| Four Freedoms Award | |
| Country: | United States |
| Established: | 1982 |
The Four Freedoms Award is an annual award presented to "those men and women whose achievements have demonstrated a commitment to those principles which US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed in his Four Freedoms speech to the United States Congress on January 6, 1941, as essential to democracy: "freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear". The annual award is handed out in alternate years in New York City by the Roosevelt Institute to Americans and in Middelburg, Netherlands, by the Roosevelt Stichting to non-Americans.
The awards were first presented in 1982 on the centennial of President Roosevelt's birth as well as the bicentennial of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Netherlands. The awards were founded to celebrate the Four Freedoms espoused by President Roosevelt in his speech:
For each of the four freedoms an award was instituted, as well as a special Freedom medal. In 1990, 1995, 2003 and 2004 there were also special awards.
In odd years the awards are presented to American citizens or institutions by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute in New York City, though in the past the American awards were given in Hyde Park, New York. In even years the award ceremony is held in Middelburg and honors non-Americans. The choice of Middelburg was motivated by the suspected descendance of the family Roosevelt from Oud-Vossemeer in the municipality Tholen.
| Year | Photo | Year | Photo | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Princess Juliana of the Netherlands | 1983 | |||
| 1984 | 1985 | ||||
| 1986 | 1987 | ||||
| 1988 | 1989 | ||||
| 1990 | 1991 | ||||
| 1992 | 1993 | ||||
| 1994 | 1995 | ||||
| 1996 | 1997 | ||||
| 1998 | 1999 | ||||
| 2000 | 2001 | W.W. II veterans as represented by | |||
| 2002 | 2003 | ||||
| 2004 | 2005 | ||||
| 2006 | 2007 | ||||
| 2008 | 2009 | ||||
| 2010 | 2011 | ||||
| 2012 | 2013 | ||||
| 2014 | 2015 | ||||
| 2016 | 2017 | ||||
| 2018 | 2019 | ||||
| 2020 | 2021 | ||||
| 2022 | 2023 | ||||
| 2024 | 2025 |
| Year | Year | Hyde Park | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 1983 | Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. | ||
| 1984 | 1985 | Kenneth B. Clark | ||
| 1986 | El País | 1987 | Herbert Block | |
| 1988 | 1989 | Walter Cronkite | ||
| 1990 | No Award | 1991 | James Reston | |
| 1992 | 1993 | Arthur Miller | ||
| 1994 | 1995 | Mary McGrory | ||
| 1996 | 1997 | Sidney R. Yates | ||
| 1998 | 1999 | John Lewis | ||
| 2000 | 2001 | The New York Times and the Ochs/Sulzberger Family | ||
| 2002 | 2003 | Studs Terkel | ||
| 2004 | 2005 | Tom Brokaw | ||
| 2006 | 2007 | Bill Moyers | ||
| 2008 | 2009 | Anthony Romero | ||
| 2010 | 2011 | Michael J. Copps | ||
| 2012 | 2013 | Paul Krugman | ||
| 2014 | 2015 | Arthur Mitchell | ||
| 2016 | 2017 | Dan Rather | ||
| 2018 | 2019 | The Boston Globe | ||
| 2020 | 2021 | Nikole Hannah-Jones | ||
| 2022 | 2023 | Tracie Hall | ||
| 2024 | 2025 |
| Year | Year | Hyde Park | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 1983 | Coretta Scott King | ||
| 1984 | 1985 | Elie Wiesel | ||
| 1986 | 1987 | Leon Sullivan | ||
| 1988 | 1989 | Raphael Lemkin (posthumously) and Hyman Bookbinder | ||
| 1990 | 1991 | Paul Moore, Jr. | ||
| 1992 | 1993 | Theodore M. Hesburgh, CSC | ||
| 1994 | 1995 | Andrew Young | ||
| 1996 | 1997 | William H. Gray | ||
| 1998 | 1999 | Corinne C. Boggs | ||
| 2000 | 2001 | Johnnie Carr | ||
| 2002 | 2003 | Robert F. Drinan | ||
| 2004 | 2005 | Cornel West | ||
| 2006 | 2007 | Peter J. Gomes | ||
| 2008 | 2009 | Eboo Patel | ||
| 2010 | 2011 | Rev. Barry W. Lynn | ||
| 2012 | 2013 | Simone Campbell | ||
| 2014 | 2015 | Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II | ||
| 2016 | 2017 | Rev. Dr. Steve Stone and Dr. Bashar A. Shala | ||
| 2018 | 2019 | Krista Tippett | ||
| 2020 | 2021 | Raphael Warnock | ||
| 2022 | 2023 | Dr. Walter Earl Fluker | ||
| 2024 | 2025 |
| Year | Year | Hyde Park | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 1983 | Robert S. McNamara | ||
| 1984 | 1985 | John Kenneth Galbraith | ||
| 1986 | 1987 | Mary Lasker | ||
| 1988 | 1989 | Dorothy I. Height | ||
| 1990 | 1991 | Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward | ||
| 1992 | 1993 | Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Sargent Shriver | ||
| 1994 | 1995 | Lane Kirkland | ||
| 1996 | 1997 | Mark O. Hatfield | ||
| 1998 | 1999 | George S. McGovern | ||
| 2000 | 2001 | March of Dimes | ||
| 2002 | 2003 | Dolores Huerta | ||
| 2004 | 2005 | Marsha J. Evans | ||
| 2006 | 2007 | Barbara Ehrenreich | ||
| 2008 | 2009 | Vicki Escarra | ||
| 2010 | 2011 | Jacqueline Novogratz | ||
| 2012 | 2013 | Coalition of Immokalee Workers | ||
| 2014 | 2015 | Dr. Olufunmilayo Olopade | ||
| 2016 | 2017 | Ai-jen Poo | ||
| 2018 | 2019 | Franklin A. Thomas | ||
| 2020 | 2021 | Deepak Bhargava | ||
| 2022 | Nice Nailantei Leng'ete | 2023 | Ady Barkan | |
| 2024 | 2025 |
| Year | Year | Hyde Park | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 1983 | Jacob K. Javits | ||
| 1984 | 1985 | Isidor Rabi | ||
| 1986 | Olof Palme (posthumously) | 1987 | George Kennan | |
| 1988 | 1989 | J. William Fulbright | ||
| 1990 | 1991 | Mike Mansfield | ||
| 1992 | 1993 | George Ball | ||
| 1994 | 1995 | Elliot Richardson | ||
| 1996 | 1997 | Daniel K. Inouye | ||
| 1998 | 1999 | Robert O. Muller | ||
| 2000 | 2001 | W.W. II veterans as represented by | ||
| 2002 | 2003 | Robert C. Byrd | ||
| 2004 | 2005 | Lee H. Hamilton and Thomas Kean | ||
| 2006 | 2007 | Brent Scowcroft | ||
| 2008 | 2009 | Pasquale J. D'Amuro | ||
| 2010 | 2011 | Bryan A. Stevenson | ||
| 2012 | 2013 | Ameena Matthews | ||
| 2014 | 2015 | The Nation | ||
| 2016 | 2017 | Cristina Jiménez Moreta | ||
| 2018 | 2019 | Sandy Hook Promise | ||
| 2020 | 2021 | Worker Rights Activists for the Excluded Workers Fund | ||
| 2022 | 2023 | Bennie Thompson | ||
| 2024 | 2025 |
| 1984 | Simone Veil (Centennial Award) | 2002 | William vanden Heuvel | 2005 | BBC World Service | |
| 1990 | Mikhail Gorbachev | 2003 | Arthur Schlesinger Jr. | 2005 | Mary Soames | |
| 1995 | Jonas Salk | 2004 | Anton Rupert | 2006 | Mike Wallace | |
| 1995 | Ruud Lubbers | 2004 | Bob Dole | 2008 | Forrest Church |