 The AFI Life Achievement Award was established by the Board of Directors of the American Film Institute on February 26, 1973 to honor a single individual for his or her lifetime contribution to enriching American culture through motion pictures and television. The Trustees initially specified that the recipient must be one who fundamentally advanced the art of film and whose achievements had been acknowledged by the general public as well as by film scholars and critics and the individual s peers. The Trustees also specified that the work of the recipient must have withstood the test of time. Six time Academy Award-winning director John Ford was the unanimous choice of the Board of Trustees for the first award as he "clearly stands preeminent in the history of motion pictures." President Richard M. Nixon attended the gala dinner hosted by Danny Kaye at which Ford was presented the award on March 31, 1973. Also appearing on the program were Clint Eastwood, Henry Fonda, Cary Grant, Charlton Heston, Jack Lemmon, Lee Marvin, Roddy McDowall, Maureen O Hara, Rosalind Russell, Steven Spielberg, George Stevens, Jr., James Stewart, Leslie Uggams, Robert Wagner, John Wayne, and Richard Widmark. The tribute featured many of Ford s classic films including "The Informer," "Stagecoach," "The Grapes of Wrath," "How Green Was My Valley," "My Darling Clementine," "Fort Apache," "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon," "The Quiet Man," "The Searchers," and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance."