Barack Obama To Be Third U.S. President to Hold Honorary Knox Degree

On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama will become the third United States President to hold an honorary degree from Knox College, joining presidents Abraham Lincoln and William Jefferson Clinton. Obama was awarded an honorary degree from Knox College in June 2005 and delivered the Commencement address. Watch the speech or read the transcript.

Both Lincoln and Obama received their honorary degrees prior to taking office. Knox gave Lincoln an honorary doctorate in 1860, helping to boost his presidential bid. Obama was honored for his service in the Illinois legislature and the U.S. Senate.

"As the nation celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates and the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, it is not possible for me to think about this historic election without taking pride in the history of Knox College," said President Roger Taylor '63. "Knox was founded in 1837 by individuals who were strongly anti-slavery, and Knox gave honorary doctorates to Abraham Lincoln, the president who ended slavery, and to Barack Obama, the first African American president."

Clinton received his honorary doctorate of laws from Knox in June 2007, seven years after leaving the White House.

Knox Alumnus Leads Presidential Transition Team
John Podesta, a 1971 graduate and current trustee of Knox College, is one of three co-chairs of President-elect Obama's transition team. Podesta is taking a leave of absence from his position as president of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think-tank he helped create in 2003, to help lead Obama's transition to the White House. He plans to return to his position at the Center for American Progress after Obama's inauguration in January 2009.

A major player in Washington politics for more than 20 years, Podesta brings a wealth of political experience to Obama's team. He served as President Clinton's chief of staff from 1998 to 2001, has held a number of positions on Capital Hill, including counselor to Democratic leader Senator Thomas A. Daschle, and founded, with his brother Tony, Podesta Associates, Inc., a Washington, D.C. government relations and public affairs firm. He recently published with his colleague John Halpin the book The Power of Progress: How America's Progressives Can (Once Again) Save Our Economy, Our Climate, and Our Country, where he explains how progressive values changed America in the wake of the Gilded Age and how these values will reshape America after the Bush presidency.

Podesta's Center for American Progress has been a resource for the Obama team on policy and personnel. According to USA Today, the Center is modeled after the conservative Heritage Foundation, which published a 1,000-page blueprint for Reagan's new administration in 1981. "The Center is scheduled to release a 50-chapter e-book on how to run [Obama's] new administration. Already sent to the Obama team: a memo detailing what the past five president-elects did on each day of their transition," said the national paper.

Podesta joined the Knox College Board of Trustees in 2001. He has volunteered for Knox's admission and advancement offices and regularly returns to campus to participate in political symposiums, Board meetings, and Commencement exercises.

Read more about John Podesta and his role on President Obama's transition team.

Students Predict Future, Celebrate Present

Barack Obama's Commencement Address

Knox Congratulates Barack Obama

Knox Magazine Interview with Senator Obama

Senator Obama's Reflections on Knox College in Time

Barack Obama's 2005 Knox address selected for Great Speeches by African Americans

President Clinton Receives 2007 Honorary Degree