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Earlier this week, the President of the United States officially announced that it would bestow Steve Jobs with the Presidential Medal Of Freedom, the highest honour in the country for which a civilian is eligible.
On Friday, the Biden administration announced seventeen Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients. Jobs is one of three to receive the award posthumously, the others being John McCain and Richard Trumka.
The Presidential Medal Of Freedom is awarded to those civilians who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavours. It is considered equivalent to the Medal Of Honour, an award bestowed on military personnel who go above and beyond the call of duty.
The White House’s bio of Jobs reads, “His vision, imagination and creativity led to inventions that have, and continue to, change the way the world communicates, as well as transforming the computer, music, film and wireless industries.”
2022 marks the 11th year since Steve Jobs passed away on October 5 at 56, after fighting a long and hard battle with pancreatic cancer. He had resigned from Apple just six weeks before his death.
Although he is considered to be a visionary by many in the tech community, some see Steve Jobs as a divisive figure. He was either seen as a brilliant, genius entrepreneur who left an indelible mark on the tech industry thanks to the products his company designed and developed under him, or he was seen as an authoritative, manipulative man who was terrible to those around him who abandoned his daughter.
The awards will be presented at the White House on July 7, 2022. The Biden administration has not revealed who will be collecting Jobs’ award. However, it will likely be managed by Steve Job’s wife of 20 years, Laurene Powell-Jobs.
