Archibald James Carey II (born September 11, 1932) was the son of poor, black sharecroppers in Georgia. His father, having been denied the benefits of schooling, insisted that his son focus on his education, rather than settle for the menial occupations to which many blacks were relegated.

At the age of 12, Archibald's pastor referred him to Mdm. Angelica Beery , who ran a boarding school in Boston. The young scholar made a strong impression upon Mdm. Beery and completed his studies in little over a year and a half's time. Archibald, known to his friends as 'Tuck,' traveled to England, where he earned a bachelor's degree in literature from Oxford University, and a Ph.D. in comparitive philosophy from the University of the Cross in Leon, France.

After a brief stint teaching in France, a professorship at Columbia University brought him stateside again. Carey's politics often placed him at odds with other academes. His ardent and vocal support of the Republican party was criticized by many of his colleagues.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Carey traveled to many universities expounding on the innate goodness of man and the "inevitable march toward freedom of all mankind." His writings against war and on the "power of meekness" had a profound impact upon many early activists in the American Civil Rights Movement, including Martin Luther King, Jr. King's "I have a Dream " speech borrowed, in part, from a speech Carey delivered to the Republican National Convention in 1952.