U.S. Senators and Representatives stopped what they were doing on Capitol Hill for 80 minutes Tuesday to present the Congressional Gold Medal to golf superstar Jack Nicklaus. The Ohio native is the third golfer to accept the honor.
Congressional Gold Medals are awarded to persons who have impacted American culture and history and whose achievements are likely to be acknowledged long after. Other athletes to have received the Medal include Joe Louis, Roberto Clemente, Jackie Robinson, Byron Nelson, Jesse Owens and Arnold Palmer, who was present at the ceremony for Nicklaus.
Jack Nicklaus is a native of Ohio native, now living in Latrobe Pennsylvania and La Quinta, California. He also lived in West Palm Beach, Florida for 40 years. The Congressional Gold Medal is not to be confused with the Medal of Honor, which goes only to military personnel.
U.S. President Barack Obama gave his signature to the request on Dec. 16th after it was sent to him by Ohio senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown. Nicklaus is also the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was awarded to him in 2005 by President George W. Bush.
A gushing theme throughout the formal presentation under the Capitol Rotundawas acknowledgment of Jack and Barbara Nicklaus’ philanthrophy. In fact, last week saw the renaming of the Miami Children’s Hospital to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. The Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation has pledged $60 million to the hospital.
For all his decades of accomplishments, Nicklaus considers his greatest to be winning the 1986 Masters Tournament at age 46. After a poignant story was told on Tuesday by Nicklaus’ eldest son, Jackie, House Majority Leader John Boehner expressed concern that the younger Nicklaus would have “a Boehner moment.” He then proceeded to have one himself, tearing up as he told a few more great stories about the great sportsman.
Nicklaus has gone by the nickname “the Golden Bear” for more than fifty years, but the source of the name is not clear. His agent, Mark McCormack, once described his “large, strong, and blond” future client player as “the Golden Bear.” On the other hand, the mascot of the high school Nicklaus attended, Upper Arlington, was (and remains) the Golden Bears.
