Jackson, Jesse Sr.

Impact on the world

Became the first African American to mount a viable, nationwide major-party presidential campaign, winning five primaries and caucuses in 1984 and 11 to 13 in 1988, briefly leading the Democratic delegate count after an upset win in Michigan; his two campaigns significantly increased Black voter turnout and registration and are widely credited with helping create the political conditions for Barack Obama's 2008 election.

Life & background

A protégé of Martin Luther King Jr. who was present at the Lorraine Motel when King was assassinated, Jackson built his political career through Operation PUSH, which he founded in 1971, focused on boycotts to secure jobs and business opportunities for Black communities. His 1984 presidential campaign, launched as what he called an exercise in 'symbolic protest,' won 3.2 million votes and five primaries and caucuses, making him the first Black candidate ever to win a major-party state primary or caucus; he also became the first presidential candidate of either major party to explicitly include gay and lesbian Americans in a convention speech that year. His stronger-financed 1988 campaign won 11 to 13 contests and 6.9 million votes, briefly making him the Democratic delegate frontrunner after a surprise Michigan caucus win, a result The New York Times called 'the Year of Jackson'; he ultimately finished as runner-up to Michael Dukakis, delivering his widely remembered 'Keep Hope Alive' speech at the Democratic National Convention. Jackson personally negotiated the release of an American pilot held by Syria in 1984 and Americans held as human shields in Iraq in 1991, and openly wept at Barack Obama's election night celebration in Chicago's Grant Park in 2008, an event many credited his own campaigns with helping make possible.

Sources

1. 1988 presidential campaign); Encyclopædia Britannica; CBS Chicago; CNN Politics