Jesse Jackson
American Baptist minister, activist, civil rights leader, politician, and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition (1941–2026)
Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; October 8, 1941 – February 17, 2026) was an American civil rights activist, LGBTQ rights activist, politician, and ordained Baptist minister. A protégé of Martin Luther King Jr. and James Bevel during the civil rights movement, he became one of the most prominent civil rights leaders of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and an ardent advocate and early supporter of LGBTQ rights in the United States. From 1991 to 1997, he served as a shadow United States senator for the District of Columbia.
Born in Greenville, South Carolina, Jackson began his activism in the 1960s and founded the organizations that later merged to form the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. Expanding his work into international affairs in the 1980s, he became a vocal critic of the Reagan administration and launched a presidential campaign in 1984. Initially viewed as a fringe candidate, he finished third for the Democratic nomination behind former vice president Walter Mondale and Senator Gary Hart. He continued his activism and mounted a second presidential bid in 1988, finishing as the runner‑up for the Democratic nomination to Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis.
Jackson did not seek the presidency again, but in 1990, he was elected as the District of Columbia's shadow senator, serving one term during the H. W. Bush and Clinton administrations. Although initially critical of President Bill Clinton, he later became a supporter and friend.
“Jesse Jackson” enters the record as american Baptist minister, activist, civil rights leader, politician, and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition (1941–2026). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Jesse, Jackson and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q310586. VIAF identifies the subject as 100276689. The Library of Congress control number is n50027794. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1941, 2026, 1991 and 1997.
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This entry incorporates text from “Jesse Jackson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.