Presidential Medal for Merit

The Presidential Medal for Merit is one of the highest civilian decoration of the United States, awarded by the President of the United States to civilians for exceptionally meritorious conduct. It was created by Executive Order 9637--Medal for Merit on October 3, 1945, later amended and restated by Executive Order 9857A of May 27, 1947. At the time, it was the highest award available to civilians. Created during World War II, and mostly awarded to civilians who contributed to that war, the medal has not been awarded since 1952.

Civilians who rendered exceptional service after the proclamation of an emergency by the President on September 8, 1939 were eligible to receive the medal.

Civilians of foreign nations could receive the award for the performance of an exceptionally meritorious or courageous act or acts in furtherance of the war efforts of the United Nations. The first non- U.S. citizen to receive the medal was spymaster William Stephenson, code named Intrepid during WWII. Some consider Stephenson one of the real life inspirations for James Bond. A confidential White House inquiry as to whether King George VI could be awarded the medal was denied because he had not met the eligibility criteria.

Proposals were considered by the Medal for Merit Board, numbering three members appointed by the President, of whom one was appointed by the President as Chairman of the Board. The medal cannot be awarded for any action relating to the prosecution of World War II subsequent to the cessation of hostilities (as proclaimed by Proclamation No. 2714 of December 31, 1946), and no proposal for an award for such services could be submitted after June 30, 1947.

ome recipients

* Hugh L. Dryden
* Hendrik Wade Bode
* Edgar Sengier
* Elmira Bears Wickenden
* Bob Hope
* Frederick Emmons Terman
* William Frederick Durand
* Dr. Ivan A. Getting
* Raymond D. Mindlin
* Leroy Randle Grumman
* Alfred Lee Loomis
* Dr. Brian O’Brien
* Irving Berlin (1945)
* Rudolph Forster (June 16, 1945)
* Henry Morgenthau (December 12, 1945)
* Ralph K. Davies (December 12, 1945)
* William Beverly Murphy (1946)
* Alexander Alexandrovich Novikov, Chief Marshal of Aviation of the Soviet Union (1944)
* John R. Dunning (1946)
* J. Robert Oppenheimer (1946)
* Charles Allen Thomas (January 30, 1946)
* William F. Friedman (1946)
* Cyril Stanley Smith (1946)
* Jerome Clarke Hunsaker (1946)
* Kaufman Thuma Keller (1946)
* David Luke Hopkins (1946)
* Dr. Theodore von Kármán (1946)
* Sir William Stephenson (1946)
* W. A. Harriman (1946)
* Byron Price (January 15, 1946)
* Samuel I. Rosenman (January 24, 1946)
* J. Edgar Hoover (March 8, 1946)
* John Monroe Johnson (March 8, 1946)
* John J. Pelley (March 8, 1946)
* Julius A. Krug (May 1, 1946)
* William D. Pawley (May 13, 1946)
* Juan T. Trippe (September 27, 1946)
* Paul V. McNutt (November 27, 1946)
* George W. Merck (1946)
* Philip McCord Morse (December 1946)
* John von Neumann (1947)
* Joseph Desch (1947)
* Edward F. Knipling (1947)
* Cordell Hull (April 15, 1947)
* John Wesley Snyder (May 14, 1947)
* Dean Acheson (June 30, 1947)
* Granville Conway (July 16, 1947)
* David K. Niles (August 20, 1947)
* Louis Johnson (October 1, 1947)
* Fred M. Vinson (October 3, 1947)
* Dr. Bruce Sage (1948)
* James Gilbert Baker (1948)
* George William Lewis (1948)
* Dr. James Gilbert Baker (1948)
* Dr. Robert F. Rinehart (1948)
* Paul E. Klopsteg (1948)
* Leason H. Adams (1948)
* James Augustine Shannon (1948)
* Dr. Smith J. DeFrance (1948)
* Linus Carl Pauling (February 2, 1948)
* Vannevar Bush (May 27, 1948)
* Dr. Clarence N. Hickman (June 22, 1948)
* Myron C. Taylor (December 20, 1948)
* Eric Johnston (1947)
* John Muccio
* Al Jolson (1950)

External links

* [http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/09637.html NARA - Federal Register - Executive Order 9637--Medal for Merit]
* [http://www.washingtonwatchdog.org/documents/usc/ttl10/subttlA/ptII/ch57/sec1122.html United State Code: Title 10 - Armed Forces: Subtitle A - General Military Law: Part II - Personnel: Chapter 57 - Decorations and Awards: Sec. 1122. Medal for Merit: award]
* [http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/specialcollections/coll/pauling/blood/pictures/large-1948h.1-certificate.html Picture of certificate attached to Medal for Merit issued by President Truman to Linus Carl Pauling]
* [http://digitalcollections.library.oregonstate.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/pawardsmedals&CISOPTR=19&REC=6 Picture of Medal of Merit]