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Mikhail Gorbachev Honored With Liberty Medal

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Sep 19, 2008 6:55 am US/Eastern

Mikhail Gorbachev Honored With Liberty Medal

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PHILADELPHIA The National Constitution Center's 2008 Liberty Medal was awarded to former Soviet leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mikhail Gorbachev for his role in ending the dangerous, decades-long Cold War and changing the course of world history.

This year's Liberty Medal ceremony set the stage for international commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 2009. Fittingly, President George H.W. Bush, Chairman of the Center's Board of Trustees, presented the Medal, in what was a powerful reunion for these two former world leaders.

The historic event was held on the lawn of the National Constitution Center in Center City Philadelphia.

Established in 1988 by We the People 200 to commemorate the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, the Liberty Medal annually honors an individual or an organization from anywhere in the world that has "demonstrated leadership and vision in the pursuit of liberty of conscience or freedom from oppression, ignorance, or deprivation."

Gorbachev used the moment to talk about what he called "the dangers of militarization".

"Nothing is more absurd, more contrary to common sense and to the lesson of mankind's past than the use of military force as a universal solution to problems," Gorbachev said through a translator.

Past winners of the Medal include U2 lead singer Bono, former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Colin Powell and Nelson Mandela.


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