Tributes to civil-rights icon John Lewis pour in from leaders across the country

The tributes to civil-rights icon John Lewis poured in Saturday morning, as leaders from across the political spectrum expressed gratitude and reverence for Lewis’s commitment to racial justice, even at great personal cost.

“I first met John when I was in law school, and I told him then that he was one of my heroes. Years later, when I was elected a U.S. Senator, I told him that I stood on his shoulders,” President Barack Obama wrote in a eulogy on Medium. “When I was elected President of the United States, I hugged him on the inauguration stand before I was sworn in and told him I was only there because of the sacrifices he made.”

The Georgia Democratic congressman, who died Friday at 80, marched in Selma in 1965 with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in what became known as “Bloody Sunday.” Lewis suffered a brutal beating by police as he led the march for voting rights across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

It was appropriate then that his final public act was to visit the newly named Black Lives Matter plaza on a street leading to the White House -a symbol of the progress the country has made on issues of racial justice and the work that still needed to be done.

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, D, who accompanied Lewis on that visit, described Lewis “as the conscience of Congress … the conscience of our nation.”

“John Lewis had faith in our nation and in the next generation,” she wrote on Twitter. “He warned us not to get lost in despair. So, in this moment of grief, we are hopeful – we are hopeful that, collectively, we can live up to his legacy.”

President Donald Trump’s voice was missing from the outpouring — as of 10 a.m. E.T., the president had not reacted publicly to Lewis’ death. Lewis skipped Trump’s inauguration in 2017, saying he didn’t see Trump as a “legitimate president.” Trump lashed out, saying in a tweet that Lewis was: “All talk, talk, talk — no action or results. Sad!”

Trump is spending the day at his private golf club in Sterling, Va.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweeted that Lewis “was an icon of the civil rights movement, and he leaves an enduring legacy that will never be forgotten.”

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, released a statement on behalf of himself and his wife, Jill.

“We are made in the image of God, and then there is John Lewis,” Biden began. “How could someone in flesh and blood be so courageous, so full of hope and love in the face of so much hate, violence, and vengeance?”

“He was truly a one-of-a-kind, a moral compass who always knew where to point us and which direction to march,” Biden wrote.

Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump in the 2016 election, called Lewis “the truest kind of patriot.”

“He believed America could be better, even live up to its highest founding ideals of equality & liberty for all. He made good trouble to help us get there. Now it’s up to the rest of us to carry on his work,” she tweeted.

Many Republican politicians also paid tribute to the towering figure, including Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who tweeted, “Our nation will never be the same without him.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California shared that on Friday, in his last act of public service, Lewis co-authored a letter with McCarthy urging more money be spent on teaching civics in schools.

“Even on the last day of his life, John never stopped working to improve the lives of others,” McCarthy said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, who served with Lewis for decades, called him “a titan of the civil rights movement whose goodness, faith and bravery transformed our nation.”

She ordered flags at the U.S. Capitol be flown at half-staff.

This story was originally published at washingtonpost.com. Read it here.