“King: A Life” by Jonathan Eig

King: a Life, by Jonathan Eig is a new and ambitious biography of the iconic civil rights leader. I recommend the book. It is balanced, substantive and accessible. Eig is an accomplished journalist and his narrative is fact driven and well sourced. Overall, he admires King, but details his frailties and is almost nonjudgmental on his legacy. He presents a vivid portrayal of a famous person and allows the reader to draw their own conclusions.

Eig has a track record in doing deep dive biographies on world renowned figures. I loved his award winning 2019 biography of Muhammad Ali and also enjoyed his early work, particularly Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig. He graduated from Northwestern Medill School of Journalism in 1986 and was a hustling reporter for major newspapers in New Orleans, Dallas and Chicago before redirecting his writing focus to biographies. His approach is to take a fresh look at individuals who have already received attention from earlier writers and scholars. His research is exhaustive and he's comfortable challenging the conclusions of earlier authors. He is suspicious of conventional wisdom and works very hard at revealing the basic humanity and motivations of his subject. No cardboard heroes here!

The Eig method – seeking to break new ground, was on its face, very challenging when the subject is Martin Luther King. Don't we already know the full story? Other than JFK, who has been the subject of more analysis? Taylor Branch completed a magisterial three volume series on the civil rights movement two decades ago and MLK is the main protagonist in that story. Everyone should read the entire series Parting the Waters, Pillars of Fire and Canaan’s Edge. David Garrow’s 1986 Bearing the Cross was also outstanding and has always been considered the definitive King biography. Robert Caro’s multi-volume biography of LBJ has an enormous amount of information on the King – Johnson relationship, an unlikely political alliance which led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act. What is the value of a new biography 50 years after King’s assassination? Well, Mr Eig delivers - there are new revelations based on recently released historical material.

Specifically, oral histories of interviews with Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King Sr, with fascinating detail about King's family relationships and history. Second, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) has released their complete archives and they contain a wealth of information on the strategic debates within the leadership of the civil rights moment and King is the primary actor in many of these deliberations. Finally and most disturbing, the transcripts of the FBI's five years of sustained surveillance of King are now public and available to researchers. Mr. Eig listened to all of the tapes! The existence of an FBI surveillance program was previously disclosed, but the scope and invasiveness of the taping is rather shocking. Hoover's demonic hatred of King is confirmed, but the true importance lies in increasing our understanding of how the surveillance impacted King’s own behavior and decision making. The constant monitoring adversely impacted his mental and emotional well-being, seriously undermined his relationship with President Johnson and made him more pessimistic about the future of the movement and indeed, the country. A gregarious and optimistic social being became depressed and fatalistic about his own future. Important material - sad! Hoover was a strange and bad guy.

King was an amazing and complicated person. He was a man, fully human – not a saint! He was an ordained minister who sinned on a regular basis. He was unfaithful to his loyal and saintly wife, engaging in frequent one night stands on the road while simultaneously engaging in long-term relationships with female staff. He plagiarized significant sections of his graduate school dissertation and continue to "lift” the work of others in his writing and speeches throughout his public career. He was a heavy smoker and liked whiskey. He loved people and had a bawdy sense of humor. He was inspirational speaker and visionary, but a weak organizer, manager and administrator. He was naturally shy, but became the public face of the civil rights moment. He did not like personal conflict or confrontation but ultimately went to jail a numerous occasions for standing up for his beliefs. He transformed a social and political struggle into a MORAL crusade. Jesus was his hero, he had strong Christian faith and worshipped the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution. He quoted from bible scripture extemporaneously. Despite these overtly “American”, “Christian “ and “Patriotic” qualities, he was the most hated man in America several years running in the 1960s. He overcame self-doubt and depression. He contemplated suicide twice. He was a “Man in Full” in a time of great social disruption and change.

Eig, in an even handed way documents all of the above. The only hint of hagiography is his emphasis on how King assumed his role and accomplished so much as a very young man in a very concentrated period of time. He debuts in Montgomery in 1955 at the age of 26 and is assassinated in Memphis in 1968 at the age of 39. He led in Montgomery, Birmingham, Selma, Washington and Chicago, was Time Magazine Man of the Year and a Nobel Peace Prize winner in his 20s and 30s. JFK was our young and vigorous President, but King was 12 years younger than Kennedy when they met at the White House in 1962 in 1963. Take a step back and reflect - a truly astounding trajectory!

We see King in private and as a young man. He was born Atlanta. His father Martin Luther King Sr was the Chief Minister at Ebenezer Baptist Church. MLK Sr was a charismatic, and optimistic - a “character“ with character. He was also a serial adulterer. King’s mother was kind and funny. The family was solidly middle class and MLK could be classified as a child of "black privilege". He was comfortable, had friends, like to read, was a natural leader and a good student. He pursued degrees in Theology and attended Morehouse College, Crozer Theological Union and Boston University. He ultimately received a PhD. He had a serious white girlfriend, but ultimately decided a white wife would impede his career as a minister at a black church. He was a “catch”, a lady killer, but ultimately married Coretta Scott, a well educated and refined daughter of the black south. They had four children.

MLK’s public career is covered in depth. Leading the bus boycott in Montgomery, becoming President of the SCLC, the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” the Bloody Sunday voting rights drive in Selma, the march on Washington and Kings “I have a Dream“ speech. The full throttle and successful effort to enact major federal legislation - the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act. Moving the movement north to confront housing discrimination in Chicago. Focusing on economic inequality and organizing the Poor People's March in Washington. The FBI surveillance, investigating his ties with Bayard Rustin and Stanley Levinson, both dedicated communists. His vocal public opposition to the war in Vietnam which impacted his relationship with LBJ and other pro civil rights Democrats. His challenging relationships with a new generation of black leaders, including Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael. The breadth and depth of his political and social activity is awe inspiring. He was not always successful. The movement lost steam and experienced internal disagreements after the legislative successes in the mid-1960s. Many criticized his new focus on the Vietnam War and poverty. Most believe Mayor Daley outfoxed him in Chicago.

My final comment is to apply standard alternative history. What would King have done if he had lived? What would have been his priorities? How would he have responded to riots and gang warfare in black neighborhoods, a drug plaque, massive incarceration of young black males, the creation of a seemingly permanent black under class, the gutting of key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, racial gerrymandering in voting districts and the end of affirmative action programs? Ending “Jim Crow” through legislation did not mean justice had arrived. MLK would have confronted nonstop challenges. To me, it is clear he would have remained a positive force, a leader with dignity, class, elegance and a love of country. We can only speculate – but are comforted by National Memorial in Washington and making his birthday a national holiday. Read the book!