Jesse Jackson, U.S. civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate, dies at 84

Jesse Jackson, one of the most prominent figures of the modern American civil rights movement and a two-time candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, has died at the age of 84, his family has announced.

He died peacefully on Tuesday morning surrounded by family, according to a statement.

“Our father was a servant leader not only to our family but to the oppressed, the voiceless and the overlooked around the world,” his family said. “We announce his passing with profound sadness.”

For more than six decades, Jackson was a central figure in American public life, a Baptist minister, activist and political organiser who rose to national prominence alongside Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and later helped reshape the landscape of U.S. electoral politics.

From the segregated South to the civil rights movement

Born Jesse Louis Burns on 8 October 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina, Jackson grew up in the racially segregated American South. He later adopted the surname of his stepfather, Charles Jackson.

After briefly attending the University of Illinois on a football scholarship, he transferred to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College, graduating in 1964 with a degree in sociology. That same year, he moved to Chicago to study at the Chicago Theological Seminary but left before completing his studies to join the civil rights movement full-time. He was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1968 and from that point became widely known as the Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Jackson became a close associate of Martin Luther King Jr. and joined him in Selma, Alabama, during the 1965 voting rights campaign. King later appointed him to lead Operation Breadbasket, the economic arm of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which sought to secure jobs and business opportunities for Black Americans through boycotts and corporate pressure.

He was present in Memphis, Tennessee, on 4 April 1968 when King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel, a defining moment in his life and public career.

In 1971, Jackson founded Operation PUSH - People United to Serve Humanity - in Chicago, focusing on economic empowerment and social justice. In 1984, he established the National Rainbow Coalition, aiming to unite minority communities, labour groups, women and other marginalised constituencies into a broad political alliance. The two organisations later merged to form the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

Jackson’s activism extended beyond domestic issues. He engaged in diplomatic efforts abroad and advocated for international human rights causes, including opposition to apartheid in South Africa.

Historic presidential campaigns

Jackson made history with his presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988. In 1984, he finished third in the Democratic primaries. In 1988, he finished second to Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis and won several states.

Although he did not secure the nomination, his campaigns significantly expanded minority voter participation and influenced the direction of the Democratic Party. His 1988 Democratic National Convention speech, remembered for the refrain “Keep hope alive”, became one of the most notable political addresses of the era.

Later years and health

Jackson remained active in public life for decades, serving as a special envoy under President Bill Clinton and receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000, the highest civilian honour in the United States.

In 2017, he disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. In 2025, he was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, a degenerative neurological disorder.

Jackson’s long career placed him at the centre of some of the most consequential political and social developments in modern American history. Admired by supporters as a champion of the poor and the disenfranchised and viewed by critics as an ambitious and sometimes divisive figure, he nonetheless played a pivotal role in advancing Black political representation in the United States.

He is survived by his wife of more than 60 years, Jacqueline Lavinia Brown Jackson, their children and extended family.

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