View source for John Lewis

{{short description|American politician and civil rights leader (1940–2020)}}
{{About|the U.S. representative from Georgia|the British department stores|John Lewis & Partners|other people of the same name|John Lewis (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image               = John Lewis-2006 (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Official portrait, 2006
| alt                 = Photograph of John Lewis in suit and tie
| office              = [[Chief Deputy Whips of the United States House of Representatives|House Democratic Senior Chief Deputy Whip]]
| leader              = [[Dick Gephardt]]<br />[[Nancy Pelosi]]
| term_start          = January 3, 2003
| term_end            = July 17, 2020
| predecessor         = [[David Bonior]] (Chief Deputy Whip)
| successor           = [[G. K. Butterfield]]
| state1              = [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
| district1           = {{ushr|GA|5|5th}}
| term_start1         = January 3, 1987
| term_end1           = July 17, 2020
| predecessor1        = [[Wyche Fowler]]
| successor1          = [[Kwanza Hall]]
| office2             = Member of the [[Atlanta City Council]]<br />from at-large post 18
| term_start2         = January 1, 1982
| term_end2           = September 3, 1985
| predecessor2        = Jack Summer<ref>{{cite web |last=Suggs |first=Ernie |date=July 17, 2020 |title=Years in Atlanta City Hall Tested Lewis' Mettle |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/years-in-atlanta-city-hall-tested-lewis-mettle/ETDBOVA6R5GFDJVXETK7LYP3QU/ |work=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |location=[[Atlanta]], Georgia |access-date=November 16, 2020 |archive-date=November 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123013627/https://www.ajc.com/news/years-in-atlanta-city-hall-tested-lewis-mettle/ETDBOVA6R5GFDJVXETK7LYP3QU/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
| successor2          = Morris Finley
| office3             = 3rd Chairman of the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]]
| term_start3         = June 1963
| term_end3           = May 1966
| predecessor3        = [[Charles McDew]]
| successor3          = [[Stokely Carmichael]]
| birth_name          = John Robert Lewis
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1940|2|21}}
| birth_place         = [[Pike County, Alabama]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2020|7|17|1940|2|21}}
| death_place         = [[Atlanta, Georgia]], U.S.
| restingplace        = [[South-View Cemetery]]
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|Lillian Miles|1968|2012|end=died}}
| children            = 1
| education           = {{ubl|{{nobr|[[American Baptist College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])}}|[[Fisk University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])}}
| occupation          = {{hlist|Civil rights activist|Politician}}
| signature           = John Lewis Signature.svg
| module              = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Rep. John Lewis on a Resolution Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.ogg|title=John Lewis's voice|type=speech|description=John Lewis speaks on a House resolution celebrating [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]<br/>Recorded January 21, 2009}}
}}
'''John Robert Lewis''' (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American [[civil rights activist]] and statesman who served in the [[United States House of Representatives]] for {{ushr|GA|5}} from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 [[Nashville sit-ins]] and the [[Freedom Rides]], was the chairman of the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]] (SNCC) from 1963 to 1966, and was one of the "[[Big Six (activists)|Big Six]]" leaders of groups who organized the 1963 [[March on Washington]]. Fulfilling many key roles in the [[civil rights movement]] and its actions to end legalized [[racial segregation in the United States]], in 1965 Lewis led the first of three [[Selma to Montgomery marches]] across the [[Edmund Pettus Bridge]] where, in an incident that became known as [[Bloody Sunday (1965)|Bloody Sunday]], state troopers and police attacked Lewis and the other marchers.

A member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], Lewis was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1986 and served 17 terms. The district he represented included most of [[Atlanta]]. Due to his length of service, he became the dean of the [[United States congressional delegations from Georgia|Georgia congressional delegation]]. He was one of the leaders of the Democratic Party in the House, serving from 1991 as a [[Chief Deputy Whips of the United States House of Representatives|chief deputy whip]] and from 2003 as a [[Senior Chief Deputy Whip|senior chief deputy whip]]. He received many honorary degrees and awards, including the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] in 2011.

== Early life and education ==
John Robert Lewis was born near [[Troy, Alabama]], on February 21, 1940, the third of ten children of Willie Mae (née Carter) and Eddie Lewis.<ref name="fid1">Stated on ''[[Finding Your Roots]]'', [[PBS]], March 25, 2012.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=John |title=Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] |date=October 18, 1999 |isbn=9780156007085 |page=15}}</ref><ref name = Seelye>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/us/john-lewis-dead.html|title = John Lewis, Civil Rights Icon and Congressman, Dies at 80|page = A1|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|last = Seelye|first = Katharine Q.|date = July 17, 2020|accessdate = August 2, 2022|url-access = limited}}</ref> His parents were [[Sharecropping|sharecroppers]] in rural [[Pike County, Alabama]], of which Troy was the county seat.<ref name="ReportingCivilRights">''Reporting Civil Rights: American Journalism 1963–1973, Part Two ''[[Clayborne Carson|Carson, Clayborne]], [[David Garrow|Garrow, David]], Kovach, Polsgrove, Carol (Editorial Advisory Board), (Library of America: 2003) {{ISBN|978-1-931082-29-7}}, pp. 15–16, 48, 56, 84, 323, 374, 384, 392, 491–94, 503, 505, 513, 556, 726, 751, 846, 873.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=John |title=Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement |publisher=Harcourt Brace |location=San Diego |page=xv}}</ref> His great-grandfather, Frank Carter, had been born enslaved in the same county in 1862, and lived until Lewis was seven years old.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Meacham |first=Jon |title=His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope |publisher=[[Random House]] |year=2020 |isbn=978-1984855022 |location=New York, New York |publication-date=25 August 2020 |pages=19 |language=en}}</ref>

As a boy, Lewis aspired to be a preacher,<ref name=Lemley>{{cite news |last1=Lemley |first1=John |last2=Johns |first2=Myke |title=Congressman John Lewis on March |date=August 28, 2013 |access-date=July 20, 2020 |website=[[WABE (FM)|WABE FM]] |location=[[Atlanta]] |url=https://www.wabe.org/congressman-john-lewis-march |archive-date=July 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721233530/https://www.wabe.org/congressman-john-lewis-march/ |url-status=live }} ([[NPR]] station)</ref> and at age five, he preached to his family's chickens on the farm.<ref name=Banks>{{cite news |last=Banks |first=Adelle M. |title=Died: John Lewis, Preaching Politician and Civil Rights Leader |type=obituary |date=July 18, 2020 |access-date=July 20, 2020 |journal=[[Christianity Today]] |agency=[[Religion News Service]] |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/july/died-john-lewis-baptist-minister-civil-rights-leader.html |archive-date=July 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721013445/https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/july/died-john-lewis-baptist-minister-civil-rights-leader.html |url-status=live }}</ref> As a young child, Lewis had little interaction with [[white people]], as his county was majority black by a large percentage and his family worked as farmers. By the time he was six, Lewis had seen only two white people in his life.<ref>{{cite book |title=Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement |url=https://archive.org/details/walkingwithwindm00lewi/page/19/mode/2up?q=%22just+two+white+people%22|url-access=registration |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |year=1998 |author=John Lewis |page=[https://archive.org/details/walkingwithwindm00lewi/page/19/mode/2up 20] |access-date=February 7, 2021 |isbn=978-0-15-600708-5}}</ref> Lewis recalls "I grew up in rural Alabama, very poor, very few books in our home."<ref>{{cite web |title=National Book Awards 2016 |url=https://speakola.com/arts/john-lewis-national-book-awards-2016 |website=Speakola.com |date=November 29, 2016 |access-date=March 14, 2021 |archive-date=May 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503184105/http://speakola.com/arts/john-lewis-national-book-awards-2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> He describes his early education at a little school, walking distances from his home. "A beautiful little building, it was a [[Rosenwald School]]. It was supported by the community, it was the only school we had."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jannol |first1=Hannah |title=The Little Known Story Of How A Jewish Sears Exec. Helped His African-American Neighbors |url=https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/educating-every-child/ |website=Jewish Week |date=December 7, 2017 |access-date=March 14, 2021 |archive-date=April 6, 2021  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210406132353/https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/educating-every-child/ |url-status=live }}</ref> "I had a wonderful teacher in elementary school, and she told me 'read my child, read!' And I tried to read everything. I loved books. I remember in 1956, when I was 16 years old, with some of my brothers and sisters and cousins, going down to the public library, trying to get a library card, and we were told the library was for whites only and not for coloreds."<ref>{{cite web |title=John Lewis: 'Read my child, read!' |url=https://speakola.com/arts/john-lewis-national-book-awards-2016 |website=Speakola.com |date=November 29, 2016 |publisher=2016 National Book Award Winner |access-date=March 10, 2021 |archive-date=May 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503184105/http://speakola.com/arts/john-lewis-national-book-awards-2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> As he grew older, he began taking trips into Troy with his family, where he continued to have experiences of racism and segregation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=Brad |title=John Lewis Inspires Audience to March Forward While Remembering the Past |journal=ALA Cognotes |publisher=[[American Library Association]] |date=July 1, 2013 |volume=2013 |issue=8 |page=3 |url=http://exhibitors.ala.org/Cognotes_2013/Cognotes_July_1_2013.pdf |access-date=December 31, 2019 |issn=0738-4319|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320210115/http://exhibitors.ala.org/Cognotes_2013/Cognotes_July_1_2013.pdf|archive-date=March 20, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=John Lewis's March |journal=American Libraries |date=June 30, 2013 |url=https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/john-lewiss-march/ |publisher=American Library Association |issn=0002-9769|access-date=December 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231100653/https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/john-lewiss-march/|archive-date=December 31, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Albanese |first1=Andrew |title=ALA 2013: The Day Congressman John Lewis Got his Library Card |magazine=[[Publishers Weekly]] |publisher=PWxyz, LLC |location=New York City |date=June 30, 2013 |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/conferences/article/58040-ala-2013-the-day-congressman-john-lewis-got-his-library-card.html |access-date=December 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231093834/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/conferences/article/58040-ala-2013-the-day-congressman-john-lewis-got-his-library-card.html|archive-date=December 31, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Lewis had relatives who lived in northern cities, and he learned from them that in the North, schools, buses, and businesses were integrated. When Lewis was 11, an uncle took him to [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], New York, where he became acutely aware of the contrast with Troy's segregation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=John |title=Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement |year=1999 |publisher=Harcourt Brace |location=San Diego, California |isbn=978-0-15-600708-5 |pages=36–40}}</ref>

In 1955, Lewis first heard [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] on the radio,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=John |title=Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement |publisher=Harcourt Brace |location=San Diego |page=45}}</ref> and he closely followed King's [[Montgomery bus boycott]] later that year.<ref>Lewis, p. 48.</ref> At age 15, Lewis preached his first public sermon.<ref name=Banks/> At 17, Lewis met [[Rosa Parks]], notable for her role in the bus boycott, and met King for the first time at the age of 18.<ref name="NPR">{{cite episode |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5033971 |title=The Montgomery Bus Boycott, 50 Years Later |date=December 1, 2005 |network=[[NPR]] |series=[[News & Notes]] |access-date=April 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203005850/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5033971 |archive-date=February 3, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> In later years, Lewis also credited evangelist [[Billy Graham]], a friend of King's, as someone who "helped change me".<ref name=lewisspeaks /><ref name=lewisgraham /> Lewis also stated that Graham inspired him "to a significant degree" to fulfill his aspirations of becoming a minister.<ref name=lewisspeaks>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PqRiItBO-E Billy Graham passes away: Congressman John Lewis remembers the reverend] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105023524/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PqRiItBO-E&gl=US&hl=en |date=November 5, 2020 }} [[WXIA-TV|11 Alive]], February 21, 2018, Accessed October 6, 2020</ref><ref name=lewisgraham>{{cite news|url=https://www.11alive.com/article/news/jimmy-carter-andrew-young-john-lewis-others-remember-billy-graham/85-521478331|title=Jimmy Carter, Andrew Young, John Lewis, others remember Billy Graham|publisher=[[WXIA-TV|11 Alive]]|date=February 21, 2020|access-date=October 6, 2020|archive-date=July 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013514/https://www.11alive.com/article/news/jimmy-carter-andrew-young-john-lewis-others-remember-billy-graham/85-521478331|url-status=live}}</ref>

After writing to King about being denied admission to [[Troy University]] in Alabama, Lewis was invited to meet with him. King, who referred to Lewis as "the boy from Troy", discussed suing the university for discrimination, but he warned Lewis that doing so could endanger his family in Troy. After discussing it with his parents, Lewis decided instead to proceed with his education at a small, [[historically black]] college in Tennessee.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Newkirk II |first=Vann R. |title=How Martin Luther King Jr. Recruited John Lewis |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/02/john-lewis-martin-luther-king-jr/552581/ |magazine=The Atlantic |issn=1072-7825 |access-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-date=August 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810061838/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/02/john-lewis-martin-luther-king-jr/552581/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Lewis graduated from the [[American Baptist College|American Baptist Theological Seminary]] in [[Nashville, Tennessee]], and was ordained as a [[Baptists|Baptist]] minister.<ref name=Banks/><ref name=Lemley/> He then earned a bachelor's degree in religion and philosophy from [[Fisk University]], also a [[historically black college]]. He was a member of [[Phi Beta Sigma]] fraternity.<ref>{{cite web |title=President Clinton Inducted into Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2009/07/11/idUS14578+11-Jul-2009+PRN20090711 |work=Reuters |access-date=January 1, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130315092349/http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/07/11/idUS14578+11-Jul-2009+PRN20090711 |archive-date=March 15, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=July 19, 2020 |title="He fought until the end. That was my big brother" John Lewis' family speaks for 1st time |work=[[WSB-TV|WSB News]] |url=https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/he-fought-until-end-that-was-my-big-brother-john-lewis-family-speaks-1st-time/MYOXRZXBOVGATGRI72EC4ZEXS4/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200729171915/https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/he-fought-until-end-that-was-my-big-brother-john-lewis-family-speaks-1st-time/MYOXRZXBOVGATGRI72EC4ZEXS4/ |archive-date=July 29, 2020}}</ref>

== Student activism and SNCC ==
=== Nashville Student Movement ===
[[File:JFK meets with leaders of March on Washington 8-28-63.JPG|thumb|Civil rights leaders meet with President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon Johnson after the [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]], 1963. Lewis is fourth from left.]]
As a student, Lewis became an activist in the civil rights movement. He organized [[sit-ins]] at segregated lunch counters in Nashville and took part in many other civil rights activities as part of the [[Nashville Student Movement]]. The [[Nashville sit-ins|Nashville sit-in movement]] was responsible for the desegregation of lunch counters in the city's downtown. Lewis was arrested and jailed many times during the [[nonviolent]] activities to desegregate the city's downtown businesses.<ref>{{cite web |title=Congressman John R. Lewis Biography and Interview |website=www.achievement.org |publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]] |url=https://www.achievement.org/achiever/congressman-john-r-lewis/#interview |access-date=May 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220101031/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/congressman-john-r-lewis/#interview |archive-date=February 20, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> He was also instrumental in organizing bus boycotts and other nonviolent protests to support voting rights and racial equality.<ref>{{cite web |last1=John Lewis |first1=A civil Rights Legend |title=John Lewis: Profile of a Civil Rights Legend |url=https://www.americanbar.org/groups/communications_law/publications/communications_lawyer/fall2020/john-lewis-profile-a-civil-rights-legend/ |website=www.americanbar.org |publisher=American Bar Association |access-date=22 January 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

During this time, Lewis said it was important to engage in "good trouble, necessary trouble" in order to achieve change, and he held to this credo throughout his life.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-07-17/rep-john-lewis-civil-rights-icon-dies| title=John Lewis, civil rights icon and longtime congressman, dies| last=Haberkorn| first=Jennifer| newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]| date=July 17, 2020| access-date=July 20, 2020| archive-date=July 20, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200720095624/https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-07-17/rep-john-lewis-civil-rights-icon-dies| url-status=live}}</ref>

While a student, Lewis was invited to attend [[nonviolence]] workshops held at Clark Memorial United Methodist Church by the Rev. [[James Lawson (American activist)|James Lawson]] and Rev. [[Kelly Miller Smith]]. Lewis and other students became dedicated to the discipline and philosophy of nonviolence, which he practiced for the rest of his life.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://snccdigital.org/people/john-lewis/ |title=John Lewis |access-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105070259/https://snccdigital.org/people/john-lewis/ |website=Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Legacy Project |archive-date=January 5, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Freedom Riders ===
In 1961, Lewis became one of the 13 original [[Freedom Riders]].<ref name="ReportingCivilRights" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Freedom Rides |url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/freedom-rides |website=King Encyclopedia |date=June 29, 2017 |publisher=[[Stanford University]] |location=Stanford, California |access-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418222156/https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/freedom-rides |archive-date=April 18, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> The group of seven blacks and six whites planned to ride on interstate buses from Washington, D.C. to [[New Orleans]] to challenge the policies of Southern states along the route that had imposed segregated seating on the buses, which violated federal policy for interstate transportation. The "Freedom Ride", originated by the [[Fellowship of Reconciliation]] and revived by [[James Farmer]] and the [[Congress of Racial Equality]] (CORE), was initiated to pressure the federal government to enforce the Supreme Court decision in ''[[Boynton v. Virginia]]'' (1960), which declared segregated interstate bus travel to be unconstitutional. The Freedom Rides revealed the passivity of the local, state, and federal governments in the face of violence against law-abiding citizens.<ref name="CNN">{{cite web |url=http://articles.cnn.com/2001-05-10/us/access.lewis.freedom.rides_1_white-men-angry-mob-blacks?_s=PM:US |work=[[CNN]] |location=Atlanta |title=Civil Rights Timeline |date=January 31, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120808153339/http://articles.cnn.com/2001-05-10/us/access.lewis.freedom.rides_1_white-men-angry-mob-blacks?_s=PM%3AUS |archive-date=August 8, 2012}}</ref> The project was publicized and organizers had notified the Department of Justice about it. It relied upon the [[Alabama]] police to protect the riders, even though the state was known for notorious racism, and did not undertake actions except assigning [[FBI]] agents to record incidents. After extreme violence broke out in [[South Carolina]] and Alabama, the [[Kennedy Administration]] called for a "cooling-off" period, with a moratorium on Freedom Rides.<ref name="Albany">{{cite web|title=My Name Is Freedom: Albany, Georgia|url=http://www.zmag.org/zmag/articles/oldzinn.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/19990219104007/http://www.zmag.org/zmag/articles/oldzinn.htm|archive-date=February 19, 1999|website=You Can't Be Neutral on A Moving Train|publisher=[[Beacon Press]]|location=Boston}}</ref>

In the South, Lewis and other nonviolent Freedom Riders were beaten by angry mobs and arrested. At age 21, Lewis was the first of the Freedom Riders to be assaulted while in [[Rock Hill, South Carolina]]. When he tried to enter a whites-only waiting room, two white men attacked him, injuring his face and kicking him in the ribs. Two weeks later Lewis joined a Freedom Ride bound for [[Jackson, Mississippi]]. Near the end of his life, Lewis said of this time, "We were determined not to let any act of violence keep us from our goal. We knew our lives could be threatened, but we had made up our minds not to turn back."<ref name="SmithsonianMagazine">{{cite web |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Freedom-Riders.html?c=y&page=1 |title=The Freedom Riders, Then and Now |work=[[Smithsonian Magazine]] |access-date=July 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924100804/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Freedom-Riders.html?c=y&page=1 |archive-date=September 24, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> As a result of his Freedom Rider activities, Lewis was imprisoned for 40 days in the notorious [[Mississippi State Penitentiary]] in [[Sunflower County, Mississippi|Sunflower County]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Minor |first=Bill |url=http://www.desototimes.com/articles/2010/04/02/opinion/editorials/doc4bb645d51cbc1161890108.txt |title=New law meant to eliminate existing 'donut hole' |newspaper=DeSoto Times-Tribune |location=Nesbit, Mississippi |date=April 2, 2010 |access-date=February 25, 2019 |archive-date=September 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200909151738/https://opinion/editorials/new-law-meant-to-eliminate-existing-donut-hole/article_55d77eea-64a8-5af6-be0f-a08012941644.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In an interview with [[CNN]] during the 40th anniversary of the Freedom Rides, Lewis recounted the violence he and the 12 other original Freedom Riders endured. In [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]], the Riders were beaten by an unrestrained mob including KKK members (notified of their arrival by police) with baseball bats, chains, lead pipes, and stones. The police arrested them, and led them across the border into Tennessee before letting them go. The Riders reorganized and rode to [[Montgomery, Alabama|Montgomery]], where they were met with more violence at the [[Freedom Rides Museum|local Greyhound station]].<ref>{{cite web |date=May 11, 2001 |title=40 years later, mission accomplished |url=https://www.cnn.com/2001/fyi/news/05/11/freedom.riders/ |url-status=live |access-date=July 18, 2020 |website=CNN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040813044815/http://www.cnn.com/2001/fyi/news/05/11/freedom.riders/ |archive-date=August 13, 2004}}</ref> There Lewis was hit in the head with a wooden crate. "It was very violent. I thought I was going to die. I was left lying at the Greyhound bus station in Montgomery unconscious", said Lewis, remembering the incident.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/05/10/access.lewis.freedom.rides/ |title=John Lewis: 'I thought I was going to die' |date=May 10, 2001 |work=[[CNN]] |access-date=March 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401002256/http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/05/10/access.lewis.freedom.rides/ |archive-date=April 1, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

When CORE gave up on the Freedom Ride because of the violence, Lewis and fellow activist [[Diane Nash]] arranged for Nashville students from Fisk and other colleges to take it over and bring it to a successful conclusion.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=William R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vVvhAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA229 |title=Upon these Shores: Themes in the African-American Experience 1600 to the Present |last2=Shade |first2=William G. |date=October 31, 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-27620-1 |language=en |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=September 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200909151745/https://books.google.com/books?id=vVvhAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA229 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=John |first2=Michael |last2=d'Orso |author-link2=Mike D'Orso |title=Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mm58BgAAQBAJ |publisher=Harvest Books |year=1999 |edition=reprint |isbn=978-1-4767-9771-7 |pages=143–144 |access-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803204051/https://books.google.com/books?id=mm58BgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In February 2009, 48 years after the Montgomery attack, Lewis received a nationally televised apology from Elwin Wilson, a white southerner and former [[Ku Klux Klan|Klansman]].<ref name="abcnews.go.com">{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/print?id=6813984 |title=Once Race Riot Enemies, Now Friends |work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |date=February 6, 2009 |access-date=August 22, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211112207/http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=6813984|archive-date=February 11, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web |first1=Claire |last1=Shipman |first2=Cindy |last2=Smith |first3=Lee |last3=Ferran |url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=6813984&page=1 |title=Man Asks Entire Town for Forgiveness for Racism |work=ABC News |date=February 6, 2009 |access-date=August 22, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090309165408/http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=6813984&page=1 |archive-date=March 9, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Lewis wrote in 2015 that he had known the young activists [[Michael Schwerner]] and [[Andrew Goodman (activist)|Andrew Goodman]] from New York. They, along with [[James Chaney]], a local African-American activist from Mississippi, were [[Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner|abducted and murdered]] in June 1964 in [[Neshoba County, Mississippi]], by members of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] including law enforcement.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mm58BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA261 |last1=Lewis |first1=John |last2=Michael d'Orso |title=Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement |publisher=Harvest Books |year=1999 |edition=reprint |isbn=978-1-4767-9771-7 |page=261 |access-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-date=July 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730140119/https://books.google.com/books?id=mm58BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA261 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== SNCC Chairman ===
{{external media
| float  = right
| video1 = [https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip_151-hd7np1xb3j "Interview with John Lewis" pt.1] conducted in 1979 for America, They Loved You Madly, a precursor to [[Eyes on the Prize]] in which he discusses the sit-ins in Nashville, the philosophy of non-violence, the Freedom Rides, his role in SNCC, and the March on Washington.}}

{{see also|Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee|Big Six (activists)}}[[File:Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. (Leaders of the march) - NARA - 542056.jpg|thumb|right|Leaders of the March on Washington, 1963. Lewis is second from right.]]
In 1963, when [[Charles McDew]] stepped down as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Lewis, a founding member, was elected to take over.<ref>{{cite news |last=Roberts |first=Sam |date=April 13, 2018 |title=Charles McDew, 79, Tactician for Student Civil Rights Group, Dies |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/13/obituaries/charles-mcdew-79-tactician-for-student-civil-rights-group-dies.html |access-date=July 18, 2020 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617121359/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/13/obituaries/charles-mcdew-79-tactician-for-student-civil-rights-group-dies.html |archive-date=June 17, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Adler |first=Erin |date=April 18, 2018 |title=Charles McDew, civil rights activist and Metro State adviser, dies at 79 |url=https://www.startribune.com/charles-mcdew-civil-rights-activist-and-metro-state-adviser-dies-at-79/480174313/ |url-status=live |access-date=July 18, 2020 |newspaper=Star Tribune |location=[[Minneapolis]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180419074332/http://www.startribune.com/charles-mcdew-civil-rights-activist-and-metro-state-adviser-dies-at-79/480174313/ |archive-date=April 19, 2018}}</ref> Lewis's experience was already widely respected. His courage and tenacious adherence to the philosophy of reconciliation and nonviolence had enabled him to emerge as a leader. He had already been arrested 24 times in the nonviolent movement for equal justice.<ref>{{cite web |title=John Lewis, civil rights hero and 'conscience of Congress,' dies at 80 |url=https://www.rollcall.com/2020/07/18/john-lewis-civil-rights-hero-and-conscience-of-congress-has-died/ |newspaper=[[Roll Call]] |date=July 18, 2020 |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718132906/https://www.rollcall.com/2020/07/18/john-lewis-civil-rights-hero-and-conscience-of-congress-has-died/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Lewis was the youngest of the "Big Six" leaders who were organizing the [[March on Washington]] that summer.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bunn |first=Curtis |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/we-are-legacy-john-lewis-lives-generations-young-staffers-he-n1235038 |work=[[NBC News]] |title='We are the legacy': John Lewis lives on in the generations of young staffers he empowered |date=July 28, 2020 |access-date=July 31, 2020 |archive-date=July 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728123210/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/we-are-legacy-john-lewis-lives-generations-young-staffers-he-n1235038}}</ref> He was the fourth of 12 speakers on the program that day, which ended with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s now-famous "[[I Have a Dream]]" speech. [[A. Philip Randolph]] preceded Lewis. [[James Farmer]], [[Whitney Young]], and [[Roy Wilkins]] spoke between Lewis and King.

Lewis had written a response to [[Civil Rights Act of 1964#1963 Kennedy civil rights bill|Kennedy's 1963 Civil Rights Bill]]. Lewis and his fellow SNCC workers had suffered from the federal government's passivity in the face of Southern violence.<ref name="Albany"/> He planned to denounce Kennedy's bill for failing to provide protection for African Americans against [[police brutality]], or to provide African Americans with the means to vote; he described the bill as "too little and too late". Advance copies of the speech were distributed on August 27 but encountered opposition from the other chairs of the march who demanded revisions. [[James Forman]] rapidly re-wrote the speech, replacing Lewis's initial assertion "we cannot support, wholeheartedly the [Kennedy] civil rights bill" with "We support it with great reservations."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/civil-rights-era.html |title=The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom |access-date=July 18, 2020 |website=Library of Congress |date=October 10, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109202657/https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/civil-rights-era.html |archive-date=January 9, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

After Lewis, Dr. King gave his now celebrated "I Have a Dream" speech.<ref>{{cite news|last=Mann|first=Robert|date=August 24, 2013|title=March on Washington reflected optimism and outrage|newspaper=[[The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate]]|url=https://www.nola.com/opinions/article_87a3401f-b8eb-5854-a799-7ff8de67d412.html|access-date=July 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731204548/https://www.nola.com/opinions/article_87a3401f-b8eb-5854-a799-7ff8de67d412.html|archive-date=July 31, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Jones|first=William P.|date=February 19, 2016|title=Book Discussion on The March on Washington|url=https://archive.org/details/CSPAN2_20160219_070600_Book_Discussion_on_The_March_on_Washington/start/2305/end/2365?q=ethan+lewis|access-date=July 31, 2020|publisher=[[C-SPAN 2]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|year=2014|title=March on Washington: The World Hears of Dr. King's 'Dream'|url=http://www.core-online.org/History/washington_march.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731205218/http://www.core-online.org/History/washington_march.htm|archive-date=July 31, 2020|access-date=July 31, 2020|publisher=[[Congress of Racial Equality]]}}</ref> Historian [[Howard Zinn]] later wrote of this occasion:
{{Blockquote|text=At the great Washington March of 1963, the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), John Lewis, speaking to the same enormous crowd that [next] heard King's "I Have a Dream" speech, was prepared to ask the right question: 'Which side is the federal government on?' That sentence was eliminated from his speech by the other organizers of the March to avoid offending the Kennedy Administration.|title=|source=}}[[File:John Lewis 1964-04-16 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Lewis in 1964]]In 1964, SNCC opened [[Freedom Schools]], launched the Mississippi [[Freedom Summer]] for voter education and registration.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hale|first=Jon N.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GMZ1CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA72|title=The Freedom Schools: Student Activists in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement|date=June 7, 2016|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|isbn=978-0-231-54182-4|pages=72–75|language=en|access-date=July 18, 2020|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726161102/https://books.google.com/books?id=GMZ1CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA72|url-status=live}}</ref> Lewis coordinated SNCC's efforts for Freedom Summer, a campaign to register black voters in Mississippi and to engage college student activists in aiding the campaign. Lewis traveled the country, encouraging students to spend their summer break trying to help people vote in Mississippi, which had the lowest number of black voters and strong resistance to the movement.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hannah-Jones|first=Nikole|date=August 19, 2014|title=Long a Force for Progress, a Freedom Summer Legend Looks Back|work=[[ProPublica]]|url=https://www.propublica.org/article/long-a-force-for-progress-a-freedom-summer-legend-looks-back|url-status=live|access-date=July 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606105750/https://www.propublica.org/article/long-a-force-for-progress-a-freedom-summer-legend-looks-back|archive-date=June 6, 2020}}</ref>

In 1965 Lewis organized some of the voter registration efforts during the 1965 [[Selma to Montgomery marches|Selma voting rights campaign]], and became nationally known during his prominent role in the [[Selma to Montgomery marches]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Selma voting rights campaign|url=https://snccdigital.org/events/selma-voting-rights-campaign/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611081457/https://snccdigital.org/events/selma-voting-rights-campaign/|archive-date=June 11, 2020|access-date=July 18, 2020|website=SNCC Digital Gateway|language=en}}</ref> On March 7, 1965 – a day that would become known as "[[Selma to Montgomery marches#"Bloody Sunday" events|Bloody Sunday]]" – Lewis and fellow activist [[Hosea Williams]] led over 600 marchers across the [[Edmund Pettus Bridge]] in [[Selma, Alabama]]. At the end of the bridge and the city-county boundary, they were met by [[Alabama Highway Patrol|Alabama State Troopers]] who ordered them to disperse. When the marchers stopped to pray, the police discharged [[tear gas]] and mounted troopers charged the demonstrators, beating them with nightsticks. Lewis's skull was fractured, but he was aided in escaping across the bridge to [[Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church (Selma, Alabama)|Brown Chapel]], a church in Selma that served as the movement's headquarters.<ref>{{cite news |last=Herndon |first=Astead W. |date=March 1, 2020 |title='Bloody Sunday' Commemoration Draws Democratic Candidates to Selma |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/us/politics/selma-bridge-march-2020-candidates.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=July 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618214842/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/us/politics/selma-bridge-march-2020-candidates.html |archive-date=June 18, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> Lewis bore scars on his head from this incident for the rest of his life.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Page |first1=Susan |title=50 years after Selma, John Lewis on unfinished business |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/24/capital-download-john-lewis-selma-50th-anniversary/23935047/ |access-date=April 20, 2020 |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |date=February 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301180115/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/24/capital-download-john-lewis-selma-50th-anniversary/23935047/ |archive-date=March 1, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Lewis served as SNCC chairman until 1966, when he was replaced by [[Stokely Carmichael]].<ref>{{cite news|date=July 18, 2020|title=Civil rights icon and congressman John Lewis dies|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53454169|url-status=live|access-date=July 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718044207/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53454169|archive-date=July 18, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Joseph|first=Peniel E.|title=Perspective {{!}} John Lewis leaves behind a powerful legacy of social justice|language=en-US|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/07/19/john-lewis-leaves-behind-powerful-legacy-social-justice/|access-date=January 2, 2021|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=December 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201222112345/https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/07/19/john-lewis-leaves-behind-powerful-legacy-social-justice/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Field Foundation, SRC, and VEP (1966–1977) ==
In 1966, Lewis moved to New York City to take a job as the associate director of the [[Field Foundation of New York]].<ref>Lewis, p. 392.</ref><ref name="cnn-fastfacts">{{cite news |title=John Lewis Fast Facts |url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/02/22/us/john-lewis-fast-facts/index.html |work=CNN |access-date=April 22, 2020 |archive-date=April 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200416181223/https://www.cnn.com/2013/02/22/us/john-lewis-fast-facts/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He was there a little over a year before moving back to Atlanta to direct the [[Southern Regional Council]]'s Community Organization Project.<ref>Lewis, p. 398.</ref><ref name="cnn-fastfacts" /> During his time with the Field Foundation, he completed his degree from Fisk University.<ref>Lewis, ''Walking with the Wind'', p. 400.</ref>

In 1970, Lewis became the director of the [[Voter Education Project]] (VEP), a position he held until 1977.<ref name="wynn">{{cite web |last1=Wynn |first1=Linda T. |title=John Robert Lewis |url=https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/john-robert-lewis/ |website=Tennessee Encyclopedia |access-date=April 20, 2020 |archive-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718202229/https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/john-robert-lewis/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Though initially a project of the Southern Regional Council, the VEP became an independent organization in 1971.<ref name="ga-encyclopedia">{{cite web |title=Voter Education Project |url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/voter-education-project |website=Georgia Encyclopedia |access-date=April 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200602125300/https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/voter-education-project |archive-date=June 2, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> Despite difficulties caused by the [[1973–1975 recession]],<ref name="ga-encyclopedia" /> the VEP added nearly four million minority voters to the rolls under Lewis's leadership.<ref name="encyclopedia-al">{{cite web |title=John Lewis |url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1841 |website=Encyclopedia of Alabama |access-date=April 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221161052/http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1841 |archive-date=December 21, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> During his tenure, the VEP expanded its mission, including running Voter Mobilization Tours.<ref name="ga-encyclopedia" />

== Early work in government (1977–1986) ==
[[File:President Jimmy Carter and John Lewis.jpg|thumb|right|Lewis with President [[Jimmy Carter]] in 1979]]
In January 1977, incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman [[Andrew Young]] of [[Georgia's 5th congressional district]] resigned to become the [[United States Ambassador to the United Nations|U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.]] under President [[Jimmy Carter]]. In the March 1977 open primary, [[Atlanta City Council]]man [[Wyche Fowler]] ranked first with 40% of the vote, failing to reach the 50% threshold to win outright. Lewis ranked second with 29% of the vote.<ref name="ourcampaigns.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=31297 |title=GA District 5 – Special Election Primary Race – Mar 15, 1977 |publisher=Our Campaigns |access-date=July 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029200713/http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=31297 |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> In the April election, Fowler defeated Lewis 62%–38%.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite web |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=31302 |title=GA District 5 – Special Election Race – Apr 05, 1977 |publisher=Our Campaigns |access-date=July 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029191811/http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=31302 |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

After his unsuccessful bid, Lewis accepted a position with the Carter administration as associate director of [[ACTION (U.S. government agency)|ACTION]], responsible for running the [[Volunteers in Service to America|VISTA]] program, the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, and the [[Foster Grandparent Program]]. He held that job for two and a half years, resigning as the 1980 election approached.<ref>Lewis, ''Walking with the Wind'', pp. 446–451.</ref>

In 1981, Lewis ran for an at-large seat on the [[Political structure of Atlanta|Atlanta City Council]]. He won with 69% of the vote,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Press |first1=Robert M. |title=Civil rights veteran John Lewis still marches to unmistakable drumbeat |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1985/0228/alew.html |access-date=April 18, 2020 |newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |location=Boston |date=February 28, 1985 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003103544/http://www.csmonitor.com/1985/0228/alew.html |archive-date=October 3, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> and served on the council until 1986.<ref>{{cite web |title=People – Lewis, John |url=https://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/people/article/civil-rights-activists/john-lewis |website=GeorgiaInfo |publisher=University System of Georgia |access-date=April 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531203243/https://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/people/article/civil-rights-activists/john-lewis |archive-date=May 31, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== U.S. House of Representatives ==
=== Elections ===
==== 1986 ====
[[File:President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan greet John Lewis.jpg|thumb|right|Lewis greets President [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] in 1987.]]
After nine years as a member of the [[U.S. House of Representatives]], Wyche Fowler gave up the seat to make a successful run for the U.S. Senate. Lewis decided to run for the 5th district again. In the August Democratic primary, where a victory was considered [[tantamount to election]], State Senator [[Julian Bond]] ranked first with 47%, just three points shy of winning outright. Lewis finished in second place with 35%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=388755 |title=GA District 5 – D Primary Race – Aug 12, 1986 |publisher=Our Campaigns |access-date=July 26, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029191616/http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=388755|archive-date=October 29, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> In the run-off, Lewis pulled an upset against Bond, defeating him 52% to 48%.<ref name="ReferenceC">{{cite web |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=388754 |title=GA District 5 – D Runoff Race – Sep 02, 1986 |publisher=Our Campaigns |access-date=July 26, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192722/http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=388754|archive-date=October 29, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> The race was said to have "badly strained relations in Atlanta's black community" as many Black leaders had supported Bond over Lewis.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bittersoutherner.com/2020/the-way-of-john-lewis-cynthia-tucker-black-lives-matter|title=The Way of John Lewis|website=The Bitter Southerner|last1=Tucker|first1=Cynthia|author-link1=Cynthia Tucker (journalist)|year=2020|access-date=June 22, 2020|archive-date=July 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718103059/https://bittersoutherner.com/2020/the-way-of-john-lewis-cynthia-tucker-black-lives-matter|url-status=live}}</ref> Lewis was "endorsed by the Atlanta newspapers and a favorite of the white liberal establishment".<ref name=":0" /> His victory was due to strong results among white voters (a minority in the district).<ref name=":0" /> During the campaign, he ran advertisements accusing Bond of corruption, implying that Bond used [[cocaine]], and suggesting that Bond had lied about his civil rights activism.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/03/us/ex-colleague-upsets-julian-bond-in-atlanta-congressional-runoff.html |title=Ex-Colleague Upsets Julian Bond in Atlanta Congressional Runoff |first=Dudley |last=Clendinen |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 3, 1986 |access-date=August 16, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150820063819/http://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/03/us/ex-colleague-upsets-julian-bond-in-atlanta-congressional-runoff.html |archive-date=August 20, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:1986 United States House of Representative Democratic Primary Runoff Election in Georgia's 5th Congressional District.svg|thumb|1986 Georgia's 5th Congressional District Democratic Primary Runoff Election results by precinct{{Collapsible list
| title = {{legend|#584CDE|Lewis}}|{{legend|#7996E2|50–60%}}|{{legend|#6674DE|60–70%}}|{{legend|#584CDE|70–80%}}|{{legend|#3933E5|80–90%}}|{{legend|#0D0596|90-100%}}
}}{{Collapsible list
| title = {{legend|#37C837|Bond}}|{{legend|#5FD35F|50–60%}}|{{legend|#37C837|60–70%}}|{{legend|#2CA02C|70–80%}}|{{legend|#217821|80–90%}}|{{legend|#165016|90-100%}}
}}{{Legend|#808080|'''No Vote'''}}]]
In the November general election, Lewis defeated Republican Portia Scott 75% to 25%.<ref name="ourcampaigns1">{{cite web |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=38194 |title=GA District 5 Race – Nov 04, 1986 |publisher=Our Campaigns |access-date=July 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192925/http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=38194 |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== 1988–2018 ====
Lewis was reelected 18 times, dropping below 70 percent of the vote in the general election only once in 1994, when he defeated Republican Dale Dixon by a 38-point margin, 69%–31%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=28773 |title=GA District 5 Race – Nov 08, 1994 |publisher=Our Campaigns |access-date=July 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029194206/http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=28773 |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> He ran unopposed in 1996,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aclu.org/congressman-john-lewis |title=Congressman John Lewis |website=American Civil Liberties Union |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803021522/https://www.aclu.org/congressman-john-lewis |url-status=live }}</ref> 2004,<ref name="2004Election">{{cite web |url=https://history.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/2004election/ |page=16 |title=Statistics of the Congressional Election, 2004 |website=[[United States House of Representatives]] |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013513/https://historycms2.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/2004election/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 2006,<ref name="2006Election">{{cite web |url=https://history.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/2006election/ |page=11 |title=Statistics of the Congressional Election, 2006 |website=[[United States House of Representatives]] |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013513/https://historycms2.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/2006election/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and 2008,<ref name="2008Election">{{cite web |url=https://history.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/2008election/ |page=16 |title=Statistics of the Congressional Election, 2008 |website=United States House of Representatives |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013513/https://historycms2.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/2008election/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and again in 2014 and 2018.<ref name="2014Election">{{cite web |url=https://history.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/2014election/ |page=12 |title=Statistics of the Congressional Election, 2014 |work=United States House of Representatives |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013513/https://historycms2.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/2014election/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="2018Election">{{cite web |url=https://history.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/2018election/ |page=12 |title=Statistics of the Congressional Election, 2018 |website=United States House of Representatives |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013514/https://historycms2.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/2018election/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

He was challenged in the Democratic primary just twice: in 1992 and 2008. In 1992, he defeated State Representative [[Mable Thomas]] 76%–24%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=513779 |title=GA District 5 – D Primary Race – Jul 21, 1992 |publisher=Our Campaigns |access-date=July 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193651/http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=513779 |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2008, Thomas decided to challenge Lewis again; Markel Hutchins also contested the race. Lewis defeated Hutchins and Thomas 69%–16%–15%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=384597 |title=GA District 5 – D Primary Race – Jul 15, 2008 |publisher=Our Campaigns |access-date=July 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924164420/http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=384597 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Tenure ===
==== Overview ====
[[File:John Lewis official biopic.jpg|thumb|An official portrait of Lewis]]
Lewis represented [[Georgia's 5th congressional district]], one of the most consistently Democratic districts in the nation. Since its formalization in 1845, the district has been represented by a Democrat for most of its history.

Lewis was one of the most liberal congressmen to have represented a district in the Deep South. He was categorized as a "Hard-Core Liberal" by [[On the Issues]].<ref name="Lewis 2000">{{cite web |title=Issues 2000 Lewis |url=http://www.issues2000.org/GA/John_Lewis.htm |publisher=Issues2000|access-date=June 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513215725/http://issues2000.org/GA/John_Lewis.htm|archive-date=May 13, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[The Washington Post]]'' described Lewis in 1998 as "a fiercely partisan Democrat but ... also fiercely independent".<ref name="Fighter">{{cite news|title=Nonviolent Fighter; John Lewis Retraces the Route That Led to the Future|first=Peter|last=Carlson|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|location=Washington, D.C.|date=June 9, 1998|page=01}}</ref> Lewis characterized himself as a strong and adamant [[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberal]].<ref name="Fighter" /> ''[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]]'' said Lewis was the "only former major civil rights leader who extended his fight for human rights and racial reconciliation to the halls of Congress".<ref name="Conscience">{{cite news |title=John Lewis: 'Conscience' carries clout: Civil rights icon's moral authority enhanced |last=Kemper |first=Bob |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |date=May 21, 2006}}</ref> ''[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]]'' also said that to "those who know him, from U.S. senators to 20-something congressional aides", he is called the "conscience of Congress".<ref name="Conscience" /> Lewis cited Florida Senator and later Representative [[Claude Pepper]], a staunch liberal, as being the colleague whom he most admired.<ref name="EmoryWheel_Smith_20080421">{{cite web |url=http://emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=25537 |title=The Tuesday Ten: An Interview with Rep. John Lewis |first=Asher |last=Smith |work=[[The Emory Wheel]] |date=April 21, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124225545/http://emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=25537 |archive-date=January 24, 2009}}</ref> Lewis also spoke out in support of [[gay rights]] and [[national health insurance]].<ref name="Fighter" />

Lewis opposed the 1991 [[Gulf War]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Mideast Trip Strengthens Georgia Lawmakers' Resolve |first=Mike |last=Christensen |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |date=January 11, 1991 |page=A7}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Tour labors in opposition to NAFTA |first=Colin |last=Campbell |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |date=February 19, 1998 |page=F02}}</ref> and the 2000 U.S. trade agreement with China that passed the House.<ref>{{cite web |title=The China trade vote: A Clinton triumph; House, in 237–197 vote, approves normal trade rights for China |first1=Eric |last1=Schmitt |first2=Joseph |last2=Kahn |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 25, 2000 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F05E7D9153DF936A15756C0A9669C8B63&pagewanted=all |access-date=February 27, 2011 |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013515/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/25/world/china-trade-vote-clinton-triumph-house-237-197-vote-approves-normal-trade-rights.html?pagewanted=all |url-status=live }}</ref> He opposed the [[Clinton administration]] on [[NAFTA]] and [[Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act|welfare reform]].<ref name="Fighter" /> After welfare reform passed, Lewis was described as outraged; he said, "Where is the sense of decency? What does it profit a great nation to conquer the world, only to lose its soul?"<ref>{{cite journal |title=Social programs: world report. The wreck of the gravy train |journal=Canada and the World Backgrounder |publisher=Taylor Publishing Consultants |location=Waterloo, Ontario, Canada |volume=62 |issue=2 |date=October 1996 |pages=3–34}}</ref> In 1994, when [[Foreign policy of the Bill Clinton administration#Haiti|Clinton considered invading Haiti]], Lewis opposed armed intervention.<ref>{{cite news |title=President faces strong opposition in Congress |first=Sharon |last=Schmickle |newspaper=[[Star Tribune]]|location=Minneapolis, Minnesota |date=September 16, 1994 |page=1}}</ref> After a non-violent transition of power was negotiated, Lewis supported the presence of U.S. troops in Haiti as part of [[Operation Uphold Democracy]], calling the operation a "mission of peace".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-1994-10-06/html/CREC-1994-10-06-pt2-PgH24.htm |title=Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 144 |date=October 6, 1994 |website=govinfo.gov |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |access-date=January 22, 2023}}</ref><ref>"Shared power, foreign policy, and Haiti, 1994. Public memories of war and race." Goodnight, G. Thomas; Olson, Kathryn M.; ''Rhetoric & Public Affairs'' 9. 4 (Winter 2006): 601–634.</ref> In 1998, when Clinton was considering a military strike against Iraq, Lewis said he would back the president if American forces were ordered into action.<ref>{{cite news |title=Georgia delegation divided on strategy; Some back force, others doubt military action is a real solution |first=Mark |last=Sherman |newspaper=The Atlanta Constitution |date=February 12, 1998 |page=A14}}</ref> In 2001, three days after the [[September 11 attacks]], Lewis voted to give President [[George W. Bush]] authority to use force against the perpetrators of [[9/11]] in a [[Authorization for Use of Military Force of 2001|vote that was 420–1]]; Lewis called it probably one of his toughest votes.<ref name="Tough">{{cite news |title=Congress using religious compass in decisions |first=Melanie |last=Eversley |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |date=October 7, 2001 |page=7}}</ref> In 2002, he sponsored the [[Peace Tax Fund bill]], a [[conscientious objection to military taxation]] initiative that had been reintroduced yearly since 1972.<ref>{{cite web |title=War Resisters: 'We Won't Go' To 'We Won't Pay' |first=Felicia R. |last=Lee |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 3, 2002 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/03/arts/war-resisters-we-won-t-go-to-we-won-t-pay.html |access-date=March 1, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113085527/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/03/arts/war-resisters-we-won-t-go-to-we-won-t-pay.html|archive-date=November 13, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Lewis was a "fierce partisan critic of President Bush", and an early opponent of the [[Iraq War]].<ref name="Conscience" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Davis |first=Charles |title=Rep. John Lewis, civil rights icon, was a powerful voice against war with Iraq |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/john-lewis-was-a-lonely-voice-against-war-with-iraq-2020-7 |access-date=July 18, 2020 |website=[[Business Insider]] |archive-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718050049/https://www.businessinsider.com/john-lewis-was-a-lonely-voice-against-war-with-iraq-2020-7 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Associated Press]] said he was "the first major House figure to suggest [[Movement to impeach George W. Bush|impeaching George W. Bush]]", arguing that the president "deliberately, systematically violated the law" in authorizing the [[National Security Agency]] to [[N.S.A. surveillance without warrants controversy|conduct wiretaps without a warrant]]. Lewis said, "He is not king, he is president."<ref name="VandenHeuvel">{{cite web |url=http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?pid=45006 |title=The I-Word is Gaining Ground |first=Katrina |last=Vanden Heuvel |date=January 2, 2006 |work=[[The Nation]]|access-date=February 29, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071120065321/http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?pid=45006|archive-date=November 20, 2007|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lewis drew on his historical involvement in the [[Civil Rights Movement]] as part of his politics. He made an annual pilgrimage to Alabama to retrace the route he marched in 1965 from Selma to Montgomery&nbsp;– a route Lewis worked to make part of the [[National Historic Trail|Historic National Trails]] program. That trip became "one of the hottest tickets in Washington among lawmakers, Republican and Democrat, eager to associate themselves with Lewis and the movement. 'We don't deliberately set out to win votes, but it's very helpful", Lewis said of the trip'."<ref name="Conscience" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Skene|first=Gordon|date=2020-07-18|title=John Lewis – Address At The March On Washington – August 1963 – John Lewis (1940–2020)|url=https://pastdaily.com/2020/07/18/john-lewis-address-at-the-march-on-washington-august-1963-john-lewis-1940-2020/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-16|website=Past Daily|language=en-US|archive-date=April 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422181314/https://pastdaily.com/2020/07/18/john-lewis-address-at-the-march-on-washington-august-1963-john-lewis-1940-2020/}}</ref> In recent years, however, [[Faith and Politics Institute]] drew criticism for selling seats on the trip to lobbyists for at least $25,000 each. According to the [[Center for Public Integrity]], even Lewis said that he would feel "much better" if the institute's funding came from churches and foundations instead of corporations.<ref name="publicintegrity.org">{{cite web|first=Marina Walker|last=Guevara|url=https://www.publicintegrity.org/2006/06/08/5606/lobbyists-tag-along-civil-rights-tour|title=Lobbyists tag along on civil rights tour|website=publicintegrity.org|publisher=[[The Center for Public Integrity]]|location=Washington, D.C.|date=June 8, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829024959/https://www.publicintegrity.org/2006/06/08/5606/lobbyists-tag-along-civil-rights-tour |archive-date=August 29, 2016}}</ref>

On June 3, 2011, the House passed a resolution 268–145, calling for a withdrawal of the United States military from the [[2011 military intervention in Libya|air and naval operations]] in and around [[Libya]].<ref>{{cite news |title=House Rebukes Obama for Continuing Libyan Mission Without Its Consent |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/world/africa/04policy.html?_r=1 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 4, 2011|access-date=December 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230234050/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/world/africa/04policy.html?_r=1|archive-date=December 30, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Lewis voted against the resolution.<ref>{{cite web |title=H.Res.292 – Declaring that the President shall not deploy, establish, or maintain the presence of units and members of the United States Armed Forces on the ground in Libya, and for other purposes. |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-resolution/292/actions |website=Library of Congress |year=2011 |access-date=December 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231194241/https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-resolution/292/actions |archive-date=December 31, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In a 2002 op-ed, Lewis mentioned a response by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to an [[anti-zionism|anti-Zionist]] student at a 1967 Harvard meeting, quoting "When people criticize [[Zionism|Zionists]] they mean Jews, you are talking [[anti-Semitism]]." In describing the special relationship between African Americans and American Jews in working for liberation and peace, he also gave other statements by King to the same effect, including one from March 25, 1968: "Peace for Israel means security, and we must stand with all our might to protect its right to exist, its territorial integrity. I see Israel as one of the great outposts of democracy in the world, and a marvelous example of what can be done, how desert land can be transformed into an oasis of brotherhood and democracy. Peace for Israel means security and that security must be a reality."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/I-have-a-dream-for-peace-in-the-Middle-East-2880295.php|title=I have a dream for peace in the Middle East|date=January 21, 2002|newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|access-date=February 2, 2021|archive-date=February 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206002835/https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/I-have-a-dream-for-peace-in-the-Middle-East-2880295.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lewis "strongly disagreed" with the movement for [[Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions]] (BDS) against Israel and co-sponsored a resolution condemning the pro-Palestinian group, but he supported Representatives [[Ilhan Omar]] and [[Rashida Tlaib]]'s House resolution opposing [[Israel Anti-Boycott Act|U.S. anti-boycott legislation]] banning the boycott of Israel. He explained his support as "a simple demonstration of my ongoing commitment to the ability of every American to exercise the fundamental [[First Amendment]] right to protest through nonviolent actions".<ref>{{cite news |title=Rep. John Lewis backs the right to boycott Israel — even though he opposes BDS |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/john-lewis-backs-the-right-to-boycott-israel-even-though-he-opposes-bds/ |work=[[The Times of Israel]] |date=July 27, 2019 |access-date=August 6, 2020 |archive-date=August 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808034457/https://www.timesofisrael.com/john-lewis-backs-the-right-to-boycott-israel-even-though-he-opposes-bds/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Protests ====
In January 2001, Lewis boycotted the [[First inauguration of George W. Bush|inauguration of George W. Bush]] by staying in his [[Atlanta]] district. He did not attend the swearing-in because he did not believe Bush was the true elected president.<ref>{{cite news |last=Merida |first=Kevin |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24413-2001Jan20.html |title=So Close, So Far: A Texas Democrat's Day Without Sunshine |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=January 21, 2001 |access-date=January 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117032230/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24413-2001Jan20.html |archive-date=January 17, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Later, Lewis joined 30 other House Democrats who voted to not count the 20 [[Electoral College (United States)|electoral vote]]s from [[Ohio]] in the [[2004 United States presidential election|2004 presidential election]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Final Vote Results for Roll Call 7: On Agreeing to the Objection|url=http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll007.xml|publisher=U.S. House of Representatives|access-date=December 24, 2012|date=January 6, 2005|archive-date=May 3, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080503021334/http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll007.xml|url-status=live}}</ref>

In March 2003, Lewis spoke to a crowd of 30,000 in Oregon during an anti-war protest before the start of the [[Iraq War]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/16/us/threats-and-responses-dissent-tens-of-thousands-march-against-iraq-war.html| title=Tens of Thousands March Against Iraq War| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118042718/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/16/us/threats-and-responses-dissent-tens-of-thousands-march-against-iraq-war.html| archive-date=January 18, 2017| last=Lichtblau| first=Eric| newspaper=The New York Times| date=March 16, 2003| page=1}}</ref> In 2006<ref>{{cite news |last=Kemper |first=Bob |date=May 17, 2006 |title=Lewis, 6 other lawmakers arrested in embassy protest |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |page=3 }}</ref> and 2009 he was arrested for protesting against the [[genocide in Darfur]] outside the Sudanese embassy.<ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. lawmakers arrested in Darfur protests at Sudan embassy |work=CNN |url=https://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/27/us-lawmakers-arrested-in-darfur-protest-at-sudan-embassy/ |access-date=April 27, 2009 |date=April 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430065243/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/27/us-lawmakers-arrested-in-darfur-protest-at-sudan-embassy/ |archive-date=April 30, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He was one of eight U.S. Representatives, from six states, arrested while holding a sit-in near the west side of the [[U.S. Capitol]] building, to advocate for immigration reform.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/08/20874725-democratic-lawmakers-arrested-during-immigration-protest?lite |title=Democratic lawmakers arrested during immigration protest |work=NBC News |date=October 8, 2013 |access-date=November 9, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131122081738/http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/08/20874725-democratic-lawmakers-arrested-during-immigration-protest?lite |archive-date=November 22, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== 2008 presidential election ====
[[File:John Lewis DNC 2008 (cropped2).jpg|thumb|Lewis speaks during the final day of the [[2008 Democratic National Convention]] in [[Denver]], Colorado|alt=]]
At first, Lewis supported [[Hillary Clinton]], endorsing her presidential campaign on October 12, 2007.<ref name="CNNticker_20071012">{{cite news |access-date=May 6, 2010 |url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/10/12/rep-lewis-endorses-clinton/ |date=October 12, 2007 |title=Rep. Lewis endorses Clinton |work=CNN Political Ticker |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406175833/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/10/12/rep-lewis-endorses-clinton/ |archive-date=April 6, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On February 14, 2008, however, he announced he was considering withdrawing his support from Clinton and might instead cast his [[superdelegate]] vote for [[Barack Obama]]: "Something is happening in America and people are prepared and ready to make that great leap."<ref name="NYT_Zeleny">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/us/politics/15clinton.html |title=Black Leader, a Clinton Ally, Tilts to Obama |first1=Jeff|last1=Zeleny |first2=Patrick|last2=Healy |date=February 15, 2008 |quote=Representative John Lewis said he planned to cast his vote as a superdelegate for Barack Obama in hopes of preventing a fight at the Democratic convention. |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=February 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311195613/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/us/politics/15clinton.html |archive-date=March 11, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Ben Smith (journalist)|Ben Smith]] of ''[[Politico]]'' said that "it would be a seminal moment in the race if John Lewis were to switch sides."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/blogs/ben-smith/2008/02/awaiting-lewis-006262 |title=Awaiting Lewis |first=Ben |last=Smith |date=February 15, 2008 |work=Politico |access-date=August 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029195727/http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0208/Awaiting_Lewis.html |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On February 27, 2008, Lewis formally changed his support and endorsed Obama.<ref name="LAT_AP">{{cite web |access-date=February 28, 2008 |url=https://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-endorse28feb28,1,3290763.story |title=Civil rights leader John Lewis switches to Obama |quote=The Georgia congressman, who had previously endorsed Clinton, says he wants 'to be on the side of the people.' |date=February 28, 2008 |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080304010308/http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-endorse28feb28%2C1%2C3290763.story |archive-date=March 4, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |access-date=May 6, 2010 |url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/27/lewis-switches-from-clinton-to-obama/ |date=February 27, 2008 |title=Lewis switches from Clinton to Obama |work=CNN Political Ticker |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311075152/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/27/lewis-switches-from-clinton-to-obama/|archive-date=March 11, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> After Obama clinched the Democratic nomination for president, Lewis said "If someone had told me this would be happening now, I would have told them they were crazy, out of their mind, they didn't know what they were talking about ... I just wish the others were around to see this day. ... To the people who were beaten, put in jail, were asked questions they could never answer to register to vote, it's amazing."<ref name="Politico_Hearn_20080604">{{cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2008/06/black-lawmakers-emotional-about-obamas-success-010858 |title=Black lawmakers emotional about Obama's success |date=June 4, 2008 |last=Hearn |first=Josephine |work=[[Politico]] |access-date=June 5, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080608073714/http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/10858.html |archive-date=June 8, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> Despite switching his support to Obama, Lewis drew criticism from his constituents for his support of Clinton for several months. One of his challengers in the House [[Partisan primary|primary election]] set up campaign headquarters inside the building that served as Obama's Georgia office.<ref name="NYT_Hernandez_20080701">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/us/politics/01dems.html?ref=politics |first=Raymond|last=Hernandez|date=July 1, 2008 |title=A New Campaign Charge: You Supported Clinton |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=February 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104091011/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/us/politics/01dems.html?ref=politics |archive-date=January 4, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In October 2008, Lewis issued a statement criticizing the presidential campaign of [[John McCain]] and his running mate [[Sarah Palin]] and accusing them of "sowing the seeds of hatred and division" in a way that brought to mind the late Gov. [[George Wallace]] and "another destructive period" in American political history. McCain said he was "saddened" by the criticism from "a man I've always admired", and called on Obama to repudiate Lewis's statement. Obama responded to the statement, saying that he "does not believe that John McCain or his policy criticism is in any way comparable to George Wallace or his [[racial segregation|segregationist]] policies".<ref name="Obama Rebukes">{{cite web |title=Congressman Rebukes McCain for Recent Rallies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/us/politics/12lewis.html?_r=1&ref=johnlewis |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |first=Elisabeth |last=Bumiller |date=October 12, 2008|access-date=February 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208123650/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/us/politics/12lewis.html?_r=1&ref=johnlewis|archive-date=February 8, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Lewis later issued a follow-up statement clarifying that he had not compared McCain and Palin to Wallace himself, but rather that his earlier statement was a "reminder to all Americans that toxic language can lead to destructive behavior".<ref name="AJC">{{cite news |url=http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/politicalinsider/entries/2008/10/11/ |title=John McCain equal to George Wallace? Barack Obama says 'no,' and John Lewis says he's been misunderstood |date=October 11, 2008 |access-date=May 11, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604113319/http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/politicalinsider/entries/2008/10/11/ |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |archive-date=June 4, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On an African American being elected president, he said:{{Blockquote|If you ask me whether the election ... is the fulfillment of Dr. King's dream, I say, 'No, it's just a down payment.' There's still too many people 50 years later, there's still too many people that are being left out and left behind.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Carter |first1=Lauren |title=Rep. John Lewis reflects on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington |url=http://thegrio.com/2013/08/21/rep-john-lewis-reflects-on-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-march-on-washington/ |website=[[The Grio]]|date=August 21, 2013|access-date=September 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924110239/http://thegrio.com/2013/08/21/rep-john-lewis-reflects-on-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-march-on-washington/ |archive-date=September 24, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>}}After Obama's swearing-in ceremony as president, Lewis asked him to sign a commemorative photograph of the event. Obama signed it, "Because of you, John. Barack Obama."<ref name=Remnick>{{cite magazine |last=Remnick |first=David |title=The President's Hero |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/02/02/the-presidents-hero|access-date=July 19, 2020 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |language=en-us |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029202722/http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2009/02/02/090202taco_talk_remnick |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== 2016 firearm safety legislation sit-in ====
[[File:US House Democrats assume floor and begin 22 June 2016 sit in.png|thumb|House Democrats, led by Lewis, take the floor to begin a sit-in demanding [[gun control|gun safety legislation]] on June 22, 2016]]
[[2016 United States House of Representatives sit-in|On June 22, 2016, House Democrats, led by Lewis]] and Massachusetts Representative [[Katherine Clark]], began a sit-in demanding House Speaker [[Paul Ryan]] allow a vote on [[gun control|gun-safety legislation]] in the aftermath of the [[Orlando nightclub shooting]]. Speaker ''[[pro tempore]]'' [[Daniel Webster (Florida politician)|Daniel Webster]] ordered the House into recess, but Democrats refused to leave the chamber for nearly 26 hours.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bade |first1=Rachael |title=Democrats stage sit-in on House floor to force gun vote |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/democrats-stage-sit-in-on-house-floor-to-force-gun-vote-224656 |website=Politico |date=June 22, 2016 |access-date=June 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622215704/http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/democrats-stage-sit-in-on-house-floor-to-force-gun-vote-224656 |archive-date=June 22, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== National African American Museum ====
In 1988, the year after he was sworn into Congress, Lewis introduced a bill to create a national African American museum in Washington. The bill failed, and for 15 years he continued to introduce it with each new Congress. Each time it was blocked in the Senate, most often by conservative Southern Senator [[Jesse Helms]]. In 2003, Helms retired. The bill won bipartisan support, and President George W. Bush signed the bill to establish the museum, with the [[Smithsonian]]'s Board of Regents to establish the location. The [[National Museum of African American History and Culture]], located adjacent to the [[Washington Monument]], held its opening ceremony on September 25, 2016.<ref name="The Washington Post">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/for-rep-john-lewis-african-american-museum-was-a-recurring-dream/2016/06/28/fc05c81c-34b6-11e6-95c0-2a6873031302_story.html |title=For Rep. John Lewis, African American Museum was a recurring dream |last=McGione |first=Peggy |date=June 28, 2016 |access-date=January 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216134746/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/for-rep-john-lewis-african-american-museum-was-a-recurring-dream/2016/06/28/fc05c81c-34b6-11e6-95c0-2a6873031302_story.html |archive-date=February 16, 2017 |url-status=live |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

==== 2016 presidential election ====
[[File:Atlanta Womens March John Lewis.jpg|thumb|John Lewis at the [[2017 Women's March]] in Atlanta]]
Lewis supported [[Hillary Clinton]] in the [[2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries|2016 Democratic presidential primaries]] against [[Bernie Sanders]]. Regarding Sanders' role in the [[civil rights movement]], Lewis remarked "To be very frank, I never saw him, I never met him. I chaired the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]] for three years, from 1963 to 1966. I was involved in sit-ins, in the [[Freedom Riders|Freedom Rides]], the [[March on Washington]], the March from Selma to Montgomery&nbsp;... but I met Hillary Clinton". Former Congressman and Hawaii Governor [[Neil Abercrombie]] wrote a letter to Lewis expressing his disappointment with Lewis's comments about Sanders. Lewis later clarified his statement, saying "During the late 1950s and 1960s when I was more engaged, [Sanders] was not there. I did not see him around. I have never seen him in the South. But if he was there, if he was involved someplace, I was not aware of it&nbsp;... The fact that I did not meet him in the movement does not mean I doubted that Senator Sanders participated in the civil rights movement, neither was I attempting to disparage his activism."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/2016/02/13/rep-lewis-softens-dismissal-sanders/80344896/ |title=Rep. Lewis softens dismissal of Sanders |date=February 13, 2016 |first=Meg |last=Kinnard |agency=[[Associated Press]] |work=[[Burlington Free Press]] |access-date=February 25, 2019 |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013515/https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/2016/02/13/rep-lewis-softens-dismissal-sanders/80344896/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/after-2008-flip-flop-john-lewis-barnstorms-hard-for-clinton-campaign-219307 |title=Hillary Clinton's secret weapon: John Lewis |first=Patrick |last=Temple-West |date=February 15, 2016 |website=[[Politico]] |access-date=February 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503064320/https://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/after-2008-flip-flop-john-lewis-barnstorms-hard-for-clinton-campaign-219307 |archive-date=May 3, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=John Lewis: I did not mean to 'disparage' Bernie Sanders' civil rights activism|website=[[TheGuardian.com]]|date=February 13, 2016|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/13/john-lewis-congressional-black-caucus-bernie-sanders-civil-rights-movement|access-date=August 25, 2020|archive-date=February 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214131350/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/13/john-lewis-congressional-black-caucus-bernie-sanders-civil-rights-movement|url-status=live}}</ref>

In a January 2016 interview, Lewis compared [[Donald Trump]], then the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] front-runner for the presidential nomination, to former Alabama Governor [[George Wallace]]: "I've been around a while and Trump reminds me so much of a lot of the things that George Wallace said and did. I think [[demagogues]] are pretty dangerous, really&nbsp;... We shouldn't divide people, we shouldn't separate people."<ref name="LAT_Panzar">{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rep-john-lewis-trump-others-la-visit-20160123-story.html |title=Rep. John Lewis speaks out against Trump's divisive rhetoric during L.A. visit |last=Panzar |first=Javier |date=January 23, 2016 |quote=I've been around a while and Trump reminds me so much of a lot of the things that George Wallace said and did. I think demagogues are pretty dangerous, really [and] we shouldn't divide people, we shouldn't separate people. |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=February 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611125950/https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rep-john-lewis-trump-others-la-visit-20160123-story.html |archive-date=June 11, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On January 13, 2017, during an interview with [[NBC]]'s [[Chuck Todd]] for ''[[Meet the Press]]'', Lewis stated: "I don't see the president-elect as a legitimate president."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Todd |first1=Chuck |last2=Bronston |first2=Sally |last3=Rivera |first3=Matt |title=Rep. John Lewis: 'I don't see Trump as a legitimate president' |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/john-lewis-trump-won-t-be-legitimate-president-n706676 |work=[[NBC News]] |date=January 14, 2017 |access-date=July 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113233912/http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/john-lewis-trump-won-t-be-legitimate-president-n706676|archive-date=January 13, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> He added, "I think the Russians participated in having this man get elected, and they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. I don't plan to attend the [[First inauguration of Donald Trump|inauguration]]. I think there was a [[Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections|conspiracy on the part of the Russians]], and others, that helped him get elected. That's not right. That's not fair. That's not the open, democratic process."<ref>{{cite news| first=Nicholas| last=Loffredo|url=http://www.newsweek.com/john-lewis-trump-legitimacy-dems-skipping-inauguration-542819| title=John Lewis, Questioning Trump's Legitimacy, Among Dems Skipping Inauguration| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114211654/http://www.newsweek.com/john-lewis-trump-legitimacy-dems-skipping-inauguration-542819| archive-date=January 14, 2017| magazine=[[Newsweek]]| date=January 14, 2017}}</ref> Trump replied on Twitter the following day, suggesting that Lewis should "spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to [...] mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results", and accusing Lewis of being "All talk, talk, talk&nbsp;– no action or results. Sad!"<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dawsey |first1=Josh |last2=Cheney |first2=Kyle |last3=Morin |first3=Rebecca |title=Trump rips John Lewis as Democrats boycott inauguration |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-john-lewis-233630 |work=Politico |date=January 14, 2017|access-date=July 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170115140853/http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-john-lewis-233630|archive-date=January 15, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Trump's statement about Lewis's district was rated as "Mostly False" by [[PolitiFact]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Qiu |first=Linda |title=Trump's exaggerated claim that John Lewis' district is 'falling apart' and 'crime infested' |url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jan/15/donald-trump/trumps-john-lewis-crime-invested-atlanta/ |work=[[PolitiFact]] |date=January 15, 2017 |access-date=February 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206142907/http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jan/15/donald-trump/trumps-john-lewis-crime-invested-atlanta/|archive-date=February 6, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> and he was criticized for attacking a civil rights leader such as Lewis, especially one who was brutally beaten for the cause, and especially on [[Martin Luther King Jr. Day|Martin Luther King weekend]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=David |title=Donald Trump starts MLK weekend by attacking civil rights hero John Lewis |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/14/donald-trump-john-lewis-mlk-day-civil-rights |access-date=January 15, 2017 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London, England|date=January 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170115022142/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/14/donald-trump-john-lewis-mlk-day-civil-rights |archive-date=January 15, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NYT_2017">{{cite news |title=In Trump's Feud With John Lewis, Blacks Perceive a Callous Rival |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/15/us/politics/trumps-race-john-lewis.html?smid=pl-share |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 15, 2017 |access-date=January 16, 2017 |first=Yamiche |last=Alcindor |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013520/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/15/us/politics/trumps-race-john-lewis.html?smid=pl-share |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=January 15, 2017 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/15/in-feud-with-john-lewis-donald-trump-attacked-one-of-the-most-respected-people-in-america/?wpisrc=nl_most-draw14&wpmm=1 |title=In feud with John Lewis, Donald Trump attacked 'one of the most respected people in America' | first=Cleve R. Jr. |last=Wootson|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916140645/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/15/in-feud-with-john-lewis-donald-trump-attacked-one-of-the-most-respected-people-in-america/?wpisrc=nl_most-draw14&wpmm=1 |archive-date=September 16, 2017}}</ref> Senator [[John McCain]] acknowledged Lewis as "an American hero" but criticized him, saying: "this is not the first time that Congressman Lewis has taken a very extreme stand and condemned without any shred of evidence for doing so an incoming president of the United States. This is a stain on Congressman Lewis's reputation&nbsp;– no one else's."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-john-lewis-feud-tweets-233685 |title=Trump maintains feud with Lewis: He also boycotted Bush 43 |work=[[Politico]] |first=Nolan D. |last=McCaskill |date=January 17, 2017|access-date=August 6, 2018 |language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723212514/https://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-john-lewis-feud-tweets-233685|archive-date=July 23, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

A few days later, Lewis said that he would not attend [[First inauguration of Donald Trump|Trump's inauguration]] because he did not believe that Trump was the true elected president. "It will be the first (inauguration) that I miss since I've been in Congress. You cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong, is not right", he said. Lewis had failed to attend [[First inauguration of George W. Bush|George W. Bush's inauguration in 2001]] because he believed that he too was not a legitimately elected president. Lewis's statement was rated as "Pants on Fire" by PolitiFact.<ref>{{cite web |title=Democratic congressman John Lewis rejects Trump, will skip inauguration for first time in 30 years |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/3181210/democratic-congressman-john-lewis-rejects-trump-will-skip-inauguration-for-first-time-in-30-years/ |website=[[Global News]] |publisher=[[Global News Network]]|location=Victoria, British Columbia, Canada|date=January 14, 2017 |agency=[[Associated Press]] |access-date=February 7, 2018 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207184420/https://globalnews.ca/news/3181210/democratic-congressman-john-lewis-rejects-trump-will-skip-inauguration-for-first-time-in-30-years/|archive-date=February 7, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Trump inauguration boycott grows |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38636136 |website=[[BBC News]] |access-date=August 1, 2020 |date=January 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812053028/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38636136 |archive-date=August 12, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Jacobson |first=Lewis |title=John Lewis wrong on whether he has skipped an inauguration |url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jan/17/john-lewis/john-lewis-wrong-whether-he-skipped-inauguration-d/ |work=[[PolitiFact]]|date=January 17, 2017 |access-date=February 7, 2018 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207182934/http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jan/17/john-lewis/john-lewis-wrong-whether-he-skipped-inauguration-d/ |archive-date=February 7, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== 2020 presidential election ====
Lewis endorsed [[Joe Biden]] for president on April 7, 2020, a day before Biden effectively secured the Democratic nomination. He recommended Biden pick a woman of color as his running mate.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/07/john-lewis-endorses-biden-170884 |title=John Lewis endorses Biden |last=Caputo |first=Mark |website=[[Politico]] |date=April 7, 2020 |access-date=July 19, 2020 |archive-date=April 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407113504/https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/07/john-lewis-endorses-biden-170884 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Committee assignments ===
[[File:Barack Obama hugs John Lewis, 2015.jpg|thumb|President Barack Obama hugs Lewis during a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the [[Selma to Montgomery marches|Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches]], March 7, 2015.]]
Lewis served on the following Congressional committees at the time of his death:<ref>{{cite web |title=John Lewis |url=https://clerkpreview.house.gov/members/L000287 |website=Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives |access-date=April 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529130835/https://clerkpreview.house.gov/members/L000287 |archive-date=May 29, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* '''[[United States House Committee on Ways and Means|Committee on Ways and Means]]'''
** [[United States House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight|Subcommittee on Oversight]] (Chair)
* '''[[United States Congress Joint Committee on Taxation]]'''

=== Caucus memberships ===
Lewis was a member of over 40 caucuses, including:<ref name="johnlewishousegov">{{cite web |title=Committees and Caucuses |url=https://johnlewis.house.gov/john-lewis/committees-and-caucuses |website=johnlewis.house.gov |date=December 13, 2012 |access-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427141915/https://johnlewis.house.gov/john-lewis/committees-and-caucuses |archive-date=April 27, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Caucus (Co-Chair)
* Congressional Structured Settlements Caucus (Co-Chair)
* [[Congressional Black Caucus]]
* [[Congressional Progressive Caucus]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Caucus Members |url=https://cpc-grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=71&sectiontree=2,71 |publisher=Congressional Progressive Caucus |access-date=January 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427164818/https://cpc-grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=71&sectiontree=2,71 |archive-date=April 27, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Congressional Brazil Caucus]]<ref name="johnlewishousegov" />
* [[Congressional Arts Caucus]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Membership |url=https://artscaucus-slaughter.house.gov/membership |publisher=Congressional Arts Caucus |access-date=March 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190120195207/https://artscaucus-slaughter.house.gov/membership |archive-date=January 20, 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1991, Lewis became the senior chief deputy [[whip (politics)|whip]] in the Democratic caucus.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Data/Black-Americans-in-Party-Leadership-Positions/ |title=Black Americans in Party Leadership Positions, 1977–present |website=US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives |language=en |access-date=January 26, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161214151938/http://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Data/Black-Americans-in-Party-Leadership-Positions/ |archive-date=December 14, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Biographies ==
{{external media| float=right| video1=[https://www.c-span.org/video/?107917-1/walking-wind ''Booknotes'' interview with Lewis on ''Walking With the Wind'', July 12, 1998], [[C-SPAN]]| video2=[https://www.c-span.org/video/?306997-1/qa-representative-john-lewis-d-ga ''Q&A'' interview with Lewis on ''Across That Bridge'', August 5, 2012], [[C-SPAN]] | video3 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?314851-1/depth-representative-john-lewis ''In Depth'' interview with Lewis, October 6, 2013], [[C-SPAN]]}}
Lewis's 1998 autobiography ''Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement'', co-written with [[Mike D'Orso]], won the [[Robert F. Kennedy Book Award]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=1999: John Lewis with Michael D'Orso |url=https://rfkhumanrights.org/people/1999-john-lewis-with-michael-dorso|url-status=live|access-date=July 18, 2020 |website=Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights |language=en-us|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615124612/https://rfkhumanrights.org/people/1999-john-lewis-with-michael-dorso|archive-date=June 15, 2018}}</ref> the [[Anisfield-Wolf Book Award]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 3, 2012 |title=John Lewis |url=https://johnlewis.house.gov/john-lewis|access-date=July 18, 2020 |website=Congressman John Lewis |language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603112419/https://johnlewis.house.gov/john-lewis|archive-date=June 3, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> the [[Christopher Award]] and the [[Lillian Smith Book Award]].<ref>{{cite book |last=O'Connor |first=Maureen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UtnpJBOxYZwC&pg=PA423 |title=Life Stories: A Guide to Reading Interests in Memoirs, Autobiographies, and Diaries |date=August 23, 2011 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-61069-146-8 |pages=423 |language=en |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=August 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804061524/https://books.google.com/books?id=UtnpJBOxYZwC&pg=PA423 |url-status=live }}</ref> It appeared on numerous bestseller lists, was selected as a ''[[New York Times]]'' Notable Book of the Year,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Notable Books of 1998 |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/reviews/notable-nonfiction.html|url-status=live|access-date=July 18, 2020 |website=The New York Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402200020/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/reviews/notable-nonfiction.html|archive-date=April 2, 2019}}</ref> was named by the [[American Library Association]] as its Nonfiction Book of the Year,<ref>{{cite web |last=Straszheim |first=Deborah |date=April 20, 1999 |title=A Story Worth Telling |url=https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-xpm-19990420-1999-04-20-9904200688-story.html |access-date=July 18, 2020 |website=Daily Press |language=en-US |archive-date=December 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202134135/https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-xpm-19990420-1999-04-20-9904200688-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and was included among ''[[Newsweek]]'' magazine's 2009 list of "50 Books For Our Times".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.librarything.com/bookaward/Newsweek+50+Books+for+Our+Times |title=Newsweek 50 Books for Our Times &#124; Book awards &#124; LibraryThing |website=www.librarything.com|access-date=July 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213104732/http://www.librarything.com/bookaward/Newsweek+50+Books+for+Our+Times|archive-date=December 13, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> It was critically acclaimed, with ''[[The Washington Post]]'' calling it "the definitive account of the civil rights movement"<ref>{{cite news |last=McGrory |first=Mary |date=June 14, 1998 |title=A Man of Consequence |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1998/06/14/a-man-of-consequence/7e702487-4772-4ff3-8e43-db8ea20d4903/ |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718123943/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1998/06/14/a-man-of-consequence/7e702487-4772-4ff3-8e43-db8ea20d4903/ |archive-date=July 18, 2020 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' proclaiming it "destined to become a classic in civil rights literature".<ref>{{cite news |last=Nelson |first=Jack |date=December 20, 1998 |title=Memoir: Walking with the Wind |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-dec-20-bk-63242-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718101238/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-dec-20-bk-63242-story.html |archive-date=July 18, 2020 |access-date=July 18, 2020 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

His life is also the subject of a 2002 book for young people, ''John Lewis: From Freedom Rider to Congressman''. In 2012, Lewis released ''Across That Bridge'', written with Brenda Jones, to mixed reviews. ''[[Publishers Weekly]]''{{’}}s review said, "At its best, the book provides a testament to the power of nonviolence in social movements&nbsp;... At its worst, it resembles an extended campaign speech."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4013-2411-7|title=Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change" (review)|magazine=[[Publishers Weekly]]|date=March 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012062909/http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4013-2411-7 |archive-date=October 12, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/05/brenda-jones-the-wordsmith-and-whisperer-to-john-lewis/435459/ |title=Brenda Jones: The Wordsmith and Whisperer to John Lewis |first1=Kimberly |last1=Railey |date=May 20, 2015 |magazine=[[The Atlantic]] |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829235055/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/05/brenda-jones-the-wordsmith-and-whisperer-to-john-lewis/435459/|archive-date=August 29, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== ''March'' (2013)===
[[File:11.7.13JohnLewisByLuigiNovi14.jpg|thumb|right|Lewis signing copies of ''[[March Book One]]'' (2013), the first volume of his graphic novel autobiography, at [[Midtown Comics]] in Manhattan]]
{{external media| float = right | width = 230px | video1=[https://www.c-span.org/video/?400036-3/march Presentation by Lewis and Andrew Aydin on ''March: Book Two'', November 21, 2015], [[C-SPAN]] | video2 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?415635-6/open-phones-representative-john-lewis-andrew-aydin Interview with Lewis and Aydin on ''March: Book Three'', September 24, 2016], [[C-SPAN]]}}
In 2013, Lewis became the first member of Congress to write a [[graphic novel]], with the launch of a trilogy titled ''[[March (comics)|March]]''. The ''March'' trilogy is a black and white comics trilogy about the [[Civil Rights Movement]], told through the perspective of civil rights leader and U.S. Congressman John Lewis. The first volume, ''March: Book One'' is written by Lewis and [[Andrew Aydin]], illustrated and lettered by [[Nate Powell]] and was published in August 2013,<ref name=WashPost>{{cite news |last=Cavna |first=Michael |title=In the graphic novel 'March,' Rep. John Lewis renders a powerful civil rights memoir |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/in-graphic-novel-march-rep-john-lewis-renders-a-powerful-civil-rights-memoir/2013/08/12/744698a0-0388-11e3-9259-e2aafe5a5f84_story.html |access-date=October 25, 2013 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=August 12, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029204717/http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-08-12/lifestyle/41333709_1_john-lewis-lewis-s-graphic-novel |archive-date=October 29, 2013}}</ref> the second volume, ''March: Book Two'' was published in January 2015 and the final volume, ''March: Book Three'' was published in August 2016.<ref>{{cite book |title=March: Book Three |first1=John |last1=Lewis |first2=Andrew |last2=Aydin |date=August 2, 2016 |publisher=Top Shelf Productions |isbn=978-1-60309-402-3}}</ref>

In an August 2014 interview, Lewis cited the influence of a 1958 comic book, ''[[Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story]]'', on his decision to adapt his experience to the graphic novel format.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cartoonician.com/u-s-rep-john-lewis-discusses-his-graphic-novel-march/ |title=U.S. Rep. John Lewis Discusses His Graphic Novel "March" |website=Cartoonician|date=September 8, 2014 |access-date=September 8, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140909004656/http://cartoonician.com/u-s-rep-john-lewis-discusses-his-graphic-novel-march/|archive-date=September 9, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''[[March: Book One]]'' became a number one ''[[New York Times]]'' bestseller for graphic novels<ref>{{cite news |title=Best Sellers |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2013-09-01/paperback-graphic-books/list.html |access-date=February 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326194424/http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2013-09-01/paperback-graphic-books/list.html |archive-date=March 26, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> and spent more than a year on the lists.

''March: Book One'' received an "Author Honor" from the [[American Library Association]]'s 2014 [[Coretta Scott King Book Awards]], which honors an African American author of a children's book.<ref>{{cite web |title=Coretta Scott King Book Awards – All Recipients, 1970–present |url=http://www.ala.org/emiert/coretta-scott-king-book-awards-all-recipients-1970-present |website=American Library Association |access-date=December 4, 2014 |date=April 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316004911/http://www.ala.org/emiert/coretta-scott-king-book-awards-all-recipients-1970-present|archive-date=March 16, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Book One'' also became the first graphic novel to win a [[Robert F. Kennedy Book Award]], receiving a "Special Recognition" bust in 2014.<ref>{{cite web |last1=MacDonald |first1=Heidi |title=March Book One is first graphic novel to win the RFK Book Award |url=http://www.comicsbeat.com/march-book-one-is-first-grahpic-novel-to-win-the-rfk-book-award/ |website=Comics Beat |date=March 21, 2014|access-date=April 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304113933/http://www.comicsbeat.com/march-book-one-is-first-grahpic-novel-to-win-the-rfk-book-award/|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

''March: Book One'' was selected by first-year reading programs in 2014 at [[Michigan State University]],<ref>{{cite web |title=About the Book |url=http://www.onebookeastlansing.com/Home/2014Works.aspx |publisher=City of East Lansing & Michigan State University |access-date=December 14, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112213251/http://www.onebookeastlansing.com/Home/2014Works.aspx |archive-date=January 12, 2015}}</ref> [[Georgia State University]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Fall 2014 Selection |url=http://success.students.gsu.edu/first-year-programs/first-year-book/fall-2014-nominations/ |website=Georgia State University |access-date=December 4, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220200840/http://success.students.gsu.edu/first-year-programs/first-year-book/fall-2014-nominations/ |archive-date=December 20, 2014}}</ref> and [[Marquette University]].<ref>{{cite web |title=About the Book |url=http://www.marquette.edu/osd/reading/about.shtml |website=Marquette University, Office of Student Development |access-date=December 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111003625/http://www.marquette.edu/osd/reading/about.shtml|archive-date=November 11, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

''March: Book Two'' was released in 2015 and immediately became both a ''New York Times'' and ''Washington Post'' bestseller for graphic novels.

The release of ''March: Book Three'' in August 2016 brought all three volumes into the top 3 slots of the ''New York Times'' bestseller list for graphic novels for 6 consecutive weeks.<ref>{{cite news |title=Paperback Graphic Books |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2016/09/25/paperback-graphic-books/ |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=November 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161004045820/http://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2016/09/25/paperback-graphic-books/|archive-date=October 4, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The third volume was announced as the recipient of the 2017 [[Printz Award]] for excellence in young-adult literature, the [[Coretta Scott King Award]], the [[YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction]], the 2016 [[National Book Award]] in Young People's Literature,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/11/17/rep-john-lewiss-national-book-award-win-is-a-milestone-moment-for-graphic-novels/ |title=Rep. John Lewis's National Book Award win is a milestone moment for graphic novels |date=November 17, 2016 |first=Michael|last=Cavna |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=January 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201054343/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/11/17/rep-john-lewiss-national-book-award-win-is-a-milestone-moment-for-graphic-novels/|archive-date=February 1, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[Sibert Medal]] at the [[American Library Association]]'s annual Midwinter Meeting in January 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=American Library Association announces 2017 youth media award winners |url=http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2017/01/american-library-association-announces-2017-youth-media-award-winners |website=American Library Association |access-date=January 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170124051155/http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2017/01/american-library-association-announces-2017-youth-media-award-winners|archive-date=January 24, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

The ''March'' trilogy received the [[Carter G. Woodson Book Award]] in the Secondary (grades 7–12) category in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.socialstudies.org/awards/woodson/winners |title=Carter G. Woodson Book Award and Honor Winners |work=National Council for the Social Studies |publisher=[[National Council for the Social Studies]] |location=Silver Spring, Maryland|access-date=February 25, 2019 |date=June 3, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427204823/https://www.socialstudies.org/awards/woodson/winners|archive-date=April 27, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== ''Run'' (2018)===
In 2018, Lewis and [[Andrew Aydin]] co-wrote another graphic novel as a sequel to the ''March'' series entitled ''Run'', which documents Lewis's life after the passage of the Civil Rights Act. The authors teamed with illustrator [[Afua Richardson]] for the book, which was originally scheduled to be released in August 2018, but was later rescheduled.<ref>{{cite web|first=Chris|last=Arrant|url=https://www.newsarama.com/41108-rep-john-lewis-run-pushed-back-to-april-2019-release.html|title=REP. JOHN LEWIS' RUN Pulled From Schedule|website=[[Newsarama]]|date=July 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226225414/https://www.newsarama.com/41108-rep-john-lewis-run-pushed-back-to-april-2019-release.html |archive-date=February 26, 2020 }}</ref> It was released on August 3, 2021, a year after his death, as it was one of his last endeavours before he died.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/08/02/john-lewis-graphic-novel-run/|title=John Lewis finished this graphic memoir as he died. He wanted to leave a civil rights 'road map' for generations to come.|author=Cavna, Michael|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=August 2, 2021|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802130435/https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/08/02/john-lewis-graphic-novel-run/}}</ref> [[Nate Powell]], who illustrated ''March'', also contributed to the art.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/run-follows-award-winning-graphic-novel-march-in-civil-rights-chronicle-1523455321 |title='Run' Follows Award-Winning Graphic Novel 'March' in Civil-Rights Chronicle |last=Rappaport |first=Michael |date=April 11, 2018 |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |access-date=April 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412041609/https://www.wsj.com/articles/run-follows-award-winning-graphic-novel-march-in-civil-rights-chronicle-1523455321 |archive-date=April 12, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
===Marriage and family===
Lewis met his future wife Lillian Miles at a New Year's Eve party hosted by [[Xernona Clayton]]. Lillian worked for the library of Atlanta University at the time. The two of them married one year later in 1968.<ref>{{cite web |last1=RAPHAEL |first1=shannon |title=John Miles-Lewis Is the Only Child of the Late U.S. Representative, John Lewis |url=https://www.distractify.com/p/what-does-john-lewis-son-do |website=Distractify |date=July 30, 2020 |access-date=10 February 2023}}</ref> In 1976, they had a son, who also works in politics. Lillian died on December 31, 2012, their 45th marriage anniversary<ref>{{Cite web |title=Remembering John Lewis |url=https://www.wabe.org/remembering-john-lewis/ |access-date=2025-03-21 |website=WABE |language=en-US}}</ref>

He has a grandson who lives in Paris.<ref>{{cite news |first=Michelle |last=Shaw |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/local-obituaries/lillian-miles-lewis-wife-adviser-rep-john-lewis/xVff5GSZZAiolGRhhj765O/ |title=Rep. John Lewis' wife, Lillian, dies |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=January 3, 2013 |access-date=June 8, 2021 |archive-date=June 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608230620/https://www.ajc.com/news/local-obituaries/lillian-miles-lewis-wife-adviser-rep-john-lewis/xVff5GSZZAiolGRhhj765O/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Illness and death ===
On December 29, 2019, Lewis announced that he had been diagnosed with stage IV [[pancreatic cancer]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/29/us/politics/rep-john-lewis-pancreatic-cancer.html |title=John Lewis, Congressman and Civil Rights Icon, Has Pancreatic Cancer |last=Cochrane |first=Emily |date=December 29, 2019 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=December 30, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230001014/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/29/us/politics/rep-john-lewis-pancreatic-cancer.html |archive-date=December 30, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Remnick |first=David |title=The Ongoing Struggle of John Lewis |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-ongoing-struggle-of-john-lewis |access-date=December 31, 2019 |language=en |date=December 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230232628/https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-ongoing-struggle-of-john-lewis |archive-date=December 30, 2019 |url-status=live |magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref> He remained in the Washington D.C. area for his treatment. Lewis stated: "I have been in some kind of fight&nbsp;– for freedom, equality, basic human rights&nbsp;– for nearly my entire life. I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now."<ref>{{cite news |last=LeBlanc |first=Paul |title=Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis announces he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/29/politics/john-lewis-pancreatic-cancer/index.html |access-date=December 30, 2019 |work=CNN |date=December 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230000425/https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/29/politics/john-lewis-pancreatic-cancer/index.html |archive-date=December 30, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=US Rep John Lewis of Georgia says he has pancreatic cancer |url=https://wtop.com/national/2019/12/us-rep-john-lewis-of-georgia-says-he-has-pancreatic-cancer/ |access-date=December 30, 2019 |work=WTOP News |date=December 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230002208/https://wtop.com/national/2019/12/us-rep-john-lewis-of-georgia-says-he-has-pancreatic-cancer/ |archive-date=December 30, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>
{{external media| float = right| width= 230px|video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?474215-1/memorial-service-rep-john-lewis-1940-2020 Memorial service for Lewis, at Troy University, Troy, Alabama, July 25, 2020], [[C-SPAN]]| video2= [https://www.c-span.org/video/?474216-1/edmund-pettus-bridge-processional-honor-rep-john-lewis-1940-2020 Edmund Pettus Bridge processional in honor of Lewis, July 26, 2020], [[C-SPAN]] |video3= [https://www.c-span.org/video/?474218-1/representative-john-lewis-casket-arrival-us-capitol&event=474218&playEvent Memorial service for Lewis at the U.S. Capitol, July 27, 2020], [[C-SPAN]]| video4= [https://www.c-span.org/video/?474223-1/representative-john-lewis-funeral-service-atlanta-georgia&event=474223&playEvent Funeral service for Lewis at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, July 30, 2020], [[C-SPAN]] }}
On July 17, 2020, Lewis died in [[Atlanta]] at the age of 80,<ref>{{cite news |date=July 17, 2020 |title=John Lewis, Georgia Congressman and Civil Rights Icon, Dies at 80 |url=https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/national-international/rep-john-lewis-dies-at-80/2470531/ |work=[[WCAU]] News |access-date=July 17, 2020 |archive-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718034614/https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/national-international/rep-john-lewis-dies-at-80/2470531/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=King |first=Tom Vanden Brook, Deborah Barfield Berry and Ledyard |title=Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon who began pushing for racial justice in the Jim Crow south, has died |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/07/17/rep-john-lewis-civil-rights-icon-original-freedom-rider-has-died/795340002/ |access-date=July 18, 2020 |newspaper=USA Today |language=en-US |archive-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718033826/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/07/17/rep-john-lewis-civil-rights-icon-original-freedom-rider-has-died/795340002/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/rep-john-lewis-has-died-2020-7 |title=Georgia congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis dies at age 80 |first1=Sonam |last1=Sheth |author2=Ellen Cranley |journal=Business Insider |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=March 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303101835/https://www.businessinsider.com/rep-john-lewis-has-died-2020-7 |url-status=live }}</ref> on the same day in the same city as his friend and fellow civil rights activist [[C. T. Vivian|C.T. Vivian]].<ref>{{cite news |last=McFadden |first=Robert D. |date=July 17, 2020 |title=C.T. Vivian, Martin Luther King's Field General, Dies at 95 |language=en-US |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/us/ct-vivian-dead.html |access-date=July 19, 2020 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718220330/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/us/ct-vivian-dead.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Lewis had been the final surviving [[Big Six (activists)|"Big Six" civil rights icon]].

Then-president [[Donald Trump]] ordered all flags to be flown at [[half-staff]] in response to Lewis's death.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/world-leaders-politicians-pay-homage-civil-rights-icon/story?id=71854525 |title=Trump tweets he's 'saddened' by John Lewis' death, world leaders pay tribute |first=William |last=Mansell |work=ABC News |access-date=July 19, 2020 |archive-date=July 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721023028/https://abcnews.go.com/US/world-leaders-politicians-pay-homage-civil-rights-icon/story?id=71854525 |url-status=live }}</ref> Condolences also came from the international community, with Swedish Prime Minister [[Stefan Löfven]], French President [[Emmanuel Macron]], Irish President [[Michael D. Higgins]] among others, all memorializing Lewis.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/507943-international-community-pays-homage-to-american-civil-rights-icon-john |work=The Hill |title=International community pays homage to American civil rights icon John Lewis |date=July 18, 2020 |last=Axelrod |first=Tax |access-date=July 21, 2020 |archive-date=July 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721222609/https://thehill.com/policy/international/507943-international-community-pays-homage-to-american-civil-rights-icon-john |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.irishcentral.com/news/irish-president-tribute-civil-rights-hero-john-lewis |work=Irish Central |title=Irish president pays tribute to civil rights hero John Lewis |date=July 19, 2020 |access-date=July 21, 2020 |last=O'Brien |first=Shane |archive-date=July 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721091604/https://www.irishcentral.com/news/irish-president-tribute-civil-rights-hero-john-lewis |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Funeral services ===
Public ceremonies honoring Lewis began in his hometown of [[Troy, Alabama]] at [[Troy University]], which had denied him admission in 1957 due to [[racial segregation]]. His casket was then taken for a memorial held at the historic [[Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church (Selma, Alabama)|Brown Chapel AME Church]] in [[Selma, Alabama]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Maryland |first=Kimberly |date=July 27, 2020 |title=Alabama honors the legacy of John Lewis |language=en-US |work=Alabama News Center |url=https://alabamanewscenter.com/2020/07/27/alabama-honors-the-legacy-of-john-lewis/ |access-date=July 30, 2020 |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729102514/https://www.alabamanewscenter.com/2020/07/27/alabama-honors-the-legacy-of-john-lewis/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Calls to rename the [[Edmund Pettus Bridge]] in Selma, in Lewis's honor grew after his death.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Li |last=Cohen |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-lewis-death-sparks-surge-in-support-to-rename-edmund-pettus-bridge-the-site-of-bloody-sunday-in-his-honor/ |title=John Lewis' death sparks surge in support to rename Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of Bloody Sunday, in his honor |work=CBS News |date=July 18, 2020 |access-date=July 19, 2020 |archive-date=July 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719044755/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-lewis-death-sparks-surge-in-support-to-rename-edmund-pettus-bridge-the-site-of-bloody-sunday-in-his-honor/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/house/507939-support-swells-for-renaming-edmund-pettus-bridge-in-selma-to-honor-john-lewis |title=Support swells for renaming Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma to honor John Lewis after his death |first=Morgan |last=Gstalter |date=July 18, 2020 |newspaper=The Hill |access-date=July 19, 2020 |archive-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718161548/https://thehill.com/homenews/house/507939-support-swells-for-renaming-edmund-pettus-bridge-in-selma-to-honor-john-lewis |url-status=live }}</ref> On July 26, 2020, his casket, carried in a horse-drawn caisson, traveled the same route over the bridge that he walked during the [[Selma to Montgomery marches#"Bloody Sunday" events|Bloody Sunday]] march from Selma to Montgomery,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/26/us/selma-john-lewis-memorial.html |title=Selma Helped Define John Lewis's Life. In Death, He Returned One Last Time |first=Rick |last=Rojas |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 26, 2020 |access-date=July 28, 2020 |archive-date=July 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727230107/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/26/us/selma-john-lewis-memorial.html |url-status=live }}</ref> before his [[lying in state]] at the [[Alabama State Capitol]] in Montgomery.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/john-lewis-memorial-07-26-2020/index.html/ |title=Civil rights icon John Lewis remembered in Alabama |first=Fernando |last=Alfonso III |work=CNN |date=July 26, 2020 |access-date=July 29, 2020 |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729050025/https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/john-lewis-memorial-07-26-2020/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

United States House of Representatives Speaker [[Nancy Pelosi]] and Senate Majority Leader [[Mitch McConnell]] announced that Lewis would lie in state in the [[United States Capitol Rotunda]] on July 27 and 28, with a public viewing and procession through Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Clark |first1=Dartunorro |title=Late Rep. John Lewis to lie in state at Capitol next week |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/late-rep-john-lewis-lie-state-capitol-next-week-n1234771 |work=NBC News |access-date=July 24, 2020 |language=en |date=July 23, 2020 |archive-date=July 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724063617/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/late-rep-john-lewis-lie-state-capitol-next-week-n1234771 |url-status=live }}</ref> He is the first African-American lawmaker to be so honored in the Rotunda; in October 2019 his colleague, representative [[Elijah Cummings]], lay in state in the Capitol Statuary Hall.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Foran |first1=Clare |title=John Lewis is first Black lawmaker to lie in state in US Capitol Rotunda |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/27/politics/john-lewis-lies-in-state-capitol/index.html |access-date=July 28, 2020 |work=CNN |date=July 27, 2020 |archive-date=July 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728010024/https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/27/politics/john-lewis-lies-in-state-capitol/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Health concerns related to the ongoing [[COVID-19 pandemic]] led to a decision to have his casket displayed outdoors on the East Front steps during the public viewing hours, rather than the usual line of people in the Rotunda filing past the casket to pay their respects.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonian.com/2020/07/27/how-to-pay-your-respects-to-congressman-john-lewis-at-the-us-capitol/ |title=How to Pay Your Respects to Congressman John Lewis at the US Capitol |first=Daniella |last=Byck |magazine=[[Washingtonian (magazine)|Washingtonian]] |date=July 27, 2020 |access-date=July 28, 2020 |archive-date=July 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728121051/https://www.washingtonian.com/2020/07/27/how-to-pay-your-respects-to-congressman-john-lewis-at-the-us-capitol/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/News_Photos/view/upi/6a18bfd85ed62db8cfe0fedd7aa3c740/John-Lewis-Lies-in-State-at-US-Capitol/ |title=John Lewis Lies in State at US Capitol |website=UPI |date=July 28, 2020 |access-date=July 28, 2020 |archive-date=July 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728143828/https://www.upi.com/News_Photos/view/upi/6a18bfd85ed62db8cfe0fedd7aa3c740/John-Lewis-Lies-in-State-at-US-Capitol/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/g33436304/john-lewis-funeral-photos/ |title=30 Photos from John Lewis's Funeral at the United States Capitol |first1=Kelly |last1=Sherin |first2=Jack |last2=Holmes |magazine=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]] |date=July 27, 2020 |access-date=July 28, 2020 |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729082558/https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/g33436304/john-lewis-funeral-photos/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On July 29, 2020, Lewis's casket left the U.S. Capitol and was transported back to Atlanta, Georgia, where he lay in state at the [[Georgia State Capitol]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2020/07/29/john-lewis-civil-rights-icon-lie-state-georgia-state-capitol/5521043002/ |title=Georgia governor hails John Lewis as an American hero, 'a titan of the civil rights movement' |first1=Nicquel Terry |last1=Ellis |first2=Chris |last2=Woodyard |newspaper=USA Today |date=July 29, 2020 |access-date=July 29, 2020 |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729104630/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2020/07/29/john-lewis-civil-rights-icon-lie-state-georgia-state-capitol/5521043002/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Among the distinguished speakers at his final funeral service at Atlanta's [[Ebenezer Baptist Church (Atlanta, Georgia)|Ebenezer Baptist Church]] were former U.S. Presidents [[Bill Clinton]], [[George W. Bush]], and [[Barack Obama]], who gave the eulogy. Former President [[Jimmy Carter]], unable to travel during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] due to his advanced age, sent a statement to be read during the service. The then-current President [[Donald Trump]] did not attend the service.<ref>{{cite news |last=Siddiqui |first=Sabrina |date=July 30, 2020 |title=At John Lewis's Funeral, Obama, Clinton and Bush Pay Tribute |language=en-US |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/former-presidents-pay-tribute-at-john-lewiss-funeral-11596130170 |access-date=July 30, 2020 |issn=0099-9660 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=July 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730211756/https://www.wsj.com/articles/former-presidents-pay-tribute-at-john-lewiss-funeral-11596130170 |url-status=live }}</ref> Lewis was buried at Atlanta's historic [[South-View Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Toone |first1=Stephanie |title=What to know about the place where John Lewis will be buried |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/what-to-know-about-the-place-where-john-lewis-will-be-buried/B5PFWUGC25C55I4EH7SKXO27BE/ |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=July 29, 2020 |language=en |access-date=July 30, 2020 |archive-date=July 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731110504/https://www.ajc.com/news/what-to-know-about-the-place-where-john-lewis-will-be-buried/B5PFWUGC25C55I4EH7SKXO27BE/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Lewis penned an op-ed to the nation that was published in ''[[The New York Times]]'' on the day of his funeral.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lewis |first=John |date=July 30, 2020 |title=Opinion - John Lewis: Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/30/opinion/john-lewis-civil-rights-america.html |access-date=August 4, 2020 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803191532/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/30/opinion/john-lewis-civil-rights-america.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In it, he called on the younger generation to continue the work for justice and an end to hate.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Forgey |first=Quint |date=July 30, 2020 |title='Now it is your turn': John Lewis issues call to action in posthumous op-ed |language=en |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/30/john-lewis-posthumous-op-ed-387770 |access-date=August 4, 2020 |archive-date=August 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804103946/https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/30/john-lewis-posthumous-op-ed-387770 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Honors ==
[[File:President Barack Obama awards the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom to Congressman John Lewis.jpg|thumb|left|[[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] awarded by President Barack Obama in 2011]]
Lewis was honored by having the 1997 sculpture by [[Thornton Dial]], ''[[The Bridge (sculpture)|The Bridge]]'', placed at [[Ponce de Leon Avenue]] and [[Freedom Park (Atlanta, Georgia)|Freedom Park]], Atlanta, dedicated to him by the artist. In 1999, Lewis was awarded the [[Wallenberg Medal]] from the [[University of Michigan]] in recognition of his courageous lifelong commitment to the defense of civil and human rights. In that same year, he received the [[Four Freedoms Award]] for the Freedom of Speech.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rooseveltinstitute.org/four-freedoms-awards |title=Four Freedoms Award |publisher=Roosevelt Institute |access-date=April 4, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325223647/http://www.rooseveltinstitute.org/four-freedoms-awards}}</ref>

In 2001, the [[John F. Kennedy Library Foundation]] awarded Lewis the [[Profile in Courage Award]] "for his extraordinary courage, leadership and commitment to civil rights".<ref>{{cite web |access-date=December 8, 2012 |url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Events-and-Awards/Profile-in-Courage-Award/Award-Recipients/John-Lewis-2001.aspx |title=John Lewis |publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912184347/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Events-and-Awards/Profile-in-Courage-Award/Award-Recipients/John-Lewis-2001.aspx|archive-date=September 12, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> However, it was not the regular award, but rather a special Profile in Courage Award for Lifetime Achievement<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/events-and-awards/profile-in-courage-award/award-recipients/john-lewis-2001|title=John Lewis - 2001|publisher=[[John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum|John F Kennedy Library Foundation]]|accessdate=September 7, 2025}}</ref> which has been given out only twice, John Lewis and [[William Winter (politician)|William Winter]] (in 2008). The next year he was awarded the [[Spingarn Medal]] from the [[NAACP]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.naacp.org/pages/spingarn-medal-winners |title=NAACP Spingarn Medal |access-date=April 19, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802063355/http://www.naacp.org/pages/spingarn-medal-winners |archive-date=August 2, 2014}}</ref>
[[File:John Lewis addressing audience in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress - 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.jpg|thumb|John Lewis addressing audience in the [[Thomas Jefferson Building|Great Hall]] of the [[Library of Congress]] on the 50th Anniversary of the [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]], August 28, 2013]] In 2004, Lewis received the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] presented by Awards Council member [[James Earl Jones]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement|website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#public-service|access-date=March 18, 2020|archive-date=June 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608012051/https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#public-service|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2004 |title=2004 Summit Highlights Photo |url=https://achievement.org/summit/2004/ |quote=Awards Council member and actor James Earl Jones presents the Academy’s Golden Plate Award to Congressman John Lewis during the introductory evening of the 2004 International Achievement Summit in Chicago, Illinois. |access-date=December 11, 2020 |archive-date=September 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235315/https://achievement.org/summit/2004/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2006, he received the U.S. Senator [[John Heinz]] Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official, an award given out annually by [[Jefferson Awards for Public Service]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national |title=National Winners &#124; public service awards |publisher=Jefferson Awards.org |access-date=November 9, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124043935/http://jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national|archive-date=November 24, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> In September 2007, Lewis was awarded the [[Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics#Dole Leadership Prize|Dole Leadership Prize]] from the [[Dole Institute of Politics|Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics]] at the [[University of Kansas]].<ref name=DoleBlog_20070926>{{cite web |access-date=October 12, 2008 |url=http://doleinstituteblog.org/civil-rights-movement-pioneer-to-receive-dole-leadership-prize/ |title=Civil Rights Movement Pioneer to receive Dole Leadership Prize |agency=Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, University of Kansas |date=September 26, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207031804/http://doleinstituteblog.org/civil-rights-movement-pioneer-to-receive-dole-leadership-prize/ |archive-date=December 7, 2008}}</ref>

Lewis was the only living speaker from the [[March on Washington]] present on the stage during the [[First inauguration of Barack Obama|inauguration of Barack Obama]]. Obama signed a commemorative photograph for Lewis with the words, "Because of you, John. Barack Obama."<ref name=Remnick/>

In 2010, Lewis was awarded the first LBJ Liberty and Justice for All Award, given to him by the [[Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation]],<ref name="The University of Texas at Austin">{{cite web |title=Rep. John Lewis Honored as Civil Rights Champion with First LBJ Liberty and Justice for All Award |url=http://www.utexas.edu/news/2010/11/17/lewis_john/ |access-date=April 3, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719114333/http://www.utexas.edu/news/2010/11/17/lewis_john/|archive-date=July 19, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the next year, Lewis was awarded the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] by President [[Barack Obama]].<ref name=Bloomberg_20110215>{{cite news |access-date=February 15, 2011 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-15/obama-honors-buffett-george-h-w-bush-with-medal-of-freedom.html |title=Obama Honors Buffett, George H.W. Bush With Medal of Freedom |date=February 15, 2011 |work=Bloomberg |first=Julianna |last=Goldman|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218174519/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-15/obama-honors-buffett-george-h-w-bush-with-medal-of-freedom.html|archive-date=February 18, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:John Lewis - Terri Sewell - Frederick D. Reese - 2016.jpg|thumb|John Lewis with [[Frederick D. Reese]] and [[Terri Sewell]] at a 2016 Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony honoring the [[Selma to Montgomery marches]].]]

In 2016, it was announced that a future [[United States Navy]] [[underway replenishment oiler]] would be named {{USNS|John Lewis|T-AO-205|6}}.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/639487/secretary-of-the-navy-announces-first-ship-of-next-generation-fleet-repenishmen/ |title=Secretary of the Navy Announces First Ship of Next Generation Fleet Replenishment Oilers |website=U.S. Department of Defense|access-date=December 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230013307/https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/639487/secretary-of-the-navy-announces-first-ship-of-next-generation-fleet-repenishmen/|archive-date=December 30, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Also in 2016, Lewis and fellow Selma marcher [[Frederick Reese]] accepted [[Congressional Gold Medal]]s which were bestowed to the "foot soldiers" of the Selma marchers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?405070-1/congressional-gold-medal-ceremony-1965-voting-rights-marches-foot-soldiers|title=Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony for 1965 Voting Rights Marches Foot Soldiers &#124; C-SPAN.org|website=www.c-span.org|access-date=July 17, 2022|archive-date=August 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830233859/https://www.c-span.org/video/?405070-1%2Fcongressional-gold-medal-ceremony-1965-voting-rights-marches-foot-soldiers|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nj.com/politics/2016/02/selma_marchers_get_congressional_gold_medal_with_b.html |title=Selma marchers get Congressional Gold Medal |first=Jonathan D. |last=Salant |date=February 25, 2016 |newspaper=[[The Star-Ledger]] |location=Newark, NJ |access-date=July 28, 2020 |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729181429/https://www.nj.com/politics/2016/02/selma_marchers_get_congressional_gold_medal_with_b.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The same year, Lewis was awarded the Liberty Medal at the National Constitution Center. The prestigious award has been awarded to international leaders from [[Malala Yousafzai]] to the [[14th Dalai Lama]], presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton and other dignitaries and visionaries. The timing of Lewis's award coincided with the 150th anniversary of the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|14th amendment]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/john-lewis-to-receive-2016-liberty-medal |title=John Lewis to receive 2016 Liberty Medal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921024800/http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2016/06/john-lewis-to-receive-2016-liberty-medal/ |archive-date=September 21, 2016 |work=National Constitution Center |date=June 2, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| first=William |last=Bender |url=http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20160920_John_Lewis_honored_with_the_Liberty_Medal.html |title=John Lewis honored with the Liberty Medal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921184515/http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20160920_John_Lewis_honored_with_the_Liberty_Medal.html |archive-date=September 21, 2016 | newspaper=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |date=September 20, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Lewis |first1=John |title=National Book Awards - 2016 |url=https://speakola.com/arts/john-lewis-national-book-awards-2016 |website=Speakola.com |date=November 29, 2016 |access-date=March 14, 2021 |archive-date=May 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503184105/http://speakola.com/arts/john-lewis-national-book-awards-2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2020, Lewis was awarded the [[Walter Reuther|Walter P. Reuther]] Humanitarian Award by [[Wayne State University]], the [[United Automobile Workers|UAW]], and the Reuther family.<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://today.wayne.edu/news/2020/02/05/wayne-state-uaw-honor-civil-rights-legend-rep-john-lewis-35309 |title=Wayne State, UAW honor civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis |date=February 5, 2020 |publisher=Wayne State University |access-date=February 8, 2020 |archive-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718121241/https://today.wayne.edu/news/2020/02/05/wayne-state-uaw-honor-civil-rights-legend-rep-john-lewis-35309 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Lewis gave numerous commencement addresses, including at the [[School of Visual Arts]] (SVA) in 2014,<ref name=VAJ-Q>Herbowy, Greg (Fall 2014). "Q+A: Congressman John Lewis, Andrew Aydin & Nate Powell." ''[[Visual Arts Journal]]''. pp. 48–51.</ref> [[Bates College]] (in [[Lewiston, Maine]]) and [[Washington University in St. Louis]] in 2016,<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 20, 2016 |title=John Lewis' 2016 Commencement address at Washington University in St. Louis - The Source - Washington University in St. Louis |url=https://source.wustl.edu/2016/05/john-lewis-2016-commencement-address-washington-university-st-louis/ |access-date=June 12, 2022 |website=The Source |language=en-US |archive-date=February 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226012652/https://source.wustl.edu/2016/05/john-lewis-2016-commencement-address-washington-university-st-louis/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=March 30, 2016 |title=Civil rights champion John Lewis to deliver Commencement address May 20 - The Source - Washington University in St. Louis |url=https://source.wustl.edu/2016/03/civil-rights-champion-john-lewis-deliver-commencement-address-may-20/ |access-date=June 12, 2022 |website=The Source |language=en-US |archive-date=March 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304133700/https://source.wustl.edu/2016/03/civil-rights-champion-john-lewis-deliver-commencement-address-may-20/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Bates>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bates.edu/news/2016/04/01/civil-rights-leader-rep-john-lewis-to-deliver-2016-commencement-address-joining-honorands-lisa-genova-92-daniel-gilbert-and-robert-witt-62/ |title=Civil Rights leader Rep. John Lewis to deliver 2016 Commencement address, joining honorands Lisa Genova '92, Daniel Gilbert and Robert Witt '62 |website=bates.edu|access-date=May 20, 2016 |date=April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517053152/http://www.bates.edu/news/2016/04/01/civil-rights-leader-rep-john-lewis-to-deliver-2016-commencement-address-joining-honorands-lisa-genova-92-daniel-gilbert-and-robert-witt-62/|archive-date=May 17, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Bard College]] and [[Bank Street College of Education]] in 2017, and [[Harvard University]] in 2018.<ref name="Harvard Gazette" />

Lewis was recognized for his involvement with comics with the 2017 [[Inkpot Award]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot |title=Inkpot Award |website=comic-con.org |date=December 6, 2012 |access-date=September 9, 2021 |archive-date=January 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129155249/http://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot |url-status=live }}</ref>

On July 30, 2018, the [[Atlanta City Council]] voted to rename Atlanta's Freedom Parkway ''[[Freedom Park (Atlanta, Georgia)|John Lewis Freedom Parkway]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ajc.com/news/local/john-lewis-deeply-moved-that-freedom-parkway-will-include-his-name/UEUeS1tkCT4lkHfWU6cNBO/|title=Name of busy Atlanta street will change to John Lewis Freedom Parkway|first=Becca J G|last=Godwin|publisher=Atlanta Journal-Constitution|date=July 30, 2018|access-date=December 19, 2020|archive-date=June 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210618064010/https://www.ajc.com/news/local/john-lewis-deeply-moved-that-freedom-parkway-will-include-his-name/UEUeS1tkCT4lkHfWU6cNBO/|url-status=live}}</ref> On November 5, 2020, the [[Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County]] voted to rename an extensive part of [[Nashville, Tennessee]]'s 5th Avenue ''John Lewis Way''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsmv.com/news/nashville-street-to-be-renamed-after-civil-rights-leader-john-lewis/article_f5a2a69a-2023-11eb-a537-333515f7e112.html|title=Nashville street to be renamed after civil rights leader John Lewis|first=Tosin|last=Fakile|publisher=WSMV|date=November 6, 2020|access-date=December 19, 2020|archive-date=November 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107144111/https://www.wsmv.com/news/nashville-street-to-be-renamed-after-civil-rights-leader-john-lewis/article_f5a2a69a-2023-11eb-a537-333515f7e112.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newschannel5.com/news/metro-council-approves-renaming-of-nashvilles-5th-ave-to-rep-john-lewis-way|title=Metro Council approves renaming of Nashville's 5th Ave. to Rep. John Lewis Way|first=Laken|last=Bowles|publisher=WTVF|date=November 6, 2020|access-date=December 19, 2020|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220548/https://www.newschannel5.com/news/metro-council-approves-renaming-of-nashvilles-5th-ave-to-rep-john-lewis-way|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/2020/11/06/nashville-street-renamed-after-late-civil-rights-leader-john-lewis/6185291002/|title=Nashville street renamed after late civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis|first=Natalie Neysa|last=Alund|publisher=The Tennessean|date=November 6, 2020|access-date=December 19, 2020|archive-date=July 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013518/https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/2020/11/06/nashville-street-renamed-after-late-civil-rights-leader-john-lewis/6185291002/|url-status=live}}</ref>

On June 23, 2020, the Fairfax County Public School Board voted to change the name of Robert E. Lee High School to John R. Lewis High School which is located in Springfield, Virginia. A program called John Lewis Now was created in his vision to provide students with in-school curriculum and out-of-school experiences in leadership and government utilizing the nearby Washington D.C. area.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/departments-and-offices/deputy-superintendents-office/region-3/robert-e-lee-high-school | title=Fairfax County School Board Votes to Rename School John R. Lewis High School &#124; Fairfax County Public Schools }}</ref>

Lewis's death in July 2020 has given rise to support for renaming the historically significant Pettus bridge in Lewis's honor, an idea previously floated years ago.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Support swells for renaming Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma to honor John Lewis after his death |first=Morgan |last=Gstalter |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/support-swells-for-renaming-edmund-pettus-bridge-in-selma-to-honor-john-lewis-after-his-death/ar-BB16U9Ox |access-date=July 18, 2020 |website=www.msn.com |archive-date=July 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719172121/https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/support-swells-for-renaming-edmund-pettus-bridge-in-selma-to-honor-john-lewis-after-his-death/ar-BB16U9Ox |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Efforts growing to rename Edmund Pettus Bridge for John Lewis |first=Michael |last=King |url=https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/efforts-growing-to-rename-edmund-pettus-bridge-for-john-lewis/85-27a1b3a2-244b-4806-b620-ce9dcfde30d4 |access-date=July 18, 2020 |website=11Alive.com |date=July 18, 2020 |language=en-US |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013517/https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/efforts-growing-to-rename-edmund-pettus-bridge-for-john-lewis/85-27a1b3a2-244b-4806-b620-ce9dcfde30d4 |url-status=live }}</ref> After his death, the Board of [[Fairfax County Public Schools]] announced that Robert E. Lee High School in [[Springfield, Virginia]] would be renamed [[John R. Lewis High School]].<ref>{{cite web |title=School Board Renames Robert E. Lee High School for Late Congressman John Lewis |url=https://www.fcps.edu/news/school-board-renames-robert-e-lee-high-school-late-congressman-john-lewis |website=Fairfax County Public Schools |access-date=July 23, 2020 |date=July 23, 2020 |archive-date=July 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723220833/https://www.fcps.edu/news/school-board-renames-robert-e-lee-high-school-late-congressman-john-lewis |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Board changes school's name from Robert E. Lee to John Lewis |url=https://sports.yahoo.com/board-changes-schools-name-robert-223511003.html |website=AP News |access-date=July 23, 2020 |date=July 23, 2020 |archive-date=August 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802183908/https://sports.yahoo.com/board-changes-schools-name-robert-223511003.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Following his death, [[Troy University]] announced that the main building on its flagship campus would bear the name of John Lewis. The building, which was the oldest on campus, was previously named after [[Bibb Graves]], a former governor of Alabama and high-ranking officer of the Ku Klux Klan.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Allen Kim|title=A building at Troy University, named after a former governor with ties to the KKK, will be renamed after John Lewis|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/27/us/john-lewis-troy-trnd/index.html|access-date=October 2, 2020|website=CNN|date=August 27, 2020 |archive-date=August 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200829000408/https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/27/us/john-lewis-troy-trnd/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

On August 1, 2020, a [[Statue of John Lewis|statue of Lewis]] was revealed by sculptor Gregory Johnson. The statue was commissioned by [[Rodney Mims Cook Jr.]] and was installed at Cook Park in Atlanta, Georgia, in April 2021.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ajc.com/john-lewis/vine-city-statue-to-honor-john-lewis/36FWFBEWUFDONDRDATDPWAIPB4/|title=Monuments to honor John Lewis' legacy in the works|first=Ernie|last=Suggs|publisher=Atlanta Journal-Constitution|date=August 1, 2020|access-date=December 27, 2020|archive-date=January 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117190839/https://www.ajc.com/john-lewis/vine-city-statue-to-honor-john-lewis/36FWFBEWUFDONDRDATDPWAIPB4/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=April 22, 2021|title=Statue of late-Congressman John Lewis installed at Atlanta park|url=https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/statue-of-late-congressman-john-lewis-installed-at-atlanta-park|access-date=April 24, 2021|website=FOX 5 Atlanta|language=en-US|archive-date=April 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424133232/https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/statue-of-late-congressman-john-lewis-installed-at-atlanta-park|url-status=live}}</ref>

On February 21, 2021, President [[Joe Biden]] marked Lewis's late birthday on [[Twitter]], urging all Americans to "carry on his mission in the fight for justice and equality for all." He tweeted, "While my dear friend may no longer be with us, his life and legacy provide an eternal moral compass on which direction to march. May we carry on his mission in the fight for justice and equality for all."<ref>{{Cite news|title=Biden, lawmakers mark John Lewis's 81st birthday: 'May we carry on his mission'|work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/news/539800-biden-lawmakers-mark-john-lewiss-81st-birthday-may-we-carry-on-his-mission|access-date=February 21, 2021|archive-date=February 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210222002709/https://thehill.com/homenews/news/539800-biden-lawmakers-mark-john-lewiss-81st-birthday-may-we-carry-on-his-mission|url-status=live}}</ref>

On October 2, 2021, [[Seattle]] opened the [[John Lewis Memorial Bridge]].
<ref>{{cite web
 |url=https://sdotblog.seattle.gov/2021/10/01/john-lewis-memorial-bridge-naming/
 |title=We are honored to build a bridge bearing John Lewis' name
 |last=Bancroft
 |first=Ethan
 |date=October 1, 2021
 |website=SDOT Blog
 |publisher=Seattle Department of Transportation
 |access-date=August 10, 2025
|quote=Seattle is officially naming this new bridge the John Lewis Memorial Bridge to honor African American hero and Civil Rights icon John Lewis. 
 |archive-date=August 11, 2025
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250811045632/https://sdotblog.seattle.gov/2021/10/01/john-lewis-memorial-bridge-naming/
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref>

On October 27, 2021, the [[University of California, Santa Cruz]] named one of its residential colleges, formerly known as College Ten, [[College Ten|John R Lewis College]].
<ref>{{cite web
 |url=https://news.ucsc.edu/2021/10/college-ten-announcement.html
 |title=UC Santa Cruz advances commitment to social justice with College 10 naming in honor of John R. Lewis
 |last=Soergel
 |first=Allison
 |date=October 27, 2021
|website=News University of Santa Cruz
 |publisher=University of Santa Cruz
 |access-date=October 27, 2021
|quote=The University of California at Santa Cruz announced today that College Ten—an undergraduate residential learning community founded on principles of social justice and community—will be named in honor of the late congressman and civil rights icon John R. Lewis.
 |archive-date=October 28, 2021
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028182639/https://news.ucsc.edu/2021/10/college-ten-announcement.html
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref>

On August 16, 2024, a statue of Lewis by [[Basil Watson]] was installed in [[Decatur, Georgia]], in the place where an [[obelisk]] monument to the Confederacy was put by the [[United Daughters of the Confederacy]] in 1908; the obelisk was removed in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/john-lewis-bronze-statue-replaced-confederate-georgia-b0c51086a4b83750ff38b1af2167abde|title=Bronze statue of John Lewis replaces more than 100-year-old Confederate monument|date=August 16, 2024|website=AP News}}</ref>

=== Honorary academic degrees ===
[[File:John Lewis Civil rights leader honorary degree 2012.jpg|thumb|Lewis receives an honorary degree from [[Brown University]] in 2012]]
Lewis was awarded more than 50 honorary degrees,<ref>{{cite web |title=The Honorable John Lewis |url=http://www.gordonparksfoundation.org/support/honorees/the-honorable-john-lewis |website=The Gordon Parks Foundation |access-date=April 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518105521/http://www.gordonparksfoundation.org/support/honorees/the-honorable-john-lewis |archive-date=May 18, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> including:
* 1989: Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from [[Troy University|Troy State University]] (now Troy University)<ref>{{Cite web|date=July 27, 2020|title=Life of Rep. John Lewis honored in Trojan Arena service|url=https://today.troy.edu/news/life-of-rep-john-lewis-honored-in-trojan-arena-service/|access-date=August 5, 2020|website=Troy Today|language=en-US|archive-date=August 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814054603/https://today.troy.edu/news/life-of-rep-john-lewis-honored-in-trojan-arena-service/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1995: Honorary Doctor of Public Service degree from [[Northeastern University]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Commencement Speakers & Honorary Degrees |url=https://library.northeastern.edu/services/archives-special-collections/northeastern-history/commencement-speakers-honorary-degrees |website=Northeastern University Library |access-date=April 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200327231002/https://library.northeastern.edu/services/archives-special-collections/northeastern-history/commencement-speakers-honorary-degrees |archive-date=March 27, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1998: Honorary Humane Letters degree from [[Brandeis University]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Honorary Degree Recipients |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/trustees/hdr/recipients.html |website=Brandeis University: Board of Trustees |access-date=April 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190519115949/http://www.brandeis.edu/trustees/hdr/recipients.html |archive-date=May 19, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1999: Honorary [[Doctor of Laws]] degree from the [[University of Massachusetts Boston]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Commencement Program, 1999 |url=http://openarchives.umb.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15774coll21/id/966/rec/1 |website=Open Archives: Digital Collections at the University of Massachusetts Boston |publisher=University of Massachusetts Boston |access-date=May 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208064019/http://openarchives.umb.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15774coll21/id/966/rec/1|archive-date=February 8, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1999: Honorary [[Doctor of Laws]] degree from [[Knox College (Illinois)|Knox College]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Honorary Degrees, 1900-1999 |url=https://www.knox.edu/about-knox/our-history/honorary-degrees/honorary-degrees-1900-1999 |website=Knox College |access-date=July 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517183634/https://www.knox.edu/about-knox/our-history/honorary-degrees/honorary-degrees-1900-1999|archive-date=May 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2001: Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from [[University at Albany]]<ref>{{cite web |title=SUNY Honorary Degrees |url=https://www.albany.edu/academics/honorary.degree.shtml |website=University at Albany |access-date=April 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422151432/https://www.albany.edu/academics/honorary.degree.shtml |archive-date=April 22, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2002: Honorary D.H.L. from [[Howard University]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Recipients of Honorary Degrees and Other University Honors (by year) |url=https://www.howard.edu/secretary/convocations/recipients-year.htm |website=Howard University: Office of the Secretary |access-date=April 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427095511/https://www.howard.edu/secretary/convocations/recipients-year.htm |archive-date=April 27, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2003: Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the [[College of Wooster]]<ref>{{cite magazine |date=Summer 2003 |title=Sending the Class of 2003 on its way |url=https://openworks.wooster.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=wooalumnimag_2001-2010 |magazine=Wooster Magazine |location=Wooster OpenWorks |publisher=The College of Wooster |access-date=July 20, 2020 |archive-date=July 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721021348/https://openworks.wooster.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=wooalumnimag_2001-2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 2004: Honorary degree from [[Portland State University]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Honorary Degrees Awarded by Portland State University, 1993–2016 |url=https://www.pdx.edu/academic-affairs/sites/www.pdx.edu.academic-affairs/files/PSU%20Honorary%20Degrees%20Awarded_42016.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719000449/https://www.pdx.edu/academic-affairs/sites/www.pdx.edu.academic-affairs/files/PSU%20Honorary%20Degrees%20Awarded_42016.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 19, 2020 |website=Portland State University |access-date=April 18, 2020 }}</ref>
* 2004: Honorary LHD from [[Juniata College]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Honorary Degree Recipients |url=https://www.juniata.edu/about/presidents-office/honorary-degrees/honorary-degree-recipients.php |website=Juniata College |access-date=April 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180420195410/http://www.juniata.edu/about/presidents-office/honorary-degrees/honorary-degree-recipients.php |archive-date=April 20, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2007: Honorary [[LL.D.]] degree from the [[University of Vermont]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.uvm.edu/newsstories/news/congressman_john_lewis_deliver_2007_commencement_address |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718131509/https://www.uvm.edu/newsstories/news/congressman_john_lewis_deliver_2007_commencement_address |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 18, 2020 |title=Congressman John Lewis to Deliver 2007 Commencement Address |website=[[University of Vermont]] |access-date=July 18, 2020 }}</ref>
* 2007: Honorary LL.D. degree from [[Adelphi University]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Honorary Degrees |url=https://commencement.adelphi.edu/honorary-degrees/ |website=Adelphi University |access-date=April 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927114353/https://commencement.adelphi.edu/honorary-degrees/ |archive-date=September 27, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2012: Honorary LL.D. degrees from [[Brown University]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Simmons among nine honorary degree recipients |url=https://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2012/05/hdcitations#Lewis |publisher=Brown University |access-date=May 28, 2014 |date=May 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228024136/http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2012/05/hdcitations#Lewis|archive-date=February 28, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> [[University of Pennsylvania]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Penn's 2012 Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipients |url=http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v58/n26/hd.html |website=Penn Almanac |publisher=University of Pennsylvania |access-date=January 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203212202/http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v58/n26/hd.html|archive-date=February 3, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Harvard University]],<ref name="Harvard Gazette">{{Cite news |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2018/05/harvard-awards-seven-honorary-degrees/ |title=Harvard awards seven honorary degrees |date=May 24, 2018 |work=Harvard Gazette|access-date=August 6, 2018 |language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817223945/https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2018/05/harvard-awards-seven-honorary-degrees/|archive-date=August 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[University of Connecticut School of Law]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reitz |first=Stephanie |date=May 22, 2012 |title=UConn Law School Graduates Urged to Use Law to Benefit Society |url=https://today.uconn.edu/2012/05/uconn-law-school-graduates-urged-to-use-law-to-benefit-society/|url-status=live|access-date=July 18, 2020 |website=UConn Today |language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151010031104/http://today.uconn.edu/2012/05/uconn-law-school-graduates-urged-to-use-law-to-benefit-society/|archive-date=October 10, 2015}}</ref>
* 2013: Honorary [[Doctor of Humane Letters]]<ref>{{cite web |title=U. S. Rep. John Lewis to be Honored at Judson College |url=http://www.perrycountyalabamachamber.com/event/u-s-rep-john-lewis-to-be-honored-at-judson-college/ |publisher=Perry County Chamber of Commerce |access-date=November 5, 2016 |date=February 21, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161106165652/http://www.perrycountyalabamachamber.com/event/u-s-rep-john-lewis-to-be-honored-at-judson-college/|archive-date=November 6, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> from Judson College
* 2013: Honorary LL.D. degrees from [[Cleveland State University]]<ref>{{cite web |title=John Lewis Receives Honorary Doctorate from CSU |url=https://www.csuohio.edu/news/john-lewis-receives-honorary-doctorate-from-csu |publisher=[[Cleveland State University]] |access-date=July 22, 2015 |date=December 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723075212/https://www.csuohio.edu/news/john-lewis-receives-honorary-doctorate-from-csu|archive-date=July 23, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Union College]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Civil rights advocate U.S. Rep. John Lewis urges graduates to "get in the way" |publisher=Union College |url=http://www.union.edu/news/stories/2013/06/lewis.php |access-date=November 22, 2015 |date=June 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108075015/http://www.union.edu/news/stories/2013/06/lewis.php|archive-date=January 8, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2014: Honorary LL.D. degree from [[Emory University]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Honorary degree recipients are leaders in education and civil rights |url=http://news.emory.edu/stories/2014/05/er_commencement_honorary_degrees/campus.html |publisher=Emory News Center |access-date=July 22, 2015 |date=May 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723033514/http://news.emory.edu/stories/2014/05/er_commencement_honorary_degrees/campus.html|archive-date=July 23, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2014: Honorary [[Doctorate of Fine Arts]] from the [[School of Visual Arts]].<ref name="VAJ">Rhodes, David (Fall 2014). "From the President". ''Visual Arts Journal''. p. 3.</ref>
* 2014: Honorary Bachelor of Arts from [[Lawrence University]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Speaker: Rep. John Lewis |url=https://www.lawrence.edu/students/academic_life/commencement/john-lewis |access-date=March 20, 2017 |date=May 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320233250/https://www.lawrence.edu/students/academic_life/commencement/john-lewis|archive-date=March 20, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2014: Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from [[Marquette University]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Honorary Degrees: Congressman John Lewis |url=https://www.marquette.edu/university-honors/honorary-degrees/lewis.php |website=Marquette University |access-date=April 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519090153/https://www.marquette.edu/university-honors/honorary-degrees/lewis.php |archive-date=May 19, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2015: Honorary [[Doctorate of Humane Letters]] from the [[McCourt School of Public Policy]], [[Georgetown University]].<ref>{{cite web |title=2015 Commencement Speakers Announced |url=http://www.thehoya.com/2015-commencement-speakers-announced/ |publisher=The Hoya |access-date=May 14, 2015 |date=May 4, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511070715/http://www.thehoya.com/2015-commencement-speakers-announced/|archive-date=May 11, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2015: Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from [[Lawrence University]]<ref>{{cite news |last1=Peterson |first1=Rick |title=Congressman John Lewis, Civil Rights Activist James Zwerg to Receive Honorary Degrees at Lawrence Commencement |url=https://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2015/03/congressman-john-lewis-civil-rights-activist-james-zwerg-to-receive-honorary-degrees-at-lawrence-commencement.html |access-date=April 18, 2020 |work=Lawrence University |date=March 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802093847/http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2015/03/congressman-john-lewis-civil-rights-activist-james-zwerg-to-receive-honorary-degrees-at-lawrence-commencement.html |archive-date=August 2, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2015: Honorary degree from [[Goucher College]]<ref>{{cite news |title=U.S. Rep. John Lewis to Deliver Commencement Keynote |url=https://blogs.goucher.edu/intheloop/7508/congressman-and-civil-rights-activist-john-lewis-to-deliver-commencement-keynote/ |access-date=April 20, 2020 |work=In the Loop |publisher=Goucher College |date=May 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625051837/https://blogs.goucher.edu/intheloop/7508/congressman-and-civil-rights-activist-john-lewis-to-deliver-commencement-keynote/ |archive-date=June 25, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2015: Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from [[Hampton University]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Congressman John Lewis tells HU Graduates to 'Get in the Way' |url=http://news.hamptonu.edu/release/Congressman-John-Lewis-tells-HU-Graduates-to-%27Get-in-the-Way%27 |access-date=April 20, 2020 |work=HU News |publisher=Hampton University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150625030425/http://news.hamptonu.edu/release/Congressman-John-Lewis-tells-HU-Graduates-to-%27Get-in-the-Way%27 |archive-date=June 25, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 2016: Honorary [[Doctorate of Humane Letters]] from [[New York University]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2016/march/darren-walker-ford-foundation-president-to-speak-at-nyus-commencement.html |title=Darren Walker, Ford Foundation President, to Speak at NYU's Commencement |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503213951/https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2016/03/10/darren-walker-ford-foundation-president-to-speak-at-nyus-commencement.html |archive-date=May 3, 2016 |url-status=live |work=NYU.edu |date=March 10, 2016 }}</ref>
* 2016: Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from [[Bates College]]<ref name=Bates />
* 2016: Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from [[Washington University in St. Louis]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://commencement.wustl.edu/people/john-lewis/ |title=John Lewis |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811041446/https://commencement.wustl.edu/people/john-lewis/ |archive-date=August 11, 2016 |work=Commencement |publisher=Washington University in St. Louis |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 2016: Honorary Doctor of Policy Analysis from the [[Frederick S. Pardee RAND Graduate School]]<ref>[http://www.prgs.edu/alumni/commencement.html#commencement-weekend-honorees- "Pardee RAND Graduate School Commencement"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160612105742/http://www.prgs.edu/alumni/commencement.html#commencement-weekend-honorees- |date=June 12, 2016 }}, Pardee RAND Graduate School, June 18, 2016.</ref>
* 2016: Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from [[Washington and Jefferson College]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Lewis, Latif, Berko Gleason and Stofan to Receive Honorary Degrees at Commencement |url=https://www.jayconnected.com/s/924/19/interior.aspx?sid=924&gid=1&pgid=2144&cid=4325&ecid=4325&crid=0&calpgid=1900&calcid=3863 |access-date=April 18, 2020 |work=Jay Connected |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013524/https://www.jayconnected.com/s/924/19/interior.aspx?sid=924&gid=1&pgid=2144&cid=4325&ecid=4325&crid=0&calpgid=1900&calcid=3863 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 2017: Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from [[Yale University]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.yale.edu/2017/05/18/yale-awards-honorary-degrees-eight-individuals-their-achievements |title=Yale awards honorary degrees to eight individuals for their achievements |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=May 18, 2017 |website=Yale News |publisher=Yale University|access-date=May 22, 2017 |quote=From Freedom Rider to statesman, you have championed civil rights and public service for six decades. You have faced beatings, violence, and intimidation with steadfast nonviolence&nbsp;... Devoted champion of America and of all of its people, in recognition of a lifetime of bold action and inspiring results, we are honored to present you with this Doctor of Laws degree.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170526072454/http://news.yale.edu/2017/05/18/yale-awards-honorary-degrees-eight-individuals-their-achievements|archive-date=May 26, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2017: Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from [[Berea College]]<ref>{{Cite web|date=May 8, 2017|title=Congressman John Lewis Inspires Graduates at Berea College Commencement|url=https://www.berea.edu/news/congressman-john-lewis-inspires-graduates-berea-college-commencement/|access-date=August 4, 2020|website=Berea College|language=en-US|archive-date=June 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613183653/https://www.berea.edu/news/congressman-john-lewis-inspires-graduates-berea-college-commencement/|url-status=live |last1=Jordan |first1=Tim }}</ref>
* 2017: Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from [[Bank Street College of Education|Bank Street Graduate School of Education]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Congressman John Lewis Honored at Graduate School of Education Commencement |url=https://www.bankstreet.edu/news-events/news/congressman-john-lewis-honored-at-graduate-school-of-education-commencement/ |access-date=April 18, 2020 |work=Bank Street College of Education |date=May 30, 2017 |archive-date=August 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802183559/https://www.bankstreet.edu/news-events/news/congressman-john-lewis-honored-at-graduate-school-of-education-commencement/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 2018: Honorary Doctor of Law degree from [[Boston University]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Civil rights icon, Trump critic highlighting BU commencement |url=https://www.wrbl.com/news/national/civil-rights-icon-trump-critic-highlighting-bu-commencement/1190548468/ |access-date=April 20, 2020 |work=wrbl.com |date=May 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180526150819/http://www.wrbl.com/news/national/civil-rights-icon-trump-critic-highlighting-bu-commencement/1190548468 |archive-date=May 26, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2019: Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from [[City College of New York]]<ref>{{cite news |title=U.S. Rep. John Lewis is CCNY Commencement speaker, May 31 Commencement honors for Edward Plotkin '53 |url=https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/us-rep-john-lewis-ccny-commencement-speaker-may-31-commencement-honors-edward-plotkin-%E2%80%9953 |access-date=April 18, 2020 |work=City College of New York |date=May 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608014152/https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/us-rep-john-lewis-ccny-commencement-speaker-may-31-commencement-honors-edward-plotkin-%E2%80%9953 |archive-date=June 8, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2019: Honorary Doctorate from [[Tulane University]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Tulane: honorary doctorates for Cook, Baquet, Danner, Lewis |url=https://apnews.com/40567563f90f487e878341215ffba1cc |access-date=April 18, 2020 |work=Associated Press |date=May 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511182714/https://apnews.com/40567563f90f487e878341215ffba1cc |archive-date=May 11, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Electoral history ==
{{s-start}}
|+ {{ushr|Georgia|5|}}: Results 1986–2018<ref name="clerk">{{cite web |url=http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html |title=Office of the House Clerk – Electoral Statistics |publisher=Clerk of the United States House of Representatives |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080730201058/http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html |archive-date=July 30, 2008}}</ref><ref name="fedelect">{{cite web |url=http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/electionresults.shtml |title=Election Results |publisher=[[Federal Election Commission]]|access-date=August 6, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925101427/http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/electionresults.shtml|archive-date=September 25, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/GA/42277/113204/en/summary.html |title=General Election – November 6, 2012 |date=November 21, 2012 |publisher=[[Secretary of State of Georgia]] |access-date=August 5, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218150400/http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/GA/42277/113204/en/summary.html|archive-date=February 18, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/GA/54042/149045/en/summary.html |title=General Election – November 4, 2014 |date=November 10, 2014 |publisher=[[Secretary of State of Georgia]] |access-date=November 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222115453/http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/GA/54042/149045/en/summary.html|archive-date=February 22, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/GA/63991/184321/en/summary.html |title=GA – Election Results |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=December 1, 2016 |access-date=May 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220042637/http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/GA/63991/184321/en/summary.html|archive-date=December 20, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>
! Year
!
! Democratic
! Votes
! %
!
! Republican
! Votes
! %
!
|-
|[[United States House election, 1986|1986]]
||
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |'''John Lewis'''
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |93,229
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |75%
|
|{{party shading/Republican}} |Portia Scott
|{{party shading/Republican}} |30,562
|{{party shading/Republican}} |25%
|<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/1986election/ |page=9 |title=Statistics of the Congressional Election, 1986 |work=[[United States House of Representatives]] |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013519/https://historycms2.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/1986election/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!--write-in 9-->
|-
|[[United States House election, 1988|1988]]
||
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |'''John Lewis'''
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |135,194
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |78%
|
|{{party shading/Republican}} |J. W. Tibbs
|{{party shading/Republican}} |37,693
|{{party shading/Republican}} |22%
|<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/1988election/ |page=11 |title=Statistics of the Congressional Election, 1988 |work=[[United States House of Representatives]] |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013519/https://historycms2.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/1988election/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|[[United States House election, 1990|1990]]
||
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |'''John Lewis'''
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |86,037
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |76%
|
|{{party shading/Republican}} |J. W. Tibbs
|{{party shading/Republican}} |27,781
|{{party shading/Republican}} |24%
|<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/1990election/ |page=9 |title=Statistics of the Congressional Election, 1990 |work=[[United States House of Representatives]] |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013519/https://historycms2.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/1990election/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|[[United States House election, 1992|1992]]
||
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |'''John Lewis'''
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |147,445
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |72%
|
|{{party shading/Republican}} |Paul Stabler
|{{party shading/Republican}} |56,960
|{{party shading/Republican}} |28%
|<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/1992election/ |page=18 |title=Statistics of the Congressional Election, 1992 |work=[[United States House of Representatives]] |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013520/https://historycms2.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/1992election/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!--2 write in votes-->
|-
|[[United States House election, 1994|1994]]
||
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |'''John Lewis'''
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |85,094
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |69%
|
|{{party shading/Republican}} |Dale Dixon
|{{party shading/Republican}} |37,999
|{{party shading/Republican}} |31%
|<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/1994election/ |page=10 |title=Statistics of the Congressional Election, 1994 |work=[[United States House of Representatives]] |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013520/https://historycms2.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/1994election/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|[[United States House election, 1996|1996]]
||
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |'''John Lewis'''
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |136,555
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |100%
|
|{{party shading/Republican}} |''No candidate''
|{{party shading/Republican}} |
|{{party shading/Republican}} |
|<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/1996election/ |page=18 |title=Statistics of the Congressional Election, 1996 |work=[[United States House of Representatives]] |access-date=July 18, 2020}}</ref>
|-
|[[United States House election, 1998|1998]]
||
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |'''John Lewis'''
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |109,177
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |79%
|
|{{party shading/Republican}} |John H. Lewis
|{{party shading/Republican}} |29,877
|{{party shading/Republican}} |21%
|<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/1998election/ |page=12 |title=Statistics of the Congressional Election, 1998 |work=[[United States House of Representatives]] |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013631/https://historycms2.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/1998election/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|[[United States House election, 2000|2000]]
||
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |'''John Lewis'''
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |137,333
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |77%
|
|{{party shading/Republican}} |Hank Schwab
|{{party shading/Republican}} |40,606
|{{party shading/Republican}} |23%
|<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/2000election/ |page=16 |title=Statistics of the Congressional Election, 2000 |work=[[United States House of Representatives]] |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013631/https://historycms2.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/2000election/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!--Write in 3-->
|-
|[[United States House election, 2002|2002]]
|
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |'''John Lewis'''
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |116,259
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |100%
|
|{{party shading/Republican}} |''No candidate''
|{{party shading/Republican}} |
|{{party shading/Republican}} |
|<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/2002election/ |page=11 |title=Statistics of the Congressional Election, 2002 |work=[[United States House of Representatives]] |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717013634/https://historycms2.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/2002election/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|[[United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia, 2004#District 5|2004]]
||
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |'''John Lewis'''
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |201,773
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |100%
|
|{{party shading/Republican}} |''No candidate''
|{{party shading/Republican}} |
|{{party shading/Republican}} |
|<ref name="2004Election"/>
|-
|[[United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia, 2006#District 5|2006]]
||
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |'''John Lewis'''
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |122,380
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |100%
|
|{{party shading/Republican}} |''No candidate''
|{{party shading/Republican}} |
|{{party shading/Republican}} |
|<ref name="2006Election"/>
|-
|[[United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia, 2008#District 5|2008]]
||
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |'''John Lewis'''
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |231,368
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |100%
|
|{{party shading/Republican}} |''No candidate''
|{{party shading/Republican}} |
|{{party shading/Republican}} |
|<ref name="2008Election"/><!--Write-in 106-->
|-
|[[United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia, 2010#District 5|2010]]
||
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |'''John Lewis'''
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |130,782
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |74%
|
|{{party shading/Republican}} |Fenn Little
|{{party shading/Republican}} |46,622
|{{party shading/Republican}} |26%
|<ref name="wt_georgia5"/>
|-
|[[United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia, 2012#District 5|2012]]
||
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |'''John Lewis'''
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |234,330
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |84%
|
|{{party shading/Republican}} |Howard Stopeck
|{{party shading/Republican}} |43,335
|{{party shading/Republican}} |16%
|<ref name="wt_georgia5">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/elections/GA/districts/GA05/profile/ |title=Georgia District 5: Previous Election Results |newspaper=Washington Times|access-date=July 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200601092324/https://www.washingtontimes.com/elections/GA/districts/GA05/profile/|archive-date=June 1, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|[[United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia, 2014#District 5|2014]]
||
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |'''John Lewis'''
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |170,326
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |100%
|
|{{party shading/Republican}} |''No candidate''
|{{party shading/Republican}} |
|{{party shading/Republican}} |
|<ref name="2014Election"/>
|-
|[[United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia, 2016#District 5|2016]]
||
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |'''John Lewis'''
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |253,781
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |84%
|
|{{party shading/Republican}} |Douglas Bell
|{{party shading/Republican}} |46,768
|{{party shading/Republican}} |16%
|<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2016/results/georgia-house-district-5-lewis-bell |title=Georgia U.S. House 5th District |newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 2017 |access-date=July 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203104003/https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2016/results/georgia-house-district-5-lewis-bell|archive-date=December 3, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|[[United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia, 2018#District 5|2018]]
||
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |'''John Lewis'''
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |273,084
|{{party shading/Democratic}} |100%
|
|{{party shading/Republican}} |''No candidate''
|{{party shading/Republican}} |
|{{party shading/Republican}} |
|<ref name="2018Election"/>
{{s-end
}}

== In popular culture ==
[[File:John Lewis (50121466602) (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Lewis at [[Nationals Park]] in 2018 to throw out the [[ceremonial first pitch]] before [[Jackie Robinson Day]]]]
Lewis was portrayed by [[Stephan James (actor)|Stephan James]] in the 2014 film [[Selma (film)|''Selma'']].<ref>{{Citation |title=Selma (2014) |work=IMDb |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1020072/fullcredits |access-date=July 14, 2022 |archive-date=January 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124212543/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1020072/fullcredits |url-status=live }}</ref> He made a cameo appearance in the music video for [[Young Jeezy]]'s song "[[My President]]", which was released in the month of Obama's inauguration.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9sABRosdNg "Young Jeezy – My President ft. Nas"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120090039/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9sABRosdNg |date=November 20, 2015 }}. YouTube. From 3'17" to 3'19" in.</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Soderberg |first=Brandon |date=February 18, 2009 |url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music-video-roundup-young-jeezys-my-president-is-black-relics-of-cynicism/ |title=Music Video Round-Up: Young Jeezy's 'My President Is Black' & Relics of Cynicism |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813111654/https://www.slantmagazine.com/house/article/music-video-roundup-young-jeezys-my-president-is-black-relics-of-cynicism |archive-date=August 13, 2018 |url-status=live |work=[[Slant Magazine]] |access-date=January 20, 2017 }}</ref> In 2017, John Lewis voiced himself in the ''[[Arthur (TV series)|Arthur]]'' episode "[[Arthur Takes a Stand]]".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/local/pbs-kids-show-arthur-wishes-john-lewis-speedy-recovery/aYbdufdPBGkjp13oLgOESJ/ |title=PBS Kids TV show 'Arthur' wishes John Lewis a 'speedy recovery' |last=Habersham |first=Raisa |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=December 31, 2019 |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=August 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802163829/https://www.ajc.com/news/local/pbs-kids-show-arthur-wishes-john-lewis-speedy-recovery/aYbdufdPBGkjp13oLgOESJ/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Lewis's life was chronicled in the 2017 PBS documentary ''John Lewis: Get in the Way''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4924818/ |title=John Lewis: Get in the Way |publisher=[[IMDb]] }}</ref> and the 2020 CNN Films documentary ''[[John Lewis: Good Trouble]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10310096/ |title=John Lewis: Good Trouble |publisher=[[IMDb]] }}</ref>

Lewis appeared in the 2019 documentary ''[[Bobby Kennedy for President]]'', in which Lewis commends [[Robert F. Kennedy]] especially in regards to his support for civil rights throughout his time as a senator for New York and during [[Robert F. Kennedy 1968 presidential campaign|Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign]].<ref name="Morfoot 2018">{{Cite news |url=https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/robert-f-kennedy-netflix-bobby-kennedy-for-president-documentary-1202728214/ |title=Netflix Nabs 'Bobby Kennedy for President' Documentary Series (EXCLUSIVE) |last=Morfoot |first=Addie |date=March 16, 2018 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|access-date=September 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917105154/https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/robert-f-kennedy-netflix-bobby-kennedy-for-president-documentary-1202728214/|archive-date=September 17, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Lewis also recounted his deep sorrow following the 1968 [[Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy|assassinations of Kennedy]] and [[Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.|Martin Luther King Jr.]]<ref name="Gilbert 2018">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/04/bobby-kennedy-for-president-review-netflix/559010/ |title='Bobby Kennedy for President' Captures an Awkward Icon |last=Gilbert |first=Sophie |date=April 30, 2018 |work=[[The Atlantic]]|access-date=September 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917143133/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/04/bobby-kennedy-for-president-review-netflix/559010/|archive-date=September 17, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lewis appeared alongside [[Amandla Stenberg]] to present ''[[Green Book (film)|Green Book]]'' as a nominee for [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] at the [[91st Academy Awards]] that took place on February 24, 2019.

Lewis attended [[comics convention]]s to promote his graphic novel, most notably [[San Diego Comic-Con]], which he attended in 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2017. During the 2015 convention, Lewis led, along with his graphic novel collaborators Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell, an impromptu simulated Selma civil rights march arm in arm with children, during which he wore the same clothes as he did on Bloody Sunday, garnering thousands of con goers to participate. The event became so popular it was repeated in 2016 and 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/john-lewis-march-comic-con-2015-7 |title=Congressman and Civil Rights legend John Lewis went to Comic-Con dressed as a real-life hero: Himself |first=Joshua |last=Rivera |date=July 15, 2015 |access-date=July 20, 2020 |website=[[Business Insider]] |archive-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718203423/https://www.businessinsider.com/john-lewis-march-comic-con-2015-7 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Cavna |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Cavna |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2015/07/13/the-real-origin-story-behind-how-rep-john-lewis-became-the-hit-of-comic-con/ |title=The real origin story behind how Rep. John Lewis became THE hit of Comic-Con |date=July 13, 2015 |access-date=July 20, 2020 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |archive-date=July 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200720014907/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2015/07/13/the-real-origin-story-behind-how-rep-john-lewis-became-the-hit-of-comic-con/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Bibliography ==
* ''Reporting Civil Rights: American Journalism 1963–1973'' (Library of America: 2003) {{ISBN|1-931082-29-4}}
* {{cite book | title=Walking with the Wind | last1=Lewis | first1=John | last2=D'Orso | first2=Michael | publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | publication-place=San Diego | date=1999 | isbn=0-15-600708-8}} The U.S. Congressman tells of life in the trenches of the Civil Rights Movement, the numerous arrests, sit-ins, and marches that led to breaking down the barriers of discrimination in the South during the 1950s and 1960s.
* ''John Lewis in the Lead: A Story of the Civil Rights Movement'' by [[Jim Haskins]] and Kathleen Benson, illustrated by [[Benny Andrews]], (Lee & Low Books: 2006) {{ISBN|978-1-58430-250-6}}. A biography of John Lewis, one of the "Big Six" leaders who were chairman of activist groups organizing the 1963 March on Washington, focusing on his involvement in [[Freedom Rides]], the March on Washington, and the march across the [[Edmund Pettus Bridge]] in the 1965 [[Selma to Montgomery marches]].
* ''John Lewis: From Freedom Rider to Congressman'' by Christine M. Hill, (Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2002) {{ISBN|0-7660-1768-0}}. A biography of John Lewis written for juvenile readers.
* ''Freedom Riders: John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the Frontlines of the Civil Rights Movement'' by Ann Bausum, ([[National Geographic Society]], 2006) {{ISBN|0-7922-4173-8}}.
* ''Across That Bridge'' by John Lewis with Brenda Jones, (Hyperion: 2012) {{ISBN|978-1-4013-2411-7}}. Winner of the 2013 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work/Biography. It is an accessible discussion of Lewis's philosophy and his viewpoint of the philosophical basis of the Civil Rights Movement.
* ''[[March (comics)|March: Book One]]'' a 2013 illustrated comic history of Lewis's career, with sequels published in 2015 and 2016, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and [[Nate Powell]], ([[Top Shelf Productions]]) {{ISBN|978-1-60309-300-2}}.
* ''Carry On: Reflections for a New Generation from John Lewis '' (2021)
* {{cite book | last=Greenberg | first=David | title=John Lewis: A Life | publisher=Simon and Schuster | date=2024-10-08 | isbn=978-1-9821-4299-5}}

== See also ==
* [[John Lewis Voting Rights Act]]
* [[List of African-American United States representatives]]
* [[List of civil rights leaders]]
* [[List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (2000–present)#2020s]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* [http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/A-0073/menu.html Oral History Interview with John Lewis] from [http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp Oral Histories of the American South], November 20, 1973
* [http://www.ibiblio.org/sncc/lewis.html "SNCC – People: John Lewis."], April 11, 2011
* [https://www.achievement.org/achiever/congressman-john-r-lewis/#interview "Congressman John R. Lewis Biography and Interview."] www.achievement.org. [[American Academy of Achievement]].

== External links ==
{{Commons category|John Lewis (American politician)}}
{{Wikiquote|John Lewis (civil rights leader)}}
* {{Find a Grave|213141171}}
* [https://snccdigital.org/people/john-lewis/ SNCC Digital Gateway: John Lewis], Documentary website created by the SNCC Legacy Project and Duke University, telling the story of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and grassroots organizing from the inside-out
{{CongLinks | congbio=l000287 | votesmart=26820 | fec=H6GA05217 | congress=john-lewis/688 }}
* [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/clip/4397709 John Lewis debates the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029205001/http://www.c-spanvideo.org/clip/4397709 |date=October 29, 2013 }}, June 11, 1996.
* [http://www.democracynow.org/2010/11/17/rep_john_lewis_on_congress_after Rep. Lewis on Congress, Gitmo, Afghan War and Charles Rangel] – video interview by ''[[Democracy Now!]]'', November 17, 2010
* {{C-SPAN|2528}}
* [https://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/about/meet-our-guests/john-lewis ''Finding your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'' "Season 1, Episode 2: John Lewis and Cory Booker"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200223185119/https://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/about/meet-our-guests/john-lewis |date=February 23, 2020 }}
* [https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip_15-tx3513w36f ''American Experience''; Freedom Riders; Interview with John Lewis from the American Archive of Public Broadcasting]
* [https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/08/21/my-friend-john-lewis/ SNCC photographer Danny Lyon on John Lewis, his roommate in Atlanta in 1963 and lifelong friend]

{{s-start}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Charles McDew]]}}
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{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Wyche Fowler]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States Representatives from Georgia|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Georgia's 5th congressional district]]|years=1987–2020}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Kwanza Hall]]}}
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{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[David Bonior]]|as=House Democratic Chief Deputy Whip}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives|House Democratic Senior Chief Deputy Whip]]|alongside=2019–2020: [[Cedric Richmond]] (Assistant to the Majority Whip), [[Jan Schakowsky]]|years=1991–2020}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jan Schakowsky]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Navboxes
|title = Awards and Honors for John Lewis
|list =
{{Inkpot Award 2010s}}
{{Michael L. Printz Award Winners}}
{{NAACP Image Award – Chairman's Award}}
{{Spingarn Medal}}

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{{SNCC chairmen}}
{{Civil rights movement}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, John}}
[[Category:John Lewis| ]]
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