The Presidential Citizens Medal is an award bestowed by the President of the United States. It is the second highest civilian award in the United States, second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Established on November 13, 1969, it recognizes individuals "who performed exemplary deeds or services for his or her country or fellow citizens." The award is only eligible to United States citizens, and may be awarded posthumously.
The medal is a disc of gilt and enamel, based on the Seal of the President of the United States, with the eagle surrounded by a wreath of leaves. The medal is suspended on a ribbon, dark blue with a light blue central stripe and white edge stripes.
Read more about Presidential Citizens Medal: Recipients
Famous quotes containing the words presidential and/or citizens:
“Under a Presidential government, a nation has, except at the electing moment, no influence; it has not the ballot-box before it; its virtue is gone, and it must wait till its instant of despotism again returns.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)
“With steady eye on the real issue, let us reinaugurate the good old “central ideas” of the Republic. We can do it. The human heart is with us—God is with us. We shall again be able not to declare, that “all States as States, are equal,” nor yet that “all citizens as citizens are equal,” but to renew the broader, better declaration, including both these and much more, that “all men are created equal.””
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)