Two Washingtonians Honored at the White House with the Presidential Medal of Freedom

On November 24, President Barack Obama named seventeen recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom including two extraordinary men from Washington State, William Ruckelshaus and Billy Frank Jr. President Obama opened the ceremony by saying, “I look forward to presenting these 17 distinguished Americans with our nation’s highest civilian honor. From public servants who helped us meet defining challenges of our time to artists who expanded our imaginations, from leaders who have made our union more perfect to athletes who have inspired millions of fans, these men and women have enriched our lives and helped define our shared experience as Americans.”

William Ruckelshaus

In an interview with KUOW’s Ashley Ahearn, William (Bill) Ruckelshaus reported that he has not yet decided where to display the Presidential Medal of Freedom that President Obama presented to him on November 24. But he is having fun with the thought. “Well, I’ve threatened my wife to wear it outside my suit coat in the daytime and inside my pajamas at night so it wouldn’t hit her in the face when I turned over,” joked the 83-year-old Ruckelshaus before admitting he really doesn’t know what he’ll do with the medal.

During the awards ceremony, President Obama cited the environmental elder statesman’s “tireless work to protect public health and combat global challenges like climate change. As the first and fifth Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, under Presidents Nixon and Reagan, Ruckelshaus helped shape the guiding principles of the agency and worked diligently to bring the public into the decision-making process. Among the EPA’s key early achievements under his leadership was a nationwide ban on the pesticide DDT and an agreement with the automobile industry to require catalytic converters, which significantly reduced automobile pollution.”

Ruckelshaus was a long-time public servant. He was appointed as acting director of the FBI and later served as Attorney General during the Watergate crisis. He and Attorney General Elliot Richardson chose to resign rather than fire the Watergate special prosecutor – this principled stance was a pivotal moment for the Justice Department and galvanized public opinion for upholding the rule of law.

Ruckelshaus currently works as Strategic Director for Madrona Venture Group, a Seattle-based venture capital firm that teams with technology entrepreneurs to nurture ideas from startup to market success.

According to his Madrona bio, William (Bill) Ruckelshaus’ distinguished career has spanned corporate boardrooms, government agencies and major non-profits. He chairs a joint center between the University of Washington and Washington State University, a “neutral resource” that collaborates on policy development and multiple-party dispute resolution in the Pacific Northwest.

Ruckelshaus’s other accomplishments include working with the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Science Advisory Board. He has co-chaired the Puget Sound Partnership to help organize clean-up efforts of Puget Sound.

Ruckelshaus, the ever-active octogenarian, discussed his retirement plans during his interview with Ahearn: “Well, I don’t want to retire. I enjoy going to the office, working on a variety of things. I’m 83 years old so why retire? What am I going to do if I retire? Sit home and wring my hands about the environment. That won’t do any good. So no, I’m not gonna retire.”

Billy Frank Jr.

Billy Frank Jr., who died in 2014, was honored posthumously with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November. Frank was an elder with Puget Sound’s Nisqually Indian Tribe and a leader in the struggle by Washington’s Native Americans to assert their treaty-bound fishing rights. As chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, Frank worked to bring together tribes, local, state and federal officials to further strengthen treaty rights and environmental protection laws.

Frank’s magnetic personality and tireless advocacy over more than five decades made him a revered figure both domestically and abroad. He was the recipient of many awards, including the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism and the Martin Luther King Jr. Distinguished Service Award. He was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010.

Frank was on the front lines in the campaign against state-imposed limits on tribal fishing, known as the Fish Wars in the 1960s and 1970s where he organized “fish-ins”—modeled after the sit-ins of the civil rights movement. Those efforts lead to the 1974 Boldt decision, which reaffirmed the Tribes’ rights to the fish harvest in Washington.

William Ruckelshaus, who was also honored with the Medal of Freedom at the same White House ceremony, discussed his friend Billy Frank Jr. “He reminded me, and I wrote this when he died, more of Nelson Mandela than anybody I’d ever met. Here was a man who had been arrested more than 50 times asserting his treaty rights and finally vindicated by the Boldt Decision that was handed down in the early ‘70s. And he had suffered so much for asserting the rights that had been given by treaty and by court case that you’d think he’d be bitter about things. Quite the contrary. He was open, as happy a man as you could be around. He never held a grudge against anybody, was willing to forgive and forget, and use the position that he held and the admiration that people had for him as leverage for getting things done for his tribe and other tribes in Puget Sound. He really was a remarkable human being.”

Frank left in his wake an Indian Country strengthened by greater sovereignty and a nation fortified by his example of service to one’s community, his humility and his dedication to the principles of human rights and environmental sustainability.

In addition to the Medal of Freedom, Frank’s accomplishments were recognized in another momentous occasion late last year. The “Billy Frank Jr. Tell Your Story Act” headed to the White House for the President’s signature. The legislation will add Billy Frank Jr.’s name to the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.

The Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, which was established in 1974 to protect the Nisqually River Delta, is a biologically rich and diverse area at the southern end of Puget Sound. While most major estuaries in the state have been filled, dredged or developed, Nisqually River’s has been set aside for wildlife.

“Billy was key in the effort to return much of the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge to salmon habitat by breaching the dikes that once surrounded it,” said Lorraine

Loomis, Chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. “He was proud of the hundreds of acres of new salmon habitat that were created. He would be especially pleased by the bill’s provision to mark the site near the refuge where the Medicine Creek Treaty was signed on Dec. 26, 1854.” The Medicine Creek Treaty established reservation land as well as the right to fish “at all usual and accustomed grounds and stations” for Puget Sound area tribes. “Billy used to visit the site often to draw strength for his lifelong fight to preserve tribal cultures, treaty rights and natural resources. He continued to bring tribal leaders and other officials to this site and explain its importance.”

Rep. Heck (WA-10) said, “Billy didn’t wait for change, or demand change, he created change. He didn’t just talk about the pollution the salmon face, or how the water is unclean, he developed solutions and found ways to get things done. This successful push to add his name to the cherished Nisqually Wildlife Refuge is a fitting tribute to a hero from the area who was never afraid of the work that goes behind every change we seek.”

Other 2015 Presidential Medal winners include:

James Taylor

Barbra Streisand

Steven Spielberg

Stephen Sondheim

Itzhak Perlman

Willie Mays

Gloria Estefan

Shirley Chisholm (posthumous)

Yogi Berra (posthumous)

The Medal of Freedom is presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. For more information, visit www. whitehouse.gov/campaign/medal-of-freedom