Laetare Medal recipients

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Delaware in the United States Senate from 1973 to 2009 and also served as the 47th vice president under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the youngest person elected president, at 43 years, and the first Catholic president. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his foreign policy concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. A member of the Democratic Party, Kennedy represented Massachusetts in both houses of the United States Congress before his presidency.

Ramón Gerard Antonio Estévez, known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. His work spans more than six decades of television and film, and his accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and four Actor Awards. In 1989, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

American actress (1900–1993)

American jazz pianist and composer (1920–2012)

US surgeon (1919–2012)

American journalist, social activist, and Catholic convert (1897-1980)

American actress and singer (1898–1990)

53rd Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015

American politician (1914–1996)

American statesman and governor (1873–1944)

American philosophical novelist

American philanthropist; founder of the Special Olympics; sister of John F. Kennedy (1921–2009)

American politician (1927-2003)

American diplomat, politician and activist (1915–2011)

American writer, politician, ambassador, journalist and anti-Communist activist (1903-1987)

chief justice of the United States from 1910 to 1921

American lawyer (1851–1921)

American singer

American diplomat, politician and army officer (1819–1898)

U.S. Supreme Court justice from 1956 to 1990

American politician (1912–1994)

American politician and diplomat (1903–2001)

advocate for the abolition of the death penalty

Catholic cardinal (1928–1996)

Catholic cardinal (1907–1988)

American politician (1916-2013)

American essayist (1855–1950)

American theologian and university president (1917–2015)

American artist (1859-1938)

United States federal judge

American labor leader (1894–1980)

American politician (1888-1976)

American writer (born 1950)

American Navy admiral; (1855-1932)

American surgeon (1857–1916)

American journalist (1880–1954)

US ambassador to the Holy See

American diplomat, academic, educator

American diplomat (1894–1978)

American academic (1840–1916)

American diplomat (1886–1974)

American playwright and theatre impresario (1838–1899)

American writer and poet (1905–1978)

American politician (1886-1959)

American environmental activist (born 1950)

(1823–1895) United States Army general and engineer

United States Army general (1899-1983)

United States admiral (1906-1992)

Irish-American author and playwright

Irish-American politician (1854–1923)

American historian (1903-1995)

American writer (1913-1996)

college professor (1873–1958)

American professor of English

United States Circuit Judge

United States Army general (1879–1951)

American artist (1824–1901)

American chemist (1899–1990)

American historian (1824–1892)