Although the President's focus this year seems to be on people who engage in traditional charitable activities in their community, Swartz was a remarkable young man who had a tremendous impact on communities around the world through his work.
Aaron's work with the RSS standards, Creative Commons, Reddit, Open Library, Demand Progress and more have had a profound impact on the 'marketplace of ideas'. His work to make as much information as possible available to the public, to make that information as easy as possible to access, to foster discussions among people around the world and to protect the rights of people who use the internet have earned him the James Madison (Freedom of Information) award from the American Library Association. The White House Citizens Medal should be his too.