--- description: John Lewis is on the TIME 100 2017 list. Cory Booker wrote about the Congressman. title: John Lewis by Cory Booker: TIME 100 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94c3d5d346caca7f/6988c3428e0601c5e9469fa6/time-100-2017-john-lewis-congress.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 19, 2017 # John Lewis by Cory Booker  WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 23: John Lewis attends the U.S. Postal Service Unveiling of the 1963 March On Washington Stamp on August 23, 2013 in Washington, United States. (Photo by Riccardo S. Savi/Getty Images for U.S. Postal Service) WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 23: John Lewis attends the U.S. Postal Service Unveiling of the 1963 March On Washington Stamp on August 23, 2013 in Washington, United States. (Photo by Riccardo S. Savi/Getty Images for U.S. Postal Service)Photograph by Riccardo S. Savi—Getty Images From freedom rides to freedom marches to leading Freedom Summer. From tear gas to jail cells to brutal, hateful beatings. With truly death-defying sacrifices and an almost irrational, love-fueled persistence in the cause of our country, John Lewis has spent his life dedicated to the freedoms, liberties and justice we enjoy. In the 1960s, Lewis was one of the “Big Six” civil rights leaders, and today he is the last remaining person alive who spoke at the March on Washington. In the decades since, he has shown through his tireless work in Congress that service isn’t a sometimes thing but an all-the-time thing; that leadership isn’t a title or position but a way of life; and that love of country isn’t a verbal profession but something that is evidenced daily in how you live and give and love your countrymen and countrywomen. I am not sure a week goes by in the Capitol, where I often see Lewis, that I don’t feel the inexpressible gratitude and debt that I owe—that we all owe—to this living legend. Look closely at his shoulders. They are worn from helping my generation, and generations yet unborn, stand higher and taller. And they are still laboring, still sturdy. _Booker is a U.S. Senator from New Jersey_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736273/john-lewis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736273/john-lewis/"},"headline":"John Lewis","datePublished":"2017-04-19T16:01:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:25.659Z","description":"John Lewis is on the TIME 100 2017 list. Cory Booker wrote about the Congressman.","url":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736273/john-lewis/","keywords":["TIME 100"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94c3d5d346caca7f/6988c3428e0601c5e9469fa6/time-100-2017-john-lewis-congress.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94c3d5d346caca7f/6988c3428e0601c5e9469fa6/time-100-2017-john-lewis-congress.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736273/john-lewis/","name":"John Lewis"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"See All the TIME 100 Honorees in One Minute","description":"The TIME 100 honorees include actors, musicians, politicians, business leaders, activists and scientists, and together make a portrait of influence in 2017.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/zZCdrcRA/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-04-20T10:30:45.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zZCdrcRA.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736273/john-lewis/","duration":"PT56S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736273/john-lewis/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```