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Obama surprises 'brother' Joe Biden with Presidential Medal of Freedom

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Friday, January 13, 2017

Yesterday afternoon United States President Barack Obama surprised his two-term vice president Joe Biden in the White House State Dining Room with the country's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom with distinction.

The Obamas and Bidens, pictured together from file, have enjoyed an unusually close and warm relationship.
Image: Daniel Schwen.

In a ceremony described by the press as highly emotional, Obama cited his choice of Biden as a running mate as one of the best of his career and described their few arguments as the sort that brothers would have and Biden himself as "a lion of American history."

This made only the fourth time in U.S. history that this modified form, the Medal of Freedom with distinction, has been awarded. Biden joined Pope John Paul II, then-former President Ronald Reagan, and former General and Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Early during the ceremony, Obama noted comically "this also gives the Internet one last chance to talk about our 'bromance.'" The hashtag "#BROTUS," a play on the acronym for President of the United States (POTUS), was a common sight on Twitter in 2016.


Sources

  • Jessica Taylor. In A Surprise Send-Off, Obama Awards Biden Presidential Medal Of Freedom — National Public Radio, January 12, 2017
  • Michael A. Memoli. Obama honors 'brother' Joe Biden with a surprise award: the Presidential Medal of Freedom — LA Times, January 12, 2017
  • Barbara Sprunt. #MemeoftheWeek: The Best Of The Obama-Biden 'BROTUS' — National Public Radio, November 15, 2016


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This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

The text of this article is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License
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