Loretta Lynn Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom

Written by Lauren Jo Black November 21, 2013

Country music legend Loretta Lynn was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama on Wednesday (11/20) during a ceremony held at the White House.

The award is the the highest civilian honor in the nation and is presented to people who have made “especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”

“Loretta Lynn was 19 the first time she won big at the local fair,” the president said prior to presenting her with the honor. “Her canned vegetables brought home 17 blue ribbons and made her canner of the year. Now that’s impressive. For a girl from Butcher Holler, Ky., that was fame.”

He continued, “Fortunately for all of us, she decided to try her hand at things other than canning. Her first guitar cost $17 and with it, this coal miner’s daughter gave voice to a generation, singing what no one wanted to talk about and saying what no one wanted to think about. Now, over 50 years after she cut her first record and canned her first vegetables, Loretta Lynn still reigns as the rule-breaking, record-setting queen of country music.”

16 recipients, including Oprah Winfrey, President Bill Clinton, and Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks, received the award.

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