President Barack Obama on Tuesday bestowed the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, on 13 people from all walks of life, hailing them for changing the world for the better. One of them, Dr. William Foege, helped lead the effort to eradicate smallpox, saving millions of lives. Madeleine Albright was the first woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State, and Toni Morrison was the first African-American women to win a Nobel Prize. Others who stood calmly while Obama placed the medal around their necks included singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, wearing dark glasses indoors and never smiling; civil rights enforcer John Doar; former U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens; worker and women's advocate Dolores Huerta;  former University of Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt, and former astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn.
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President Obama says all the winners had a profound impact on his life
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The medal is "one more accolade of a life well lived," Obama says
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The Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor
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The award was established in 1963 by President Kennedy
@placeholder was a legendary public servant and leader of federal efforts to protect and enforce civil rights during the 1960s.