Muhammad Ali

From his gold medal at the 1960 Olympics through his epic fights with George Foreman and Joe Frazier to his late-life battle with Parkinson’s disease, Muhammad Ali never left the public eye in a tumultuous, controversial, and electrifying life as a boxer and spokesman of conscience. Brash and outspoken, he burst onto the sports scene in the 1960s, creating a new model for the African American athlete. His conversion to the Muslim faith and opposition to the Vietnam War made him a lightning rod for criticism, exposing the cultural fault lines of that decade. Stripped of the heavyweight title, he was vindicated in the courts and regained his title in 1974. Post-boxing, he became a citizen of the world, involving himself in global social and humanitarian causes that showed a commitment and compassion that made him a uniquely historic and beloved figure.