Obama honors Ruckelshaus, Billy Frank Jr.

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Joe Copeland

Joe Copeland Jan 12, 2018

Jan 12, 2018

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                <h1>Obama honors Ruckelshaus, Billy Frank Jr.</h1>
                <h2><p>President Barack Obama today selected former EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus and the late Billy Frank Jr., the longtime chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, as recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor. The White House announcement noted, among other things, the legal battles in which</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/joe-copeland-crosscut-com/">Joe Copeland</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Jan 12, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>President Barack Obama today selected former EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus and the late Billy Frank Jr., the longtime chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, as recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor. The White House announcement <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/11/16/president-obama-names-recipients-presidential-medal-freedom?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">noted</a>, among other things, the legal battles in which both were involved. While at the Justice Department, Ruckelshaus resigned rather than fire the Special Prosecutor investigating Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal (Ruckelshaus <a href="http://crosscut.com/2012/12/best-2012-bill-ruckelshaus-watergate-and-me/?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">wrote at length</a> in 2012 about his dealings with Nixon). And Frank's activism helped lead to the Boldt Decision recognizing tribal fishing rights.</p><p>The two Washingtonians are among 17 people nationally whose medals will be presented at a White House ceremony on Nov. 24.</p>
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President Barack Obama today selected former EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus and the late Billy Frank Jr., the longtime chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, as recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor. The White House announcement noted, among other things, the legal battles in which both were involved. While at the Justice Department, Ruckelshaus resigned rather than fire the Special Prosecutor investigating Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal (Ruckelshaus wrote at length in 2012 about his dealings with Nixon). And Frank's activism helped lead to the Boldt Decision recognizing tribal fishing rights.

The two Washingtonians are among 17 people nationally whose medals will be presented at a White House ceremony on Nov. 24.

By Joe Copeland

Joe Copeland is the former senior editor&nbsp;for Crosscut, where he has been an editor since 2010. Before that, he was an editorial writer and columnist for the Seattle P-I and editorial page edi