Both Baker and Mankiller have been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

"We are delighted with the election of these four outstanding people," said Charles L. Overby, chairman, chief executive officer and president of the Freedom Forum. "Their diverse backgrounds and thoughtful perspectives will add richness and depth to the ongoing decisions that are necessary to guide the Freedom Forum and its programs into the future."

The Freedom Forum's largest funded program is the Newseum, a museum of news under construction at 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. The $400 million dollar project is expected to open in 2007.

Baker was appointed ambassador to Japan by President George W. Bush in 2001 and served until February 2005. He then rejoined the law firm that his grandfather had founded, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, and where he formerly practiced with his father, Howard H. Baker, who also served in Congress. The former senator is senior counsel to the firm focusing on public policy and international matters.

Baker also was President Ronald Reagan's chief of staff from 1987 to 1988. Baker represented Tennessee in the Senate from 1967 to 1985. Besides being majority leader of the U.S. Senate, he served as minority leader from 1977 to 1981.

Daschle served as a congressman and senator from South Dakota for more than 25 years. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1978 and served four terms. In 1986, he was elected to the Senate and served three terms, including more than one and a half years as Senate majority leader and eight and a half years as Senate minority leader. In 2004, he lost his Senate seat to former U.S. Rep. John Thune in a close race. As a non-attorney at Alston & Bird, Daschle specializes in advising clients on financial issues, health care, energy, telecommunications, taxes, trade and international matters.

In 1983, Mankiller was elected deputy chief of the Cherokee Nation and in 1987 she was elected principal chief. She was the first woman elected to either position. In 1991, Mankiller was re-elected principal chief. During her leadership years, she oversaw the establishment of several health clinics, a Job Corps Center and expanded services for children and youth. Mankiller is the author of several books, including "Every Day Is a Good Day," published in 2004. She has received many national and international awards and more than a dozen honorary doctorate degrees.

Paulson, a law school graduate who pursued a career as a journalist, has been editor of USA TODAY since April 2004. He had been an editor and a reporter at several Gannett newspapers before joining the Freedom Forum in 1996 as senior vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center. Paulson served as special assistant/chief of staff to former Gannett Chairman Allen H. Neuharth from 1986 to 1988. While at the First Amendment Center, Paulson was an adjunct professor at the Vanderbilt Law School. He is a member of the Illinois and Florida bars.

The Freedom Forum, based in Arlington, is a nonpartisan foundation dedicated to free press, free speech and free spirit for all people. The foundation focuses on three priorities: the Newseum, First Amendment and newsroom diversity.

The Freedom Forum funds the operations of the Newseum, an interactive museum of news under construction in Washington, D.C.; the First Amendment Center; and the Diversity Institute. The First Amendment Center and the Diversity Institute are housed in the John Seigenthaler Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. The First Amendment Center also has offices in Arlington.

The Freedom Forum was established in 1991 under the direction of Founder Allen H. Neuharth as successor to a foundation started in 1935 by newspaper publisher Frank E. Gannett. The Freedom Forum is not affiliated with Gannett Co. Its work is supported by income from an endowment of diversified assets.