– Global icon –
Ali’s stature as a global icon was confirmed with his poignant appearance at the opening ceremony of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where he lit the cauldron.
Nine years later, in November 2005, then president George W. Bush awarded Ali the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honour.
Even as his physical capacities diminished – his gait becoming more shambling and his speech more hesitant – Ali’s public life continued.
In 2002, he appeared with his wife, Lonnie, before Congress to press for more funding for Parkinson’s disease research.
Ali, who was named a UN messenger of peace in 1998, continued to involve himself in various charitable ventures, and he campaigned for boxing reform, calling for a national body to oversee the sport he loved.
In 2002, he visited Afghanistan to raise awareness of the problems still faced there after the fall of the Taliban regime.
By that time Ali was already familiar with the role of overseas envoy, having visited five African nations in 1980 on behalf of president Jimmy Carter.
In 1990, on the eve of the Gulf War, he travelled to Iraq and met Saddam Hussein in an independent effort to promote peace in the region.
He was credited with securing the release of 15 US hostages.
One of the hostages, Harry Brill-Edwards, told an Ali biographer: “I’ve always known that Muhammad Ali was a super sportsman. But during those hours that we were together, inside that enormous body, I saw an angel.”
About The Author
