At the age of 22, Norman Rockwell (1894–1978) created his first cover for The Saturday Evening Post. In the course of the next five decades, the artist would paint another 321 covers for the publication. Rockwell possessed a special gift for recapturing heartwarming incidents of everyday life as well as the idealistic spirit of American culture. In 1977 he was awarded the nation's highest honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for his "vivid and affectionate portraits of our country."