Obama Pays Tribute To Late Civil Rights Leader Dorothy Height

President Barack Obama praised the vibrant life and long career of late civil rights icon Dorothy Height during a eulogy Thursday at the former National Council of Negro Women president’s memorial service.

“She wasn’t interested in credit,” Obama said. “What she cared about was the cause; The cause of justice, the cause of equality, the cause of opportunity; Freedom’s cause.”

Speaking at the National Cathedral before a crowd sprinkled with lawmakers and other civil rights figures, the President described the 98 year-old woman’s tenacious spirit in her final months, including her determination to brave February’s massive blizzard to attend a White House meeting on health care reform. Obama quipped that it was not until the car could literally not reach her drive way that Height backed down.

Obama extended his remarks to include the civil rights movement as a whole, and noted his presidency was due to the success of the generation’s activists.

The President was joined at the service by members of his administration, including Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) were in attendance as well.

Dr. Dorothy Height served as president of the National Council of Negro Women from 1957 until 1997. She was a key force in desegregation efforts and stood just steps away from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream Speech.”

Height died on April 20th at Howard University Hosptial in Washington, D.C.