Bush Honors Katharine Graham, A.M. Rosenthal

By: (AP) President Bush selected 12 leaders in arts, sports, entertainment, politics, and newspaper journalism -- from Nancy Reagan to Mister Rogers -- for the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The medal recipients, announced Thursday at the White House, will claim the nation's highest civilian honor at a White House ceremony with the president next month.

"I'm honored to be in such company and thrilled to be returning to the White House after almost 10 years," Nancy Reagan said in a statement released Thursday.

Bush is awarding one medal posthumously to Katharine Graham, the former publisher of The Washington Post who died last year at age 84.

The Medal of Freedom, established by President Truman in 1945 to recognize civilians for their service during World War II, was reinstated by President Kennedy in 1963 to honor distinguished service. Bush will award the medal to:

* Former South African president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela.

* Mrs. Reagan, the former first lady, saluted by the Bush White House for her continuing work against drug and alcohol abuse and her promotion of the Foster Grandparent program.

* Hank Aaron, who began his baseball career in the Negro Leagues and still holds the career records for home runs -- 755 in his 23-year career -- runs batted in and total bases. "He was one of the first black players to break the color line in the deep South," the White House said in its announcement.

* Bill Cosby, whose 1980s hit, "The Cosby Show," revolutionized television's portrayal of black Americans, the White House said. "Throughout his career, Dr. Cosby has appealed to the common humanity of his audience, rather than the differences that might divide it."

* Opera tenor, conductor and arts administrator Placido Domingo. Over his 44-year career, Domingo "was blessed with an unusually flexible voice, which has allowed him to perform in 118 different roles, more than any other tenor in the annals of opera performance," the White House said. Domingo currently serves as artistic director of the Washington Opera and the Los Angeles Opera.

* Fred Rogers, whose "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" spanned more than three decades of public television. "All of his work has been emblematic of the same philosophy and goal: to encourage the healthy emotional growth of children and their families," the White House said.

* Graham, "known as an editor who maintained excellence by supporting her reporters and encouraging those who worked for her," the White House said. Her tenure at The Washington Post was marked by such stories as the Watergate scandal and publication of the Pentagon Papers.

* New York Times editor and columnist A.M. Rosenthal. Since Rosenthal began his journalism career in the early 1940s, "his work has sought to highlight the suffering of oppressed peoples, especially religious minorities," the White House said, singling out his 1960 Pulitzer Prize for reporting from Poland.

* Dr. D.A. Henderson, best known for his leadership of the World Health Organization's global smallpox eradication campaign from 1966 to 1977. In 1986 he was awarded the National Medal of Science. He is currently director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies.

* Intel Corp. co-founder Gordon Moore, who "directed the company's growth as the most successful developer of the microchip," the White House said. Through the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Moore is a philanthropic leader in higher education, scientific research, the environment, and San Francisco Bay Area projects.

* Author, editor and former New York University professor Irving Kristol, whose writings "helped lay the intellectual groundwork for the renaissance of conservative ideas in the last half of the 20th century ... and became the framework for compassionate conservatism," the White House said.

* Peter Drucker, whom the White House called "the world's foremost pioneer of management theory" and a champion of concepts such as privatization, management by objective and decentralization.