Why Martin Luther King Jr. Almost Cut The Most Famous Part Of His I Have A Dream Speech

If there are four words that are associated with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., they are, "I Have a Dream." The civil rights leader, who was finally honored with a federal holiday in 1983, delivered those four words on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The event brought peaceful protestors and inspirational speakers together to urge President John F. Kennedy to enact a federal civil rights bill in the attempt to improve job and voting opportunities for Black Americans.

The entire event, held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., is now most associated with King's 17-minute oration, later dubbed the "I Have a Dream" speech. Surprisingly, however, those words were never intended to be delivered. In fact, according to The Guardian, one of MLK's advisers, Wyatt Walker, told him not to include the "I Have a Dream" line, as he'd used it in previous speeches. Per the Martin Luther King, Jr. Institute at Stanford University, King started using the phrase in speeches from 1960 onward. He referred to the American dream and how it wasn't a reality for Black citizens. Two months before, he used the four words at a speech in Detroit and ended with his now-ubiquitous, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!" Walker thought they were overused.

One of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speechwriters, Clarence B. Jones, recalled in an interview with NPR that King seemed to be struggling the night before with the content of his speech for the march. The pressure was on to deliver something magnificent, as the three major television networks were going to broadcast the event live. It wasn't until 3:30 in the morning that King finally cobbled together his prose from past speeches he'd given, according to the King Institute.

The draft he gave his aides to be printed before going to bed didn't have the four iconic words in it. King delivered the prepared speech. Those there, including activist John Lewis, recalled that it wasn't his most dynamic public talk. But as he wrapped up his comments, gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, who was on the podium as well, encouraged King to tell the crowd about the dream. And so he did. Jones told NPR that King set aside the prepared speech and went off the cuff – well, off the cuff with something he had previously delivered to smaller crowds.

The crowd at the March on Washington was reportedly lackluster by the time Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. took to the podium to deliver his speech. It was a hot and humid summer day and King's moment was near the end of the schedule, following other speakers, songs, and formalities. But King's impassioned "I Have a Dream" crescendo invigorated the roughly 250,000 attendees.

Hollywood also marched with MLK that day. The famous faces in the crowd included singers Bob Dylan, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Joan Baez, actors Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, and Rita Moreno, who later spoke about being at the event, and activist Malcolm X, who originally condemned the march, which he dubbed "the Farce on Washington." (It was well documented that King and Malcolm X often didn't see eye to eye.)

After the speech, King and others met with President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon Johnson to discuss the issues they wanted addressed. The following year, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted, followed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. And King solidified himself as one of the nation's most iconic, influential, and motivational figures in American history, who decided at the last minute to tell the country about his dream.