PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 18 PA-'08-Liberty-Medal
Award presented by President George H.W. Bush
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Former Soviet leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mikhail Gorbachev was presented with the National Constitution Center's 2008 Liberty Medal tonight for his courageous role in ending the dangerous, decades-long Cold War and in giving hope and freedom to millions who lived behind the Iron Curtain. President Gorbachev accepted the prestigious Medal in a public ceremony at 7:00 p.m. at the National Constitution Center on Independence Mall in Historic Philadelphia.
During the ceremony, National Constitution Center President and CEO Joseph M. Torsella said the event would serve as a poignant reminder, nearly 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, of how many victories Mikhail Gorbachev helped win for freedom, and how much courage it took.
"Tonight we honor a man who altered the direction of history and pointed it towards freedom. His actions encouraged freedom fighters old and new across Eastern Europe, and around the globe," said Torsella. "And we will make some history of our own by bestowing the 20th Liberty Medal on Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, who reshaped our world for the better, for the freer. And whose life teaches us, above all, that none of us -- not people and not nations -- are prisoners of our past."
As Mikhail Gorbachev said in his Nobel Lecture, "Steering a peaceful course is not easy in a country where generation after generation of people were led to believe that those who have power or force could throw those who dissent or disagree out of politics or even in jail. For centuries, all the country's problems used to be finally resolved by violent means. I will never agree to having our society split once again into Reds and Whites, into those who claim to speak and act 'on behalf of the people' and those who are enemies of the people.'"
Fittingly, the Liberty Medal was presented to Gorbachev by President George H.W. Bush, Chairman of the National Constitution Center. While serving as President of the U.S., Bush's friendship and political alliance with Gorbachev enabled the world's two superpowers to peacefully end their decades-long rivalry. In fact, Gorbachev trusted and valued their friendship so much that, as the Soviet flag was being lowered for the final time at the Kremlin, the person he called was President Bush. Their partnership is symbolic of the way in which Gorbachev has transcended old animosities to spread the blessings of liberty.
President George H.W. Bush said that he and the Center's Board of Trustees were proud to pay tribute to this year's recipient. "It is a true honor for me to participate in this year's Liberty Medal ceremony to celebrate the achievements of someone whom I consider a great world leader and a dear friend. Regardless of the dividing lines between us, President Gorbachev opened up new possibilities for the world to come together and solve its problems in the pursuit of liberty. When Eastern Europeans were living in the dark shadow of the Cold War, he provided a beacon of light. Now, almost twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, we are still witnessing the positive impact his efforts have had across the globe. President Gorbachev is always looking ahead at a better future and helping all of us work to get there."
"Mikhail Gorbachev came of age when Russia was ruled by a totalitarian regime, but his thinking as a political leader broke free of this repressive straight-jacket," said Mayor Michael A. Nutter. "Caring about the freedom and prosperity of his people, he negotiated the end of the costly and dangerous Cold War and oversaw the demise of the very political system that brought him to power. He was a true agent of change on the global stage."
After becoming the youngest full member of the Politburo in 1980, Gorbachev was named General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1985, ready to make long overdue reforms in the Soviet system. For six years he pressed for democratization by promoting glasnost (openness)
and perestroika (restructuring). These policies gave a voice to the people of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, resulting in an unprecedented extension of the freedoms of assembly, speech, and travel, as well as religious freedom. In 1988, Gorbachev announced that the
Soviet Union would abandon the Brezhnev Doctrine and allow the Eastern bloc nations to determine their own internal affairs. Gorbachev's refusal to intervene militarily in Eastern European affairs gave hope to those struggling to end four decades of Soviet control.
Ultimately, his policies created the environment which led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in November of 1989. Gorbachev was elected as the first executive President of the Soviet Union in 1990. He was, wrote Lance Morrow in TIME, "a visionary enacting a range of complex and sometimes contradictory roles," bringing the East closer to the West, acknowledging the power of the free market and religious expression, while managing a recalcitrant party establishment and attempting to revive a stagnant economy. The reforms he initiated had global implications, dramatically reducing East-West tensions and transforming geo-politics.
Gorbachev was also a tireless advocate for the abolition of nuclear weapons, which led to the first major reduction of U.S. and Soviet weapons stockpiles. Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. In a move unprecedented in Soviet history, Gorbachev voluntarily resigned as leader of the Soviet Union in 1991. At that time, he told President Bush that he wished to remain in public life to encourage "new thinking to prevail in world politics." Keeping in line with this goal, he launched Green Cross International, a non-profit organization that focuses on global ecological law. Gorbachev fervently crusades for clean air and water, and against toxic wastes and chemical weapons, in addition to working with businesses, industry, and governments to make sustainable environmental policy a top global priority. He also serves as President of the Gorbachev Foundation, which conducts political and economic research, and promotes international exchange.
Established in 1988 by We the People 200 to commemorate the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, the Liberty Medal annually honors men and women of courage and conviction who strive to secure the blessings of liberty to people across the world. The Liberty Medal was administered by the National Constitution Center for the first time in 2006, when Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton were honored for their bi-partisan humanitarian efforts on behalf of the victims of the tsunami in Southeast Asia and the hurricanes on the Gulf Coast. Last year's Liberty Medal was awarded to Bono and DATA, the advocacy organization he co-founded to combat poverty and disease in Africa.
"Two of the twenty Liberty Medal recipients were significantly influenced by Gorbachev," added Torsella. "Lech Walesa and Vaclav Havel could not have become presidents of their countries if Gorbachev had not paved the way by abandoning the Brezhnev Doctrine. His refusal to interfere in the domestic politics of Eastern Europe allowed for these great men to triumph in their pursuits of liberty."
Other past Liberty Medal winners include Nelson Mandela, Shimon Peres, Kofi Annan, and Sandra Day O'Connor. The Medal has also been awarded to organizations, including Doctors Without Borders and CNN International. Six former recipients of the Medal have subsequently won the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Liberty Medal ceremony was broadcast live on CBS 3 and webcast live on www.constitutioncenter.org and www.cbs3.com. The CW Philly 57 will rebroadcast the ceremony on Thursday, September 18 at 10:00 p.m. CBS 3 (KYW-TV) and The CW Philly 57 (WPSG-TV) are part of CBS Television Stations, a division of CBS Corporation.
Ira Lubert and Independence Capital Partners renewed their support for the Liberty Medal ceremony and co-sponsored the Liberty Medal Award in 2008. The Liberty Medal was also generously supported by the Hamilton Family Foundation. Citizens Bank was the presenting sponsor for the President's Reception prior to the Liberty Medal ceremony. This is the third consecutive year that Citizens Bank has partnered with the Center for the Liberty Medal.
The Liberty Medal was also supported by the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The National Constitution Center, located at 525 Arch St. on Philadelphia's Independence Mall, is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing public understanding of the U.S. Constitution and the ideas and values it represents. The Center serves as a museum, an education center, and a forum for debate on constitutional issues. The museum dramatically tells the story of the Constitution from Revolutionary times to the present through more than 100 interactive, multimedia exhibits, film, photographs, text,
sculpture and artifacts, and features a powerful, award-winning theatrical performance, "Freedom Rising". The Center also houses the Annenberg Center for Education and Outreach, which serves as the hub for national constitutional education. Also, as a nonpartisan forum for constitutional discourse, the Center presents -- without endorsement -- programs that contain diverse viewpoints on a broad range of issues. For more information, call 215.409.6700 or visit www.constitutioncenter.org.
Past Recipients of the Liberty Medal
2007 Bono and DATA (joint prize)
2006 George H.W. Bush and William J. Clinton, former U.S.
Presidents (joint prize)
2005 Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine
2004 Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan
2003 Sandra Day O'Connor, Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme
Court
2002 Colin Powell, U.S. Secretary of State
2001 Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary-General*
2000 Dr. James Watson and Dr. Francis Crick, co-discoverers
of the structure of DNA (joint prize)
1999 Kim Dae Jung, President of South Korea*
1998 Senator George J. Mitchell, Irish peace negotiator
1997 CNN International
1996 King Hussein I of Jordan and Shimon Peres, former
Prime Minister of Israel (joint prize)
1995 Sadako Ogata, United Nations High Commissioner of
Refugees
1994 Vaclav Havel, President of the Czech Republic
1993 F.W. de Klerk, President of South Africa* and Nelson
Mandela, President of the African National Congress*
(joint prize)
1992 Thurgood Marshall, former Associate Justice, U.S.
Supreme Court
1991 Oscar Arias, President of Costa Rica and Medecins sans
Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders)* (joint prize)
1990 Jimmy Carter, former U.S. President*
1989 Lech Walesa, founder of Solidarity, Poland
*Liberty Medal recipients who subsequently won the Nobel Peace Prize
SOURCE National Constitution Center
