Near the end of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life, things seemed to be unraveling. Some supporters were growing impatient with his philosophy of nonviolent protest against civil rights abuses. King had confessed to his wife about an extramarital affair. The FBI was hounding him.

King was overextended, exhausted and experiencing premonitions of his own death, so much so that he was giving out “fitful instructions for his own funeral,” according to Taylor Branch’s biography of King titled “At Canaan’s Edge: America in the King Years 1965-68.”

King was just 39 when he was assassinated April 4, 1968. Today, on this Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, the frustration and discouragement that marked King’s final months will be given nary a mention.

Instead, all over the country, all over the region, people will read aloud King’s legacy speech. For example, at noon today, in Spokane’s Holy Family Hospital, the Rev. Happy Watkins is scheduled to give his rendition of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

King would be 77 had he lived. Time magazine recently asked four King associates what King would be working on now if he were still alive. Former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young speculates that King would have moved quickly on some of the “global problems in Latin America and Africa.”

These close associates speak of King with passion and reverence, even though nearly 38 years have passed since his assassination. His leadership legacy endures. Streets are named after him throughout the country, and each year more and more businesses give this day off to their employees.

Leaders this past year didn’t leave much in the legacy department. President Bush’s approval ratings tanked. The governor of Louisiana and the mayor of New Orleans spent too much time finger-pointing, rather than leading citizens out of despair during Hurricane Katrina.

The Abramoff lobbyist scandal is touching many in Congress who were elected to serve citizens, not private interests. And Spokane Mayor Jim West’s personal life secrets trumped his ability to hold on to the public trust.

Any community would benefit from a deeper look at leadership. Where do strong leaders come from? What qualities do they need? How does society train and nurture future leaders? How can good leaders be recruited to serve in government in an era of intense media scrutiny and public mistrust? How do the best leaders transcend their character flaws to earn a chapter in the history books?

An important part of any leader’s legacy is the way that legacy teaches others. King’s life still instructs. His words, recited in many places today, offer fresh insights to new problems.

“Dr. King’s vision was clear. His words are still the framework,” says King associate Marian Wright Edelman. “He did his part. Now we need to do ours.”