--- title: Presidential Medal of Freedom: Who the Honorees Are description: President Obama will give the award to 17 people on Nov. 24 canonical: https://time.com/4116945/presidential-medal-recipients-2015/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-24T14:00:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T12:42:31.662Z article:section: History og:title: Presidential Medal of Freedom: Who the Honorees Are og:description: President Obama will give the award to 17 people on Nov. 24 og:url: https://time.com/4116945/presidential-medal-recipients-2015/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd084da3823a140f1/69887195f887dcbc47e935e0/wr.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: William D. Ruckelshaus og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Presidential Medal of Freedom: Who the Honorees Are twitter:description: President Obama will give the award to 17 people on Nov. 24 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd084da3823a140f1/69887195f887dcbc47e935e0/wr.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What You Should Know About the EPA Chief Getting a Presidential Medal of Freedom  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 24, 2015 2:00 PM UTC  William D. Ruckelshaus on Apr. 5, 1971 William D. Ruckelshaus on Apr. 5, 1971Barry Staver—Post Archive/Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 24, 2015 2:00 PM UTC Compared to people like Barbra Streisand and Yogi Berra, it’s hard to seem important—even if you’re receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Tuesday. That’s especially likely to be true if your description in the official [announcement](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/11/16/president-obama-names-recipients-presidential-medal-freedom) is “dedicated public servant” rather than actor or athlete. But for people like William Ruckelshaus, being less glamorous doesn’t mean making less of an impact on history. Here’s why he matters: Ruckelshaus served as Deputy Attorney General in the Nixon Administration and resigned the post rather than carry out an order to fire the Watergate special prosecutor. He was also the first head of the Environmental Protection Agency (and later returned to lead the agency in the 1980s). When the EPA was established in 1970, TIME dubbed Ruckelshaus the “Policeman for Pollution” and explained that he had been fighting for the environment since before the modern environmental movement went mainstream: --- > “” --- And, though President Nixon himself was [quoted](http://time.com/vault/issue/1972-01-03/page/55/) joking with Ruckelshaus, “You’re the enforcer…You’re going to be called a lot worse,” the EPA chief pulled off the impressive feat of winning praise for conservationists and businesses alike as a no-nonsense but judicious guide for environmental policy. Not that he would have minded some name-calling in service of the environment. “In a job like this,” he told TIME, “you’re bound to ruffle some feathers.” **_Read the full 1970 story here, in the TIME Vault:_** [Policeman for Pollution](http://time.com/vault/issue/1970-11-23/page/49/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4116945/presidential-medal-recipients-2015/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4116945/presidential-medal-recipients-2015/"},"headline":"What You Should Know About the EPA Chief Getting a Presidential Medal of Freedom","datePublished":"2015-11-24T14:00:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:42:31.662Z","description":"President Obama will give the award to 17 people on Nov. 24","url":"https://time.com/4116945/presidential-medal-recipients-2015/","keywords":["White House","Obama","People"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd084da3823a140f1/69887195f887dcbc47e935e0/wr.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd084da3823a140f1/69887195f887dcbc47e935e0/wr.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"William D. 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