Jackie Robinson also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously during Reagan's presidency. Granted, a much bigger impact than Tiger's, but Mr. Robinson would have never had the opportunity without first being great at a sport.

But yeah, we could have waited a bit on Tiger's. I'm going to make a terribly risky gamble and insinuate that maybe Trump awarded the medal to entice Tiger to play at events on his golf courses in the future instead of being based on outstanding meritorious service to the American people.