Many of the names are instantly recognizable. Duke Ellington. Rosa Parks. Mother Teresa. Steven Spielberg. Martin Luther King Jr. Billy Graham. Ronald Reagan. Helen Keller. Walt Disney.
Others are not as famous, but they, too, led inspiring lives that enriched the country and the world. Genevieve Caulfield, a blind American teacher who started a school for blind people in Thailand.
Clifford MacDonald, owner of a U.S. printing company who worked tirelessly to expand the lives and opportunities of the physically and mentally handicapped. Helen Taussig, a cardiologist who founded the field of pediatric cardiology that pioneered lifesaving concepts for children.
All were recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award that unfortunately -- thanks to President Donald Trump's penchant to leave no American tradition unsullied -- is making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
His recent decision to award the Medal of Freedom to Republican Reps. Devin Nunes of California and Jim Jordan of Ohio turns on its head the themes of honor, excellence and achievement that undergird these precious awards.
To be sure, Trump is not the first president to award the medal to people who may share their political thinking, and there have been awards -- most notably the medal to disgraced comedian Bill Cosby -- that have proved to be undeserved.
But the cynical selections of Nunes and Jordan solely because of their blind loyalty to Trump and his destructive politics of lying, and his earlier award to talk-radio hatemonger Rush Limbaugh, is an affront.
Nothing Trump can do could besmirch Nelson Mandela, Marian Anderson, Jonas Salk or the other great beacons of American and international life who have rightly been honored with this award. On the contrary, Trump just underlines his own unworthiness when he makes a mockery of the Medal of Freedom.
That New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick took the almost unprecedented step of declining to accept the award after Trump incited the riot at the Capitol underscored once again that this president cannot be trusted to hand out medals, let alone serve as the nation's commander in chief.
Thankfully, the Oval Office will soon be occupied by a president -- himself a rightful recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- who understands and will honor the traditions of the presidency.
We're confident that the medal will again become a source of pride, for its recipients and for the nation.