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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday awarded the country’s highest civilian honor to a number of current and former lawmakers and political figures at an event that was a stately throwback to another political era amid today’s bare-knuckle politics.

Biden, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from then-President Barack Obama in a surprise ceremony, presented the same honor to nearly 20 individuals at the White House. The list included former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; former Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn, D-S.C.; former Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J. Former Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina also received the medal.

With Biden’s expected rematch with former President Donald Trump already heating up and with the incumbent trailing him in some swing-state polls, the timing of Friday’s awards took on a distinct now-or-not-for-a-while feel, should Trump win in November. But rather than taking on a partisan feel, the late-afternoon East Room ceremony harkened back to a less-combative time as Biden pinned medals on the recipients.

Biden called giving out the awards an “extraordinary honor” and lauded the recipients’ collective “relentless curiosity” and “ingenuity,” saying each pursued a “better tomorrow.”

He heaped praise on each honoree, using descriptions like “champion for dignity,” “trailblazer,” “fierce advocate” and “first rate.”

Here is a look at the those who were honored.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi

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