Office of the Clerk

Congressional Gold Medal Recipients

(1776 to Present)

Since the American Revolution, Congress has commissioned gold medals as its highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions. Each medal honors a particular individual, institution, or event. Although the first recipients included citizens who participated in the American Revolution, the War of 1812 and the Mexican War, Congress broadened the scope of the medal to include actors, authors, entertainers, musicians, pioneers in aeronautics and space, explorers, lifesavers, notables in science and medicine, athletes, humanitarians, public servants, and foreign recipients.

In addition to the requirement that all Congressional Gold Medal legislation must be cosponsored by at least two-thirds (290) of the Members of the House, specific standards are set forth by Rule VII (c)(vii) of the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services's Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy when considering such legislation. Additionally, the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee requires that at least 67 Senators must cosponsor any Congressional Gold Medal legislation before the committee will consider it.

Recipient(s)	Date of Approval	Public Law
George Washington	Mar. 25, 1776	Continental Congress
Major General Horatio Gates	Nov. 4, 1777	Continental Congress
Major General Anthony Wayne	July 26, 1779	Continental Congress
Major Henry Lee	Sep. 24, 1779	Continental Congress
Brigadier General Daniel Morgan	Mar. 9, 1781	Continental Congress
Major General Nathaniel Greene	Oct. 29, 1781	Continental Congress
John Paul Jones	Oct. 16, 1787	Continental Congress
Captain Thomas Truxtun	Mar. 29, 1800	2 Stat. 87
Commodore Edward Preble	Mar. 3, 1805	2 Stat. 346-347
Captain Isaac Hull, Captain Stephen Decatur, and Captain Jacob Jones	Jan. 29, 1813	2 Stat. 830
Captain William Bainbridge	Mar. 3, 1813	2 Stat. 831
Captain Oliver Hazard Perry and Captain Jesse D. Elliott	Jan. 6, 1814	3 Stat. 141
Lieutenant William Burrows and Lieutenant Edward R. M'Call	Jan. 6, 1814	3 Stat. 141-142
Captain James Lawrence	January 11, 1814	3 Stat. 142
Captain Thomas MacDonough, Captain Robert Henly, and Lieutenant Stephen Cassin	October 20, 1814	3 Stat. 245-246
Captain Lewis Warrington	October 21, 1814	3 Stat. 246
Captain Johnson Blakely	November 3, 1814	3 Stat. 246-247
Major General Jacob Brown	November 3, 1814	3 Stat. 247
Major General Winfield Scott	November 3, 1814 March 9, 1848	3 Stat. 247 9 Stat. 333
Brigadier General Eleazar W. Ripley, Brigadier General James Miller, and Major General Peter B. Porter	November 3, 1814	3 Stat. 247
Major General Edmund P. Gaines	November 3, 1814	3 Stat. 247
Major General Alexander Macomb	November 3, 1814	3 Stat. 247
Major General Andrew Jackson	February 27, 1815	3 Stat. 249
Captain Charles Stewart	February 22, 1816	3 Stat. 341
Captain James Biddle	February 22, 1816	3 Stat. 341
Major General William Henry Harrison and Governor Isaac Shelby	April 4, 1818	3 . 476
Colonel George Croghan	February 13, 1835	4 Stat. 792
Major General Zachary Taylor	July 16, 1846 March 2, 1847	9 Stat. 111 9 Stat. 206
Rescuers of the Officers and Crew of the U.S. Brig Somers	March 3, 1847	9 Stat. 208
Commander Duncan N. Ingraham	August 4, 1854	10 Stat. 594-595
Frederick A. Rose	May 11, 1858	11 Stat. 369
Major General Ulysses S. Grant	December 17, 1863	13 Stat. 399
Cornelius Vanderbilt	January 28, 1864	13 Stat. 401
Captain Creighton, Captain Low, and Captain Stouffer	July 26, 1866	14 Stat. 365-366
Cyrus W. Field	March 2, 1867	14 Stat. 574
George Peabody	March 16, 1867	15 Stat. 20
George F. Robinson	March 1, 1871	16 Stat. 704
Captain Jared S. Crandall and Others	February 24, 1873	17 Stat. 638
John Horn, Jr.	June 20, 1874 April 28, 1904	18 Stat. 573 33 Stat. 1684-1685
John F. Slater	February 5, 1883	22 Stat. 636
Joseph Francis	August 27, 1888	25 Stat. 1249
Chief Engineer George Wallace Melville and Others	September 30, 1890	26 Stat. 552-553
First Lieutenant Frank H. Newcomb	May 3, 1900	31 Stat. 717
First Lieutenant David H. Jarvis, Second Lieutenant Ellsworth P. Bertholf, and Dr. Samuel J. Call	June 28, 1902	32 Stat. 492
Wright Brothers	March 4, 1909	35 Stat. 1627
Captain Arthur Henry Rostron	July 6, 1912	37 Stat. 639
Captain Paul H. Kreibohm and Others	March 19, 1914	38 Stat. 769
Domicio da Gama, Romulo S. Naon, and Eduardo Suarez	March 4, 1915	38 Stat. 1228
Charles A. Lindbergh	May 4, 1928	45 Stat. 490
Lincoln Ellsworth, Roald Amundsen, and Umberto Nobile	May 29, 1928	45 Stat. 2026-2027
Thomas A. Edison	May 29, 1928	45 Stat. 1012
First Successful Trans-Atlantic Flight	February 9, 1929	45 Stat. 1158
Major Walter Reed and Associates for Yellow Fever Experimentations in Cuba	February 28, 1929	45 Stat. 1409-1410
Officers and Men of the Byrd Antarctic Expedition	May 23, 1930	46 Stat. 379
Lincoln Ellsworth	June 16, 1936	49 Stat. 2324
George M. Cohan	June 29, 1936	49 Stat. 2371
Mrs. Richard Aldrich and Anna Bouligny	June 20, 1938	52 Stat. 1365
Howard Hughes	August 7, 1939	53 Stat. 1525
Reverend Francis X. Quinn	August 10, 1939	53 Stat. 1533
William Sinnott	June 15, 1940	54 Stat. 1283
Roland Boucher	January 20, 1942	56 Stat. 1099-1100
George Catlett Marshall, General of the Army, and Fleet Admiral Ernest Joseph King	March 22, 1946	60 Stat. 1134-1135
John J. Pershing, General of the Armies of the United States	August 7, 1946	60 Stat. 1297-1298
Brigadier General William Mitchell	August 8, 1946	60 Stat. 1319
Vice President Alben W. Barkley	August 12, 1949	P.L. 81-221, 63 Stat. 599
Irving Berlin	July 16, 1954	P.L. 83-536, 68 Stat. A120
Doctor Jonas E. Salk	August 9, 1955	P.L. 84-297, 69 Stat. 589
Surviving Veterans of the War Between the States	July 18, 1956	P.L. 84-730, 70 Stat. 577
Rear Admiral Hyman George Rickover	August 28, 1958	P.L. 85-826, 72 Stat. 985
Doctor Robert H. Goddard	September 16, 1959	P.L. 86-277, 73 Stat. 562-563
Robert Frost	September 13, 1960	P.L. 86-747, 74 Stat. 883
Doctor Thomas Anthony Dooley III	May 27, 1961	P.L. 87-42, 75 Stat. 87
Bob Hope	June 8, 1962	P.L. 87-478, 76 Stat. 93
Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the House of Representatives	September 26, 1962	P.L. 87-478, 76 Stat. 605
Douglas MacArthur, General of the Army	October 9, 1962	P.L. 87-760, 76 Stat. 760
Walt Disney	May 24, 1968	P.L. 90-316, 82 Stat. 130-131
Winston Churchill	May 7, 1969	P.L. 91-12, 83 Stat. 8-9
Roberto Walker Clemente	May 14, 1973	P.L. 93-33, 87 Stat. 71
Marian Anderson	March 8, 1977	P.L. 95-9, 91 Stat. 19
Lieutenant General Ira E. Eaker	October 10, 1978	P.L. 95-438, 92 Stat. 1060
Robert F. Kennedy	November 1, 1978	P.L. 95-560, 92 Stat. 2142
John Wayne	May 26, 1979	P.L. 96-15, 93 Stat. 32
Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman	June 13, 1979	P.L. 96-20, 93 Stat. 45
Hubert H. Humphrey	June 13, 1979	P.L. 96-91, 93 Stat. 46
American Red Cross	December 12, 1979	P.L. 96-138, 93 Stat. 1063
Ambassador Kenneth Taylor	March 6, 1980	P.L. 96-201, 94 Stat. 79
Simon Wiesenthal	March 17, 1980	P.L. 96-211, 94 Stat. 101
1980 United States Summer Olympic Team¹	July 8, 1980	P.L. 96-306 94 Stat. 937
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands	March 22, 1982	P.L. 97-158, 96 Stat. 18-19
Admiral Hyman George Rickover	June 23, 1982	P.L. 97-201, 96 Stat. 126-127
Fred Waring	August 26, 1982	P.L. 97-246, 96 Stat. 315-316
Joe Louis	August 26, 1982	P.L. 97-246, 96 Stat. 315-316
Louis L'Amour	August 26, 1982	P.L. 97-246, 96 Stat. 315-316
Leo J. Ryan	November 18, 1983	P.L. 98-159, 97 Stat. 992
Danny Thomas	November 29, 1983	P.L. 98-172, 97 Stat. 1119-1120
Harry S. Truman	May 8, 1984	P.L. 98-278, 98 Stat. 173-175
Lady Bird Johnson	May 8, 1984	P.L. 98-278, 98 Stat. 173-175
Elie Wiesel	May 8, 1984	P.L. 98-278, 98 Stat. 173-175
Roy Wilkins	May 17, 1984	P.L. 98-285, 98 Stat. 186
George and Ira Gershwin	August 9, 1985	P.L. 99-86, 99 Stat. 288-289
Anatoly and Avital Shcharansky	May 13, 1986	P.L. 99-298, 100 Stat. 432-433
Harry Chapin	May 20, 1986	P.L. 99-311, 100 Stat. 464
Aaron Copland	September 23, 1986	P.L. 99-418, Stat. 952-953
Mary Lasker	December 24, 1987	P.L. 100-210, 101 Stat. 1441
Jesse Owens	September 20, 1988	P.L. 100-437, 102 Stat. 1717
Andrew Wyeth	November 9, 1988	P.L. 100-639, 102 Stat. 3331-3332
Laurence Spelman Rockefeller	May 17, 1990	P.L. 101-296, 104 Stat. 197-199
General Matthew B. Ridgeway	November 5, 1990	P.L. 101-510, 104 Stat. 1720-1721
General H. Norman Schwarzkopf	April 23, 1991	P.L. 102-32; 105 Stat. 175-176
General Colin Powell	April 23, 1991	P.L. 102-33; 105 Stat. 177-178
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson	November 2, 1994	P.L. 103-457, 108 Stat. 4799-4800
Ruth and Billy Graham	February 13, 1996	P.L. 104-111, 110 Stat. 772-773
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra	May 14, 1997	P.L. 105-14, 111 Stat. 32-33
Mother Teresa of Calcutta	June 2, 1997	P.L. 105-16, 111 Stat. 35-36
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew	October 6, 1997	P.L. 105-51, 111 Stat. 117-1171
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela	July 29, 1998	P.L. 105-215, 112 Stat. 895-896
Little Rock Nine	October 21, 1998	P.L. 105-277, 112 Stat. 2681-597
Gerald R. and Betty Ford	October 21, 1998	P.L. 105-277, 112 Stat. 2681-598
Rosa Parks	May 4, 1999	P.L. 106-26, 113 Stat. 50-51
Theodore M. Hesburgh	December 9, 1999	P.L. 106-153, 113 Stat. 1733-1734
John Cardinal O'Connor	March 3, 2000	P.L. 106-175, 114 Stat. 20-21
Charles M. Schulz	June 20, 2000	P.L. 106-225, 114 Stat. 457-458
Pope John Paul II	July 27, 2000	P.L. 106-250, 114 Stat. 622-623
Ronald and Nancy Reagan	July 27, 2000	P.L. 106-251, 114 Stat. 624-625
Navajo Code Talkers	December 21, 2000	P.L. 106-554, 114 Stat. 2763
General Henry H. Shelton	January 16, 2002	P.L. 107-127, 115 Stat. 2405-2406
Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom	July 17, 2003	P.L. 108-60, 117 Stat. 862-863
Jackie Roosevelt Robinson	October 23, 2003	P.L. 108-101, 117 Stat. 1195-1197
Dr. Dorothy Height	December 6, 2003	P.L. 108-162, 117 Stat. 2017-2019
Reverend Joseph A. DeLaine, Harry and Eliza Briggs, and Levi Pearson	December 15, 2003	P.L. 108-180, 117 Stat. 2645-2647
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King	October 25 , 2004	P.L. 108-368, 118 Stat. 1746-1748
The Tuskegee Airmen	April 11 , 2006	P.L. 109-213, 120 Stat. 322
Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama	September 27, 2006	P.L. 109-287; 120 Stat. 1231-1232
Byron Nelson	October 16, 2006	P.L. 109-357; 120 Stat. 2044-2046
Dr. Norman E. Borlaug	December 14, 2006	P.L. 109-395, 120 Stat. 2709
Michael Ellis DeBakey, M.D.	October 10, 2007	P.L. 110-95, 121 Stat. 1008

1. H.R. 7482 designated 650 gold-plated Congressional Gold Medals to be presented to the entire 1980 Summer Olympic Team by the President of the United States. The large striking necessitated the creation of gold-plated medals.

Source: Congressional Research Service