Former Wyoming US Senator Alan Simpson will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom Thursday at the White House. This is the first medal of freedom ceremony presented by President Joe Biden.

An advisory group helps the President pick the recipients of this honor. 

The 90-year-old served in the US Senate for eighteen years. He also served as co-chair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform with Democratic Party co-chair Erskine Bowles of North Carolina. He was in the Wyoming House of Representatives for over 10 years.

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In the Senate, Simpson garnered attention for his anti-social security stance and for attacking Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas hearings.

“I’ve been involved in very controversial things,” Simpson said. “I’ve been involved in things where I took a lot of flack, things where I was heavily criticized, whether it was very much praised. And all through the years there’s been the steadiness of, do what you can. ”

Born in Denver, Colorado, Simpson graduated from the University of Wyoming’s law school (1958). He served in the Wyoming House of Representatives (1965–77) and won election to the United States Senate (1978).

His father, Milward Simpson, had served in the same seat (1962–67). Simpson served as the Senate Republican Whip (1985–95).

After three terms in the Senate, Simpson declined to seek re-election in 1996. After leaving office, he practiced law and taught at different universities.

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He also served on the Continuity of Government Commission, the American Battle Monuments Commission, and the Iraq Study Group. Simpson voted in favor of the bill establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday.

In 1998, Simpson received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member General Colin Powell. In 2011, Simpson and Erskine Bowles were presented the Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government for their work on the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

After returning from July Fourth activities in Cody, Simpson said we should all remember we are Americans first.

“Today, we are confronted with revenge and hatred, and that’s not a place for America to be….filled with revenge and hatred. And so, it’s a good day to think of the Fourth of July, and we’ve never been a perfect nation. Never, ever. We’ve had civil wars, robber barons, child labor, race wars, and here we are. And to people who say it’s a perfect city on the hill, nice idea, that was Reagan’s idea, but lumps and all, warts and all, this is the best damn country on earth and if you’ve forgotten that, well then our country’s in peril,” Simpson said.