TRIBUTE FOR JOHN LEWIS

john lewis is being remember as a hero and relentless servant

Cancer.

Meredith wood has a closer look his legacy and how he's being honored.

:00 :12 :28 :55 1:24 a towering legend-- remembered.

Politicians... religious leaders and former presidents... are paying tribute to the congressman and civil rights icon.

Rep james clyburn, (d) s.

Carolina// "the movement lost an icon, and i lost a personal friend."

Lewis was the son of sharecroppers who survived a brutal beating by police during the 1965 march in selma, alabama.

Rep.

Shelia jackson lee, (d) texas// "the one thing that we glean from our beloved john lewis was his hopefulness.

That's how he could be arrested 40 times, that's how he could be hit in the head with injuries beyond one's imagination and still be standing."

Lewis died friday at the age of 80 after a six-month battle with cancer.

He joined the civil rights movement when martin luther king brought him onboard as a teenager.

Martin luther king iii, global human rights leader// "as dad inspired him inspires me and millions of people around our world.

Particularly as we approach one of the most important elections in the history, i think, of our nation."

Former president obama... who awarded lewis the presidential medal of freedom in 2011.... is calling lewis his hero... writing that his election as the first black president was possible because of the sacrifices lewis made.

In atlanta-- the district lewis served as the u-s representative for more than three decades-- he's being remembered as a timeless figure.

Rev.

Raphael warnock, atlanta's ebenezer baptist church// "as the decades passed, young people could relate to him because saw in him a sense of authenticity.

A deep love that we typically don't see in politics today."