J. Clifford MacDonald

Jackson Clifford MacDonald (October 12, 1901 — August 16, 1963) was an American businessman and philanthropist. MacDonald was owner of a printing company and served as president of the Arc of the United States, then named the National Association for Retarded Children. For his post-secondary education, MacDonald went to Columbia University for a journalism program.

For his career, MacDonald worked for the New York Daily News in the 1920s before moving to the Tampa Tribune in 1924. While in Florida, MacDonald continued his journalism career in St. Petersburg, Florida with the St. Petersburg Times and the St. Petersburg Independent. Apart from reporting, MacDonald started The Spectator and the St. Petersburg Daily News during the mid 1920s. During this time period, MacDonald became a member of the Florida Cooperative for the Blind as their president in 1949. Throughout the early to mid 1950s, the Hillsborough Country Association for Retarded Children and the MacDonald Training Center were established by MacDonald. After launching the Florida State Council for Retarded Children, MacDonald worked for the National Association for Retarded Children during the mid to late 1950s as their president. President Lyndon B. Johnson said of MacDonald, upon issuing him the honor: "Businessman and philanthropist, he has directed his concern to the quiet but noble work of enlarging the lives and opportunities of the physically and mentally handicapped." President John F. Kennedy awarded MacDonald the Presidential Medal via executive order, on February 22, 1963. Following his death, MacDonald's wife accepted his President Medal of Freedom posthumously. MacDonald was married and had a child with an intellectual disability.