John Lewis will occupy his place in America’s history, right beside Martin Luther King Jr and every other civil rights activist the nation ever had. From a young boy in Troy to the old icon who was tagged the “conscience of the Congress.”

John Lewis was born on Feb 21, 1940, to Eddie Lewis and Willie Mae near Troy. His father was a hardworking farmer who regularly placed John in charge of chickens. John Lewis wanted to be a preacher at a very young age. He may have practiced his oratory when preaching to his father’s chickens, which he loved so dearly.

At the age of 17, John Lewis met Rosa Parks, a major voice in the movement against discriminatory policies in the United States. At 18, John Lewis wrote to Martin Luther King Jr, expressing his desire to meet the civil rights icon. His wish was granted, and Lewis met Martin Luther King Jr in 1958. Talking about the experience in an interview, Lewis said, ” …I saw these two young ministers standing behind a desk, and Dr. King said,” Are you the boy from Troy? Are you John Lewis? And I said, “Dr. King, I am John Robert Lewis”, Lewis recounted. ” I gave my whole name– but he still called me the “boy from Troy”.

Martin Luther King gave Lewis his favorite phrase as advice, “Get into good trouble.” John Lewis had listened to Dr. King and joined the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955, but it was after meeting King that his career as an activist took a new turn. In 1961, Lewis was already part of the 13 freedom Riders that challenged the segregated interstate travel in the South.

In 1963, John Lewis had become the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a position he held till 1966. John Lewis traveled from school to school, urging students to participate in the demand for equal voting rights in America. On August 28, 1963, John Lewis spoke for a few minutes before Martin Luther King gave his famous “I have a dream” speech at the lincoln memorial. At 23, Lewis was already demonstrating a fierce level of oratory, addressing the same crowd as Dr. Martin Luther King.

By March 7, 1965, Lewis joined Martin Luther in one of America’s most famous protest. Lewis led the Selma to Montgomery March across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where they were met with force by the Alabama police. The incident became known as the “Bloody Sunday”. Before the age of 26, John Lewis had been arrested 40 times while he also sustained severe injuries. The United States government was forced to abolish the legislation that subjected black people to literacy tests before they could vote. At 26, John Lewis was already a national hero.

Addressing an audience at Harvard, Lewis said, “My philosophy is very simple. When you see something that’s not right, not fair, not just, stand up, say something and speak out. Get into good trouble”. In his last moments, Lewis was pleased with the demonstration that followed the death of George Floyd and the massive protest against systemic racism. In June 2020, less than a month before his death, John Lewis said about the protest; “it was very moving, very moving to see hundreds of thousands of people from all over America and around the world take to the streets– to speak up, to speak out, to get into what I call “good trouble”. Mr. Lewis told “CBS This Morning” in June.

Lewis demonstrated courage, strength, and discontent about the prevailing injustice of his time at a young age. Lewis showed with his life, what a young man should be.

Former US President, Theodore Roosevelt, is one of the best leaders the United States ever had. He was the youngest person to become an American president at the age of 42, and the first American to win a novel prize. One feat he may not enjoy is that he suffered more terrible situations than any other United States president.

Roosevelt was highly inquisitive in his early years. At the age of eight, he had researched insects and written out his observations. Three years later, Roosevelt was facing the first battle for his life. At an early age, he was diagnosed with debilitating asthma that threatened his life, but the 25th United States president responded. He adjusted his lifestyle and embraced exercise as a routine. It didn’t take long before Roosevelt defeated his first affliction. At a point, Roosevelt learned boxing and served in the military and participated in a war.

Roosevelt had the saddest moment of his life on Feb 14, 1884. He was called back from work that his mother had lost the battle to typhoid fever. Eleven hours later, Roosevelt lost his wife to a kidney ailment just two days after she had given birth to their daughter, Alice Roosevelt. It was a moment that almost broke Theodore Roosevelt emotionally. He had to take a break from politics and returned after two years. Roosevelt never entertained anyone who mentions the name of his wife. The death of the two women wasn’t the end of Roosevelt’s misery.

In 1912, Roosevelt had returned to politics and wanted to become the president. He had been disappointed by his friend’s performance, which he adequately supported and handed over to. In his campaign in Milwaukee, Roosevelt was shot in the chest while he was addressing the audience. The powerful orator ended up giving an 84 minutes speech with a bullet in his ribs. He began his speech by saying: ” Friends, I shall implore you to be as quiet as possible. I don’t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot”. The 50-page speech and his steel eyeglass case he kept in his breast pocket were enough to protect his lungs from the bullet. Physicians later advised that it was safer to leave the bullet in his ribs than to remove it. Roosevelt lost the election but pulled the highest number of votes by a third party in a US election.

By 1919, the health of Roosevelt had worsened with a seven-year-old bullet in his body. There was no way out for Roosevelt this time. The former US president survived all that life threw at him, till he finally achieved his ambitions.

Any United States president cannot rival the strength of Roosevelt; neither can any of his predecessors match his oratory prowess. Roosevelt demonstrated with his life, the possibility that people can rise from any situations and be the person of their dreams.