The former president, who worked hard to secure the Democratic nomination for his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), was frequently accused of making remarks on the campaign trail that could be interpreted as racially insensitive.

Lewis said he believes that Bill Clinton “is going to give the speech of his life tonight” in support of Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.).

The civil rights leader also said he would never have thought that he would be in a position to see an African American man accept the presidential nomination.

“If someone had told me 45 years ago that I will witness the fact, the act, that an African American man will be accepting the Democratic nomination for president, I would say, ‘You’re crazy. You’re out of your mind. You don’t know what you're talking about,'” Lewis said. “And when I think about it, it’s all those days when people stood in those unmovable lines, the young people who gave all they had, the people that were beaten, jailed, and some were even shot and killed.”

The lawmaker indicated that he might have trouble keeping his composure.

“I just hope I make it through my speech,” Lewis said.