Rick Holmes is retired and living in Marlboro after a long career in journalism and opinion-writing, mostly at the MetroWest Daily News in Framingham, Massachusetts, where he served as opinion editor.
MARLBORO-Donald Trump caught some deserved criticism from veterans recently for saying the Presidential Medal of Freedom is the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor.
"It's actually much better," Trump said, "because everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they're soldiers. They're either in very bad shape because they've been hit so many times by bullets or they are dead. [A 2018 recipient] gets it, and she's a healthy, beautiful woman. And they're rated equal, but she got the Presidential Medal of Freedom."
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First, the medals aren't equal, or even equivalent. "Not even close," retired Marine Gen. John Kelly told CNN.
"The Medal of Honor is earned, not won, by incredibly brave actions on the battlefield under fire, typically by very young men who joined when others did not to defend their country," Kelly said. The nation's highest military honor, it is awarded after careful investigation by the Pentagon.
By contrast, the Presidential Medal of Freedom can be awarded to anyone, civilian or military (Colin Powell got it twice); citizen or foreigner (Lyndon Johnson gave it to Pope John XXIII, and George W. Bush gave it to Nelson Mandela).
Presidents have sole authority in the matter; they can give the recognition to anyone they like.
They also can give out as many as they like: Barack Obama awarded 118 medals during his two terms; Trump awarded 24 in his single term, including to the "healthy, beautiful woman" Trump was referring to.
Her name is Miriam Adelson. What did she do to earn the nation's highest civilian honor? We'll get to that, but first a primer on the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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Established in 1963, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal, considered the nation's highest civilian honor.
The list of recipients is a most distinguished bunch, drawn mostly from public service (Anthony Fauci, Henry Kissinger, Nancy Pelosi), the arts (Norman Rockwell, Steven Spielberg, Bob Dylan), and sports (Ted Williams, Bill Russell, Megan Rapinoe).
Ronald Reagan hung the medal around the necks of his Hollywood buddies (Frank Sinatra, James Stewart, Helen Hayes). Obama honored more basketball players, while Trump elevated golfers. Joe Biden's 38 honorees include Denzel Washington, Al Gore, Steve Jobs, and Simone Biles.
The honor has never been rescinded, though there's been talk of taking back Bill Cosby's award, given by George W. Bush in 2002.
The award has been refused by recipients three times: twice by Dolly Parton, who declined Trump's invitation, first because her husband was ill and a second time citing Covid, and once by New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick in response to the Jan. 6 insurrection.
There are 652 Medal of Freedom honorees, and while they aren't equally deserving (Tennessee Ernie Ford?), presidents have done a pretty good job choosing people whose contributions to the nation are genuine and significant. They include Martin Luther King Jr., Walt Disney, Helen Keller, John Steinbeck, Neil Armstrong, Rachel Carson, Walter Cronkite, Thurgood Marshall, Fred Rogers, Rosa Parks, and Muhammad Ali.
Then there are Trump's nominees: Babe Ruth and Elvis Presley aren't exactly contemporary, but OK. You can make a case for Mariano Rivera, Roger Staubach, and Antonin Scalia.
But while other presidents honored their political allies, those nominees tended to be statesmen like Bob Dole, Walter Mondale, or Tip O'Neill. Trump gave the Medal of Freedom to two of his most rabid defenders in the House, Devin Nunes and Jim Jordan.
While other presidents recognized great journalists, Trump gave the award to Rush Limbaugh, the nation's most divisive propagandist.
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As for Miriam Adelson, her contributions to the nation are negligible. An Israeli-born physician, in 1991 she married Sheldon Adelson, owner of the Sands Casino empire.
Since her husband's death in 2021, she's been ranked as the fifth wealthiest woman in the U.S., worth an estimated $35 billion.
But her contributions to Donald Trump are huge. The Adelsons were major donors to Trump's campaign in 2016 and helped underwrite his inauguration. They gave $90 million to a Super PAC supporting Trump in 2020. And at Trump's Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club on Aug. 15, she went one better, pledging $100 million to get Trump re-elected in November.
And that's the story most people have missed.
It's not just that what Trump said about the Congressional Medal of Honor disrespects veterans. It's not just that a billionaire can purchase a presidential campaign.
It's that Donald Trump - who sold presidential pardons, who sold overpriced hotel rooms to the Secret Service, and who, we're now learning, may have taken a $10 million bribe from the government of Egypt - also sold the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, for millions in campaign cash.
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