The Presidential Medal of Freedom Began as a World War II Honor

On July 6, 1945, President Harry Truman signed an executive order establishing the Medal of Freedom. An excerpt from the article:

"The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor in the United States. Originally, Harry S. Truman established the “Medal of Freedom” to honor people who’d demonstrated notable service during World War II. In 1963, John F. Kennedy reintroduced it as the “Presidential Medal of Freedom,” which a commander-in-chief could bestow for many types of service and achievements. Since then, U.S. presidents have given to a wide range of over 500 people.

Truman established the Medal of Freedom on July 6, 1945, about two months after the Nazis surrendered and one month before the United States dropped nuclear bombs on Japan. Instead of a presidential honor, it was something that the secretaries of State, War or Navy could award anyone who had performed “a meritorious act or service” that aided the U.S. or one of its allies in war.

...The first American citizen to receive the award was a female immigrant. Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1902, Anna Rosenberg immigrated to the Bronx borough of New York City with her family in 1912 and became an American citizen in 1919. She was a regional manager and regional director of the Social Security Board during its early years, and became the regional director of the War Manpower Commission in 1942. During the last year of World War II, she was a special envoy to Europe for Franklin D. Roosevelt and Truman.

It was future president General Dwight D. Eisenhower who recommended Rosenberg for the Medal of Freedom based on her service overseas. She received it from Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson on October 29, 1945."