Right: Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard receives his award from President George Bush at a White House ceremony.Arguments in favour of former Prime Minister John Howard having received the Medal of Freedom
1. The award is made to individuals, not nations, and is not a representative honourThe Medal of Freedom is not a national award. Its recipients are given the award as a mark of their individual achievement, not as representatives of their nations.
The Medal of Freedom Internet site states, 'The Presidential Medal of Freedom, medal awarded annually by the President of the United States to individuals...
Recipients of the medal are those who have made outstanding contributions to the security or national interest of the United States or to world peace, or those who have made a significant public or private accomplishment...Recipients have included educators, diplomats, authors, scientists, and business executives.'
A number of United States presidents have been awarded the medal. These have included Lyndon Baines Johnson, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. However, this was to honour their individual achievements as leaders, not the United States, the nation they led. The numerous other politicians who have received the award have also done so for their individual achievements. They have not received the award as a recognition of the countries they represent.
Therefore, it can be claimed, it is not relevant that John Howard is no longer Australia's Prime Minister and that many people within the country approve neither of his actions, nor of his receipt of the Medal of Freedom.
2. The award is given primarily at the discretion of the United States president
Defenders of John Howard's receipt of the Medal of Freedom note that it is inappropriate to complain that the United States President determines who will receive the honour. Since its inception, the medal has been awarded largely at the discretion of the President. Though there is a recommending board, the primary responsibility for determining who will receive the award rests with the President.
The Medal of Freedom's Internet site states, 'The Presidential Medal of Freedom [is] awarded annually by the President of the United States to individuals selected by him or recommended to him by the Distinguished Civilian Service Awards Board.'
Before the ceremony at which John Howard received his award, President Bush had already awarded 78 such medals during his term as president. President Bush has noted, 'In these eight years I have presented the Medal of Freedom to some of our most eminent citizens. On occasion, I've also had the honor of presenting it to citizens of other lands, who inspired particular admiration in the United States and provided courageous leadership to our world. Among these recipients have been Vaclav Havel, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Nelson Mandela, and the late Pope John Paul II.
In 2007, George Bush honoured Cuban anti-abortion and pro-democracy activist Oscar Elias Biscet, "To Kill A Mockingbird" novelist Harper Lee, the 1992 Nobel economics prize winner Gary Becker; Human Genome Project leader Francis Collins; US civil rights leader Benjamin Hooks; former House Foreign Affairs committee chairman Henry Hyde; and groundbreaking television executive Brian Lamb.
In 2006, George Bush had honoured Ruth Johnson Colvin a literacy educator; Norman C. Francis has served as President of Xavier University of Louisiana for nearly 40 years; Paul Johnson an historian and journalist; Riley "B.B." King a blues singers and guitarist; Joshua Lederberg who had also received a Nobel Prize for his work in bacterial genetics; David McCullough an historian; Norman Y. Mineta a mayor, congressman, and Cabinet Secretary; John "Buck" O'Neil a talented player and manager in the Negro Baseball Leagues; William Safire a writer and commentators; Natan Sharansky who was imprisoned in the gulag by the Soviet regime for his work to advance religious liberty and human rights.
The variety of recipients President Bush has recognised via the Medal of Freedom suggests the extent of his discretion in the award of the medal.
3. John Howard has been a consistent supporter of United States policies and is seen by the Bush administration as a defender of national and international security
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is designed to recognise individuals who have made 'an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.'
In awarding John Howard the Medal of Freedom, President Bush explained why the former Prime Minister of Australia met the criteria for being awarded the medal. Mr Bush stated, 'John Howard...was a faithful steward of Australia's alliances, and a sturdy friend in a time of need.
At an event here in Washington, he reflected on the many tests that our two countries faced together in the 20th century. He spoke with feeling about our shared values -- as well as our obligation to defend them, and "if necessary fight for them, and be ready to repel those who would seek to take [our] freedoms away."
As it happens, John Howard spoke those words on Monday, September the 10th, 2001 -- and in all that followed, he proved true to his convictions. He always has been brave in the defense of freedom. In these seven years, both our countries have lost innocent civilians and suffered casualties on the field of battle. But this man, who saw the burning Pentagon on September the 11th, and who ... comforted the survivors of Bali, never wavered in his commitment to overcoming this great danger to civilization. He never wavered in his support for liberty, and free institutions, and the rule of law as the true and hopeful alternatives to ideologies of violence and repression. He's a man of honesty and moral clarity. He can make a decision, he can defend it, and he stands his ground. That's why I called him a Man of Steel.
In the character of John Winston Howard we see that fine Australian spirit of "standing by your mates."'
4. John Howard has received a range of other awards
In response to those who consider John Howard unworthy of the Medal of Freedom it has been noted that the former Prime Minister has received a variety of other awards.
The Medal Freedom is the most recent of a long list of distinguished awards for Mr Howard since he lost power in the 2007 general election. In 20088 Mr Howard was recognised in the Queen's Birthday honours list as a Companion of the Order of Australia.
The conservative group American Enterprise Institute presented him with the Irving Krystol Award for exceptional intellectual or practical contributions to improved government policy, social welfare, or political understanding.
In December, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem awarded Mr Howard an honorary doctorate for outstanding statesmanship for his leading role in promoting democracy and combating international terrorism.
During his prime ministership, Mr Howard also received an award from the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, an honour usually reserved for Americans.
Mr Howard was also recognised for restoring law and order in the Solomon Islands.
Defenders of Mr Howard's receipt of the award have noted that the range of other awards that Mr Howard has received demonstrate that the former Prime Minister is a remarkable man who is worthy of his most recent honour.
5. A wide variety of people have received the award since 1945
A list of the previous recipients of the Medal of Freedom indicates that they have been awarded to a very diverse assortment of people. Among the actors who have received the award are Lucille Ball, Doris Day, Kirk Douglas, Danny Kaye and Olivia De Havilland. The award has also been received by television personalities Bill Cosby, Carol Burnett and Johnny Carson. Among the sports people who have received the award are Joe DiMaggio, Jack Nicklaus and Roberto Clemente.
Defenders of Howard's award have noted that Mr Howard was at least as worthy of the distinction as the many actors, television personalities and sportsmen who have received the medal.
Taking a more negative view of this diversity of recipient is Binoy Kampmark a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, University of Cambridge. Binoy Kampmark has asked 'what does a freedom medal actually entail? Robert McNamara, technocrat extraordinaire and architect of the failed war in Vietnam received it for being a 'brilliant analyst'. And presumably one can engender freedom and combat tyranny through superlative baseball (Joe DiMaggio is there), something which might baffle most world citizens.'
The implication of Ms Kampmark's remarks is that the award has been so widely distributed that it is not reasonable to deny the award to Australia's former Prime Minister the medal.
Kampmark concluded by observing, 'In the final analysis, it is perhaps fitting that Howard and Blair, who, along with Bush, assaulted the English language in a most brutal way while in office, substituting accepted terms for their opposites, should receive such an award.'
Ms Kampmark's support for Howard's receipt of the award is in part ironic. Others have presented similar arguments in support of Mr Howard's honour but without Kampmark's apparent reservations.
The Right Pulse presents itself as 'A blog for the Australian conservative'. On January 14, 2009, the Right Pulse stated, 'The media's childish coverage of Howard's Medal of Freedom award continues. To re-cap, first the Australian found an obscure son of a dead medal recipient to say some unkind things about Howard, then we had a pathetic article from the SMH about how a Qantas aircraft carrying Howard to the USA to be awarded the medal was delayed 55 minutes, and this once again some how made Howard undeserving of the medal' This site suggests that Mr Howard is a reasonable recipient of the award and that those who dispute this are likely to be prejudiced against the former Prime Minister.