President Biden on Friday will bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to several big-name political allies in the Democratic Party.
Of the 19 recipients Mr. Biden selected for the honor, five will be awarded to high-profile Democrats who have supported his agenda, including one who worked in his administration.
Mr. Biden’s choices reflect how the award, which recognizes people who have made “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or the national interests of the United States,” has become increasingly partisan in recent years.
The Democrats who will be honored by Mr. Biden include:
• Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, a former House majority whip. Mr. Clyburn worked to turn out the Black vote for Mr. Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary in his home state, reversing his poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire and putting him on a path to the nomination.
• Former Vice President Al Gore, who has endorsed Mr. Biden and his climate initiatives.
• John Kerry, who served as Mr. Biden’s climate czar, was also a secretary of state under former President Obama and the Democrats’ 2004 presidential nominee.
• Rep. Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat and a former House speaker, who served as a staunch Biden defender in Congress.
• Michael Bloomberg, a longtime independent who launched a bid for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020. Despite losing the nomination to Mr. Biden, he funded $15 million worth of media ads to boost Mr. Biden in the final weeks of the general election.
Mr. Biden is also posthumously awarding the Medal of Freedom to Frank Lautenberg, a five-term Democratic senator from New Jersey. Mr. Lautenberg died in 2013 and Mr. Biden delivered the eulogy at his funeral, lauding their decades together in the U.S. Senate.
The president will honor one Republican, Elizabeth Dole, who has served as a U.S. senator, secretary of transportation and secretary of labor.
So far, Mr. Biden has awarded 17 medals since 2022, though largely to civil rights leaders and athletes.
The award was meant to be a nonpartisan tribute to citizens who have contributed to the country, however, it became increasingly political in recent years.
Former President Trump awarded the medal to Miriam Adelson, the wife of GOP super donor Sheldon Adelson. The Adelsons donated hundreds of millions to electing Republicans, including Mr. Trump.
He also famously bestowed the medal on talk-show host Rush Limbaugh at the State of the Union address as well as on such conservatives as former Sen. Orrin Hatch, Utah Republican, and supply-side economist Arthur Laffer.
Mr. Obama also honored top Democrats but also bestowed the award on multiple Republicans, including former Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana and former President George W. Bush.
Others being awarded the Medal of Freedom by Mr. Biden on Friday include civil rights activists Medgar Evers, who died in 1963, Opal Lee, and Clarence B. Jones.
The athletes who will receive the award are two iconic U.S. Olympians who each won seven gold medals — swimmer Katie Ledecky and Jim Thorpe, who also played Major League Baseball and was elected to the pro football Hall of Fame.
Others who will be honored include talk-show host Phil Donahue and actress Michelle Yeoh.