N.J. native Scalia joins Babe Ruth, Elvis as Trump awards the nation’s top civilian honor

President Trump called Justice Scalia “one of the greatest jurists ever to serve our country.”

WASHINGTON — Antonin Scalia, the Trenton native who became one of the nation’s most influential U.S. Supreme Court justices, received the nation’s highest civilian honor Friday.

President Donald Trump also awarded the presidential medal of freedom to New York Yankees Hall of Fame outfielder Babe Ruth; entertainer Elvis Presley; Roger Staubach, a standout quarterback with the Dallas Cowboys; and former Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Alan Page, who went on to a long career as a judge on the Minnesota Supreme Court.

In all, seven people received the honor. The other two were retiring U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a key Trump ally in the Senate; and Miriam Adelson, a doctor and philanthropist who with her husband Sheldon Adelson contributed $112 million to Republican groups in the 2018 elections, more than anyone else.

Scalia’s widow, Maureen Scalia, accepted the award on behalf of her husband as Trump proclaimed him “one of the greatest jurists ever to serve our country.”

“Justice Scalia has made a deep and lasting impact on the history of our nation,” said Trump, as the Scalias’ children and several current Supreme Court justices looked on.

“Justice Scalia transformed the American legal landscape igniting a national movement to apply the original meaning of the Constitution as written,” Trump said. “Few have done more to uphold this nation’s founding charter.”

Trump pledged during the campaign to use Scalia as his model for nominating future Supreme Court justices. Scalia, who died in 2016, was a leader of the court’s activist conservative wing that overturned long-standing precedents in such areas as voting rights, workers’ rights and limits on campaign spending.

Born in Trenton, Scalia grew up in New York and worked under President Richard Nixon in the White House before being nominated to the high court by President Ronald Reagan in 1986. He was the first Italian American to sit on the court.

Another Jersey native, singer Bruce Springsteen, received the same honor from President Barack Obama in 2016. At the time, Obama called Springsteen “America’s rock and roll laureate.”

Ruth’s grandson, Thomas Stevens, accepted the award on behalf of the Yankee great, who Trump described as “one of the most celebrated sports heroes in world history.”

In the audience was George Steinbrenner IV, grandson of the legendary Yankee owner. During the ceremony, Trump called the original Steinbrenner “a real piece of work” and said that when he attended Yankee games with him, “you’d go home exhausted.”

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.