--- title: Rep. John Lewis: Without Selma There Would Be No Obama Presidency description: "I don't think as a group we had any idea that our marching feet would have such an impact 50 years later," Lewis said Sunday canonical: https://time.com/3710511/john-lewis-selma-obama/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-15T19:25:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T04:26:24.266Z article:section: Politics og:title: Rep. John Lewis: Without Selma There Would Be No Obama Presidency og:description: "I don't think as a group we had any idea that our marching feet would have such an impact 50 years later," Lewis said Sunday og:url: https://time.com/3710511/john-lewis-selma-obama/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4562a208dac75fb1/69869022e53aba8fa04d2a5c/ap123414645034.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2392 og:image:height: 1346 og:image:alt: Obama State of the Union og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rep. John Lewis: Without Selma There Would Be No Obama Presidency twitter:description: "I don't think as a group we had any idea that our marching feet would have such an impact 50 years later," Lewis said Sunday twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4562a208dac75fb1/69869022e53aba8fa04d2a5c/ap123414645034.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rep. John Lewis: Selma Made Obama Presidency Possible > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 15, 2015 7:25 PM UTC  U.S. Representative John Lewis U.S. Representative John LewisRon Sachs—picture-alliance/dpa/AP by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 15, 2015 7:25 PM UTC Georgia Congressman John Lewis said President Obama likely wouldn’t have been elected President if it weren’t for the historic march in Selma, Ala., that he helped lead as a student organizer 50 years ago. “If it hadn’t been for that march across Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday, there would be no Barack Obama as President of the United States of America,” Lewis said during an interview on CBS’s [_Face the Nation_](http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/open-this-is-face-the-nation-february-15/). In his last election, President Obama received over 90% of the black vote. Some 50 years ago, Lewis was among the many civil rights leaders marching and advocating to make those votes possible. On March 7, 1965, hundreds of nonviolent protesters marched across the bridge as a part of an ongoing effort to secure voting rights for black Americans. That day, though, Alabama police met the protesters with violent force. Many, including Lewis, suffered serious injury. “I don’t think as a group we had any idea that our marching feet would have such an impact 50 years later,” Lewis said Sunday. \[[_Huffington Post_](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/15/john-lewis-barack-obama%5Fn%5F6688064.html?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000016)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3710511/john-lewis-selma-obama/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3710511/john-lewis-selma-obama/"},"headline":"Rep. 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