Martin Luther King Jr.:
A Charismatic Leader
Samantha Royér
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
HSB4M
A charismatic leader is a person who is able to communicate and behave in ways that
reach followers on a basic, emotional level, to inspire and motivate. For example, people like
Rosa Parks who stood up for all African-Americans and refused to sit at the back of the bus and
others like John F. Kennedy and Obama. A charismatic leader understands their audience and
keeps them engaged by appealing to their needs and concerns. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a
charismatic leader due to the fact that he is an eloquent speaker, conspicuous, brave and
determined and always spoke his mind. His courageousness appealed to white and black people
all over. “White leaders valued King's ability to wind down campaigns as much as they dreaded
his ability to escalate them” (Ling). This transformational leader was the launch to a worldwide
battle of racial segregation and discrimination towards blacks. Martin Luther King Jr. had an
ethical side of charisma; he used his power to serve others while putting a stop to racism.
Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 and died on April 4, 1968 by
assassination. He went to segregated public schools in Georgia. At fifteen years old he graduated
from Booker T. Washington High School and went to Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro
institution of Atlanta. He received the B.A. degree in 1948. He was elected president of a
predominantly white senior class at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he
studied theological study for three years; he was then awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a
fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his
residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and
married Coretta Scott. Martin Luther was always a strong worker for civil rights for members of
his race. He was a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. In 1957, he
was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed
to provide new leadership for the now growing civil rights movement. “At the age of thirty-five,
Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When
notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the
furtherance of the civil rights movement” (Biography).
In 1955, Martin Luther King Jr. joined the bus boycott after Rosa Parks was arrested on
December 1. On December 5, he was elected president of the Montgomery Improvement
Association, making him the official spokesman for the boycott. “King used the leadership
abilities he had gained from his religious background and academic training to make a unique
protest strategy that involved the mobilization of black churches and skilful appeals for white
support. King also became a firm advocate of Mohandas Gandhi’s precepts of nonviolence,
which he combined with Christian social gospel ideas. As an ethical leader, he coached,
developed and supported his followers” (King). The boycott lasted 382 days. King was the leader
of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States.
During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to
personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank. On
November 13, 1956 the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregation on buses illegal. Blacks began
to ride the buses again and they were able to sit anywhere they chose. In 1958, he met with
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, along with Roy Wilkins, A. Philip Randolph, and Lester
Grange on problems affecting black Americans. During the unsuccessful Albany, Georgia
movement, King is arrested on July 27 and jailed. He had joined the Albany protests hastily, only
to realize that the campaign had too many aims and too many divisions to overcome a cunning
local sheriff. The embarrassing failure had damaged his reputation as a leader but, it proved him
as a charismatic leader. He knew how to powerfully communicate a compelling vision of the
future for others to vividly imagine it themselves. Unlike many other leaders, King passionately
believed in his vision and he promoted these beliefs with boundless energy. “While it is
customary to judge leaders by their successes, it may be argued that King showed his most
heroic leadership after 1965, when he championed a US withdrawal from Vietnam, and the
tackling of poverty and deprivation in black ghettos, with little success. It had taken bravery to
confront segregation in the South, but it took equal courage to challenge the President on foreign
policy and to demand a massive redistribution of wealth and power to the underprivileged”
(Ling). Dr. King Jr. proved that he was a charismatic leader because he used power to serve
others, aligns his vision with his followers needs and aspirations and he relied on internal moral
standards.
“At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received
the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the
prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement” (Biography). He used
all this money to help others instead of keeping it for himself and his family. This proves that Dr.
King was not greedy instead he was sharing and loyal to his followers and to what he believed
in. Martin Luther King Jr. is an intellectual who promotes intelligence, rationality, and careful
problem solving. For example, when he and group of people figured out the problems affecting
African Americans and he took action and met with people in high places such as, the President,
to tackle poverty and deprivation in black ghettos. Even though it was a failure, he proved
himself a transformational leader looking out for others because it is who he is. Martin Luther
King Jr. and Adolf Hitler are both charismatic leaders. They had a large number of followers and
both left their mark on history, they changed a nation. They were amazing public speakers and
the completely believed in what they preached to their followers. The difference between them is
that Adolf Hitler had a dark side of charisma. He used his power to oppress a race of people
while Martin Luther King Jr. used his power to inspire and uplift a people. Hitler tricked his
followers into believing that the Jewish people were the ones to blame for the poverty in
Germany. Martin Luther King Jr. truthfully, told the nation that they were being segregated and
unfairly treated by white people. Martin’s “I Have a Dream” speech proves this. He was blunt
and upfront. He got straight to the point of the important matters and created a visual image for
the people during his speech. “I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose
governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be
transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with
little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I
have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made
low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the
glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” (Martin)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was, and still is, an exceptional human being. He was truthful and
ethical; he had great charisma and took a firm stance for what he believed. “For King ...
leadership meant standing up for what he believed in, and being ‘a drum major for justice’”
(Ling). I feel that charismatic leadership is something that not everyone might have but should
try to acquire, due to the great possibilities that it brings for many. I feel that charismatic
leadership can be good or bad depending on the person and the time. For example, in the early
1900s Hitler was a great charismatic leader in his time. He brought hatred among Jews and killed
them without cause. All the while he had millions of supporting followers. He also led Germany
into many battles. Now in 2012, Obama is a great charismatic leader because, he is bringing
home almost all American soldiers from the war in Iraq and, “The jobless rate in the United
States has dropped from more than 10 percent in 2009 to 8.3 percent last month, and President
Obama’s rating has risen at the same time” (Gedalyahu). In conclusion, I learned that charisma is
very important in life and that was something that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. most definitely
had.
Works Cited
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<http://www.infoplease.com/spot/mlkbiospot.html>.
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"Timeline of Events in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Life." LSU Libraries. Web. 30 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html>.