Singer Dolly Parton declined receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom three times, twice from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, and once from U.S. President Joe Biden. Parton revealed that she had declined the award from Trump and Biden in a 2021 interview. They have not commented on her decision.

Functionally, there is no difference between the US's Medal of Freedom and the Order of Lenin awards handed out by the old Soviet Union.

President Joe Biden presented a Presidential Medal of Freedom with distinction on Saturday to the leader of his own church, Pope Francis. Biden praised the Catholic leader for being a “light of faith,