What Makes a Presidential Medal of Freedom Winner ‘Notable’?

Upon hearing the news that Gary Becker had won the Presidential Medal of Freedom, I went to the official Medal of Freedom Web site to find out more about the award. I learned that it was created by Harry Truman to recognize outstanding service by civilians during World War II, and was then revived by John F. Kennedy. There have been roughly 400 of the awards handed out.

As an aside, I found it interesting that the list of winners on the site has not been updated since 2004.

Here is a challenge for you. There is no prize associated with it … just the pride that accompanies a puzzle solved.

The Web site lists by name ten “notable winners.” Six of them are presidents. Try to guess who the other four recipients deemed “notable” are. My guess is that you will get zero out of four, even if you spend an hour coming up with names. (The answers are here.) Then explain to me the criteria necessary for being declared a “notable” person.