I can make myself still, but I won't be as animated," he said. Still, but silent. "I can't talk, [because] I start to move."
From 2017: Michael J. Fox's fight against Parkinson's
More now than tremors and slurred speech, muscle rigidity, the exhausting jerks and twists; it's been falls and broken bones. "I had spinal surgery. I had a tumor on my spine. And it was benign, but it messed up my walking," he said. "And then started to break stuff. Broke this arm, and I broke this arm, I broke this elbow. I broke my face. I broke my hand."
"Falling on things?"
"Which is a big killer with Parkinson's. It's falling and aspirating food and getting pneumonia. All these subtle ways that gets ya'. You don't die from Parkinson's; you die with Parkinson's. I'm not gonna be 80. I'm not gonna be 80."
He does think about mortality, but at 61, he savors his past. "I had to go through our den, TV room. And I look up and 'Back to the Future' was on, it was just starting. And I hadn't seen it since, like, 1987. I hadn't seen it."
As he recalls, Tracy Pollan, his wife of 35 years, had been waiting for him. "I sat down on the sofa. Like, four or five minutes later, Tracy goes, 'What are you doing? Where are you?' And I said, '"Back to the Future"'s on.' She said, 'You're watching "Back to the Future"?' And I said, 'Yeah, you know, I'm really good in this!'"
In the summer of 1985 Michael J. Fox was the hottest name in Hollywood, with not only the #1 movie ("Back to the Future") but also a #2 ("Teen Wolf"), and a top TV show that would capture 20-30% of the viewing audience – unthinkable today. "On the Thursday night, walking down the hallway of a hotel, and every room I could hear 'Family Ties,' And it was, it was massive," said Fox.
"How'd you handle that fame?"
"I pigged out on it," he replied. "I loved it."
In recognition of his foundation work, old friend Woody Harrelson presented Fox with an honorary Oscar last year. In his acceptance speech, Fox acknowledged to Harrelson, "We did some damage."
Pauley asked, "Is it possible you did some damage?"
"Yeah, very possible," Fox replied. "I mean, there's so many ways that you can, that I could've hurt myself. I could've hit my head. I could've drank too much at a certain developmental period. Most likely I think is, that I was exposed to some kind of chemical. What we say is that genetics loads the gun and environment pulls the trigger."
The Michael J. Fox Foundation has raised $1.5 billion for research, and this month announced a breakthrough: a biomarker for Parkinson's which could mean faster diagnosis and treatment.
"This changes everything," said Fox. "I know with where we are right now, in five years they will be able to tell if they have it, be able to tell if they're ever gonna get it, we'll know how to treat it."
His family ("The child I love best is one I'm with at the time") all appear in a new documentary about Fox, his life, his career, and of course, Parkinson's, called "Still" (debuting on Apple TV+ May 12).
Pauley asked, "What does still imply, evoke?"
"I could never be still, until I couldn't be still," he replied.
"Still has other meanings. Still here. Still committed."
"And I'll take 'em all!"
And in "Still," we see it all, with Fox losing his footing, but not his dignity, nor his sense of humor. When he falls on the street while greeting a passer-by, he comes in with the punchline: "You knocked me off my feet."
"Got the laugh!" said Pauley.
"Anything for the laugh!" he replied.
Michael J. Fox is a serious person: funny, but wise.
Pauley said, "There had never been a time in your life that wasn't amazing."
"Very good life."
"And it's perverse to say it, but kind of a 'charmed' life."
"That's the point; that's the joke," Fox said. "I recognize how hard this is for people, and I recognize how hard it is for me. But I have a certain set of skills that allow me to deal with this stuff. And I realized, with gratitude, optimism is sustainable. And if you can find something to be grateful for, then you can find something to look forward to, and you carry on."
To watch a trailer for "Still" click on the video player below:
For more info:
Story produced by Mary Raffalli. Editor: Lauren Barnello.
Biden awards Presidential Medal of Freedom to Hillary Clinton, Michael J. Fox, Denzel Washington
WASHINGTON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, chef Jose Andres, actor Michael J. Fox and conservationist Jane Goodall on Saturday in one of his final official acts in office.
Biden, a Democrat who leaves the White House on Jan. 20, when President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated, also gave what is considered the highest U.S. civilian honor to humanitarian and U2 singer Bono, fashion designer Ralph Lauren, "Science Guy" Bill Nye, actor Denzel Washington, basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
Others receiving the honor at the White House included Tim Gill, an LGBT activist; David Rubenstein, a philanthropist and co-founder of The Carlyle Group; and George Stevens Jr., a writer and director who founded the American Film Institute.
International soccer star Lionel Messi, who did not attend the ceremony, also received the award. White House officials said the Argentinian player had a scheduling conflict. Investor and philanthropist George Soros also received the award but did not attend the ceremony. His son Alex accepted it in his place.
Biden also awarded the Medal of Freedom posthumously to Fannie Lou Hamer, a civil rights activist; Ash Carter, a former secretary of defense; Robert F. Kennedy, a former attorney general and U.S. senator and brother of President John F. Kennedy; and George Romney, a businessman and former governor of Michigan and secretary of Housing and Urban Development. His son, Senator Mitt Romney, accepted on his behalf.
Biden called the group of recipients "truly extraordinary people" who gave their efforts to shaping the cause and culture of America.
The picks reflected some of Biden's passions, allies and heroes.
Clinton, who made her own historic and unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2016, has been a supporter of Biden's, including his candidacy for re-election until he stepped aside in July. The former U.S. senator and first lady received a standing ovation from the White House crowd.
Fox, a star of the "Back to the Future" movies and television shows "Family Ties" and "Spin City," has Parkinson's disease and entered the East Room in a wheelchair but walked, with assistance, and stood when Biden put the medal around his neck. He smiled and clapped throughout the ceremony.
Biden said Kennedy was one of his "true political heroes." Kathleen Kennedy, the late senator's daughter, accepted the award on his behalf.
Andres, the founder of World Central Kitchen charity group, has fed scores of people in conflict zones, including in Gaza, where some of his food aid workers were killed last year. He sought to hold back tears when he received the award.
