Obama's day: Medal of Freedom
President Obama opens Thanksgiving week on Monday by paying tribute to the humanities, and keeping an eye on talks with Iran.
In addition to presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 individuals, Obama will be following negotiations over Iran's nuclear program that have a Monday deadline.
The nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded to individuals "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," says the White House schedule.
Posthumous recipients this year include three martyrs of the civil rights movement of the 1960s: James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, all murdered during a 1964 voter registration drive in Mississippi.
Arts honorees include Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep, singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, composer Stephen Sondheim, and author Isabel Allende.
Medals of Freedom for public service include Ethel Kennedy, widow of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy; retiring Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., the longest-serving member of Congress; and NBC journalist Tom Brokaw.
The list also includes Native American activist Suzan Harjo, actress Marlo Thomas, economist Robert Solow, golfer Charles Sifford, former Rep. Abner Mikva of Illinois and physicist Mildred Dresselhaus.
Other posthumous recipients of the Medal of Freedom this year are choreographer Alvin Ailey, Rep. Patsy Mink of Hawaii, and Rep. Edward Roybal of California, founder of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Obama must also make decisions Monday on Iran. The U.S. and its allies are offering to reduce sanctions on the Tehran government if it gives up the means to make nuclear weapons; Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes.
The self-imposed deadline for the talks is Monday, but there are reports that the parties may agree to an extension.
Also on Monday, Obama has a string of meetings that include a group of Nobel Laureates, Vice President Biden, and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.
