Lewis speaking at a meeting of American Society of Newspaper Editors, Statler Hilton Hotel, Washington, DC. John Robert Lewis (born February 21, 1940) is an American politician and civil rights leader. He is the only living "Big Six" leader of the American Civil Rights Movement playing a key role in the struggle to end legalized racial discrimination and segregation. He was the youngest of the Big Six civil rights leaders and the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee from 1963-66, some of the most tumultuous years of the civil rights movement. Lewis is the US Representative for Georgia's 5th congressional district, serving since 1987, and is the dean of the Georgia congressional delegation. He is Senior Chief Deputy Whip, leading an organization of chief deputy whips and serves as the primary assistant to the Democratic Whip. He has held this position since 2007 and been on the whip team since 1991. Photographed by Marion S. Trikosko, April 15, 1964.