Obama honors music legend Bob Dylan with Medal of Freedom

AP

President Obama presents music legend Bob Dylan with a Medal of Freedom in Washington.

WASHINGTON President Barack Obama honored 13 recipients of the Medal of Freedom, including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, novelist Toni Morrison, folk singer Bob Dylan and legendary astronaut John Glenn, in a ceremony at the White House Tuesday.

Awards were also given to Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, smallpox eradicator William Foege and Pat Summitt, the winningest coach in college basketball history who recently ended her 38-year career leading the University of Tennessee's Lady Vols.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor in the US and, according to the White House, is awarded 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."

AP

"What sets these men and women apart is the incredible impact they have had on so many people," Obama said in the East Room of the White House. "Not in short blinding bursts, but steadily over the course of a lifetime."

The president described many of the recipients as his personal heroes, recalling how he read Morrison's "Song of Solomon" as a kid and listened to Dylan's music during college.

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Obama honors music legend Bob Dylan with Medal of Freedom