WASHINGTON (AP): President Barack Obama bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on more than a dozen prominent Americans 50 years after the death of the award's founder, President John F. Kennedy.

Obama honored former President Bill Clinton, Former Indiana Senator Richard Lugar, Oprah Winfrey, and leaders in sports, science and public service in a White House ceremony on Wednesday. Obama says the recipients remind Americans of their own potential.

Obama says the late Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, showed America's daughters, including his own, that they can set their sights high.

The ceremony opens a day of tributes to Kennedy ahead of Friday's 50th anniversary of his assassination.  Kennedy established the modern version of the medal but died before the first presentation.