Medal of Honor, Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal: What is the difference?

Former President Donald Trump recently angered many U.S. soldiers and veterans at a campaign rally when he compared the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the Medal of Honor.

“When we awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom … it's the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor – it's actually much better because everybody who receives the Congressional Medal is a soldier. They're either in very bad shape because they've been hit by bullets so many times, or they're dead,” Trump said during an event on August 15, 2024, in Bedminster, New Jersey, referring to Israeli-American doctor and Trump “megadonor” Miriam Adelson, whom he awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018.

“She gets it and she's a healthy, beautiful woman and they're judged equally, but she got the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and she got it for – and through committees and everything else.”

The former president's comparison between the two medals drew the ire of some veterans on social media, who felt the comment was condescending to Medal of Honor recipients. Others, such as Medal of Honor recipient Florent Groberg, responded in a more nuanced manner

“I have great respect for the Medal of Freedom and what it symbolizes,” Groberg wrote on X. “I believe it is important to recognize the contributions of civilians, and I appreciate the efforts of both past and current presidents in this regard. However, I believe it is not quite comparable to the Medal of Honor, as they are two very different awards with different criteria and meanings.”

Some veterans argued that the Presidential Medal of Freedom is more similar to the Congressional Gold Medal. Others said that the Congressional Gold Medal and the Medal of Honor may Since these two bills require an act of Congress, they are the two that should be given greater consideration.

So what is the difference between all these medals?

Medal of Honor

The Medal of Honor is often mistakenly referred to as the “Congressional Medal of Honor,” as Trump called it. A congressional resolution is only required when the deadline for submitting or awarding the medal has passed. It is awarded by the President of the United States in the name of Congress “only to members of the Armed Forces of the United States who have distinguished themselves by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of their lives above and beyond the call of duty:

• While acting against an enemy of the United States;

• While participating in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or

• While serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.”

A nomination for the Medal of Honor is hard to get and, historically, hard to survive – but it is not impossible and certainly not a requirement. According to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society (again, it is the Company that's Congress, not the medal), “All recommendations require thorough reports on the act itself, the battlefield, and its surroundings. Every aspect of the action leading to the nomination will be documented, from eyewitness testimony to the action itself to weather reports…every piece must be investigated and verified.”

“Once the documentation is assembled into a package, the package must move through the chain of command. At each step, it is evaluated… The package may be eligible for the Medal of Honor, a lesser award, or no medal at all.”

Trump was right when he said that some Medal of Honor recipients end up getting hit by bullets so many times; Roy Benavidez, for example, was shot, stabbed, or otherwise wounded 37 times in Vietnam. But being wounded is not a requirement for the medal (as it was when pilot James H. Howard single-handedly attacked 30 enemy fighters over Germany). But nearly half of recipients die during their Medal of Honor mission. Looking at medals awarded since Congress began enforcing strict standards in 1918, 49% of recipients have made the ultimate sacrifice.

Read: 6 reasons why receiving the Medal of Honor is particularly meaningful

Presidential Medal of Freedom

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award the United States can bestow (although military personnel are also eligible). President John F. Kennedy established the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February 1963. Originally, nominations were accepted by a Distinguished Civilian Service Awards Board. President Richard Nixon signed Executive Order 11515 in March 1970, which gave the President the authority to “select for the award of the Medal any person recommended to the President for the award of the Medal or any person whom the President on his or her own initiative may select.”

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is equivalent to the Congressional Gold Medal, although the former can be awarded “with distinction,” a higher award that has been awarded only 55 times since 1963. Because the medal is awarded at the initiative of the president and anyone (including foreign nationals) can be eligible for the medal, it was inevitable that controversy would arise regarding some of the recipients.

The award has been given to political officials, former elected officials (including presidents), political activists, and foreign heads of state. President Barack Obama had to inform Congress that there was no mechanism to strip Bill Cosby of the medal after the comedian was accused of sexual harassment (Cosby had received the medal from President George W. Bush in 2002).

Miriam Adelson was one of President Trump's first recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which caused some surprise at the time because she was the wife of Sheldon Adelson, one of Trump's most prominent donors. His most controversial awards went to his congressional allies Devin Nunes and Jim Jordan, and to right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh.

Congress Gold Medal

When the United States was founded, military medals were considered a European tradition rather than appropriate for a republic in the New World. Nevertheless, Congress wanted to publicly express gratitude for individual achievements on behalf of the nation.

The Congressional Gold Medal should be the highest award (and it is definitely the oldest) that the United States can bestow, “imbued with the conviction that only the very highest achievements [were] entitled to such an award and that the value of an award is increased by its rarity!” The first recipients were usually military leaders; the first Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to George Washington in 1776.

Each Congressional Gold Medal is individually designed and struck by the U.S. Mint. Since there are no legal criteria for awarding the award, it is up to Congress to pass a special award law (it has its own procedures for awarding). After the Medal of Honor was established for military personnel in 1861, the scope of the Congressional Gold Medal was expanded to include non-military merits. In the 20th century, the medal was awarded for services to American arts, humanities, science, and sports. Today, groups of people and foreign nationals can also receive the award.

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