In Emotional Goodbye, Obama Awards Biden America’s Highest Honor

 

U.S. Vice¹ President Joe Biden has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom – America’s highest civilian² honor.

U.S. President Barack Obama surprised Biden with the award Thursday during an emotional ceremony at the White House.

Obama announced the award after praising Biden for his years of service, calling him “the finest vice president we have ever seen.”

Biden appeared shocked at the announcement, which he said Obama and others inside the White House had kept secret. After hearing the award was about to be presented, Biden briefly³ turned away from the cameras to clear some tears.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is America’s highest award for civilians⁴. Obama has awarded the medal to others during his presidency⁵. But he explained that Biden’s award carried an additional level of distinction that he has never given out before.

Obama said this highest-level award was only given to three individuals by the three presidents that served before him. Those individuals were Pope John Paul II, former President Ronald Reagan and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

In his tribute to Biden, Obama said that from the very start, he never regretted choosing him as his right-hand man.

“He was the best possible choice, not just for me, but for the American people.”

Obama said Biden’s advice on many issues had made him a better president. He called the vice president “a lion of American history.”

“To know Joe Biden is to know love without pretense⁶, service without self-regard and to live life fully⁷.”

Both men said that during Obama’s eight-year term, the two had developed a relationship that went far beyond their work. Many extended members of the Obama and Biden families also became close personal friends.

After Obama placed the medal around his neck, Biden thanked him and then reflected on his term as vice president.

He said he greatly valued being trusted by Obama in “every single thing you've asked me to do.” He said he always found it easy working for and with Obama, for whom he said he had the highest level of respect.

“I’ve never known a president - and few people I’ve ever met - who have had the integrity and the decency⁸ and the sense of other people’s needs like you do.”

Biden said he hopes to always be able to look back and say, “I was part of the journey of a remarkable⁹ man who did remarkable things for this country.”

He noted¹⁰ that even though he felt he may not deserve the medal, he knew “it came from the President’s heart.”

“Mr. President, you know as long as there’s a breath in me, I’ll be there for you, my whole family will be. And I know, I know it is reciprocal."

Obama gave his farewell speech as president on Tuesday in his hometown of Chicago. He will leave the White House on January 20, when President-elect Donald Trump¹¹ is sworn in.

Words in This Story

distinction – n. quality that makes someone or something special or different

tribute – n. something said or done to show respect or affection for someone

right-hand man - expression. an important assistant or helper

pretense – n. false reason or explanation used to hide the real meaning of something

integrity – n. honesty and knowing what is morally right or wrong

decency – n. honest and moral behavior

remarkable – adj. unusual or noticeable, usually in a good way

deserve – v. to be worthy¹² of

reciprocal – adj. way people agree to do things for each other

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

6 pretense   

n.矫饰，做作，借口

参考例句：

• You can't keep up the pretense any longer.你无法继续伪装下去了。
• Pretense invariably impresses only the pretender.弄虚作假欺骗不了真正的行家。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 decency   

n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重

参考例句：

• His sense of decency and fair play made him refuse the offer.他的正直感和公平竞争意识使他拒绝了这一提议。
• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。

9 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

10 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

11 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

12 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。