Former local congressman Lee Hamilton will be receiving a prestigious honor from the president next week.

He will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony Nov. 24. Hamilton, who had an attorney’s office in Columbus when he first took office, represented our area in Congress for 34 years.

Hamilton is a distinguished scholar in the Indiana University School of Global and International Studies and a professor of practice in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He served for 16 years as director of IU’s Center on Congress at Indiana University,  which he founded in 1999.

A White House statement called Hamilton “one of the most influential voices on international relations and American national security over the course of his more than 40 year career.”

Hamilton will be one of 17 people receiving the award next week. The wards are the highest civilian award given by the country and were founded in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy.