Mr Minow, 91, is the former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and a professor emeritus of Northwestern University School of Law. After serving at the FCC during the tenure of President John F Kennedy, Mr Minow joined Leibman, Williams, Bennett, Baird & Minow in 1963 before it merged with Sidley Austin around ten years later. He served as the merged firm’s managing partner until 1991, when he stepped down into his current role as senior counsel. Apart from justices of the Supreme Court, Mr Minow is one of only 14 lawyers and judges to ever receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Pioneer of American communications

In awarding the medal to his former boss during Tuesday’s ceremony, President Obama credited Mr Minow with having reshaped the landscape of American communications over the course of his 70-year career. The veteran lawyer is credited with pioneering the idea that American broadcasters had an important role to play in serving the public interest by informing the American citizenry – he spearheaded televised Presidential debates as a permanent fixture of the electoral process. There is also a longstanding personal and professional relationship between the esteemed lawyer and the now President, who met his wife First Lady Michelle Obama while the pair were employed as summer associates at Sidley Austin. ‘As far as I know he was the only one of today’s honorees who was present on my first date with Michelle,’ President Obama joked during the ceremony. ‘Imagine our surprise when we saw Newt, one of our bosses that summer, at the movie theatre.’

Sources: American Lawyer; Chicago Sun Times