The Texas native, now 74, was only 23 when he won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958, at the height of the Cold War. Nikita Khruschev, who was premier at the time, gave permission to the Soviet judges to award the prize to an American.
The National Constitution Center's 2008 Liberty Medal will be awarded to Gorbachev for his role in ending the Cold War. The ceremony will be held Sept. 18 at the center.
