Muhammad Ali honoured with...

Walking on unsteady legs and balanced by his wife, Lonnie, and a White House military aide, Muhammad Ali made his way to the stage in the East Room of the White House along with 12 others to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush yesterday.
Ali sat under a full-length portrait of Martha Washington with his wife seated behind him as the President read a brief comment about each of the 13 honorees. At one point, Ali reached inside the right breast pocket of his black suit jacket and removed a yellow note card and quickly put it back. If Ali had a prepared statement, he never read it to anyone. None of the recipients spoke during the ceremony.

Three weeks removed from surgery on his neck at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Ali appeared gaunt and a little tired. At times he would clench his right hand and drape his left hand over it as if he were trying to keep it from going numb. His black suit hung loosely about his 6-3 frame, making it hard to determine whether he had lost any significant weight since his last public appearance in June at his daughter Laila's match here.

Much has been made of the 63-year-old Ali's health since Laila commented in the Los Angeles Times three weeks ago that her father's condition was deteriorating rapidly. She said he can barely speak anymore.

Ali did appear alert for much of the 40-minute ceremony. The tremors that had been a visible sign of his Parkinson's syndrome were absent as he sat on the stage. At times he briefly nodded off, but sprang to life when it was time to applaud one of the other recipients.