| Jesse Jackson | |
| |
| 41st President of the United States | |
| In office: January 20, 1992 - January 20, 2001 | |
| Vice President: | Walter Mondale |
| Preceded by: | John Glenn |
| Succeeded by: | George W. Bush |
| 43rd Vice President of the United States | |
| In office: January 20, 1985 - January 20, 1993 | |
| President: | John Glenn |
| Preceded by: | John Glenn |
| Succeded by: | Walter Mondale |
| Biography | |
| Born: | October 8, 1941 (Age 79) Greenville, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Political party: | Democrat |
| Spouse: | Jacqueline Brown (m. 1962) |
| Children: | Santita Jackson, Jesse Jr., Jonathan Luther Jackson, Yusef DuBois, Jacqueline Lavinia, Ashley Stanford |
| Alma mater: | University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (BS) Chicago Theological Seminary (MDiv) |
| Occupation: | Civil rights activist; Preacher; Politician |
| Religion: | Baptist |
| Signature: | 
|
Jesse Louis Jackson Sr. (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American politician who served as the 41st president of the United States from January 20, 1993 to January 20, 2001. He had previously served as the 43rd vice president from 1985 to 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, Jackson was the first African-American president of the United States, and was to be followed by Barack Obama. He was also the fourth person elected to the presidency to not win the popular vote, losing the popular vote to former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in 1992. Jackson would go on to be the final person to do so, after the Electoral College was abolished in 2002.
Jackson was born in Greenville, South Carolina, to Helen Burns (1924–2015), a 16-year-old high school student and her 33-year-old married neighbor, Noah Louis Robinson (1908–1997). His ancestry includes Cherokee, enslaved African-Americans, Irish planters, and a Confederate sheriff. Upon graduating from high school in 1959, he rejected a contract from a minor league professional baseball team so that he could attend the University of Illinois on a football scholarship. After his second semester at that predominantly white school, Jackson transferred to North Carolina A&T, a historically black university in Greensboro, North Carolina. At A&T, Jackson played quarterback and was elected student body president. It was in college when Jackson became a local celebrity for activism, dropping out of seminary school in 1966 to become a full-time activist.
As an activist, Jackson became well-known for being a member of the "Greenville Eight", a group of African-American protestors who sat in the segregated Greenville Public Library. After impressing Martin Luther King Jr. at the Selma to Montgomery marches, Jackson became involved in the leadership with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. After conflicts with the group's leadership following King's assassination, Jackson formed Operation PUSH, an advocacy group focused on liberal economic policies, which later turned into the Rainbow Coalition.
In 1984, Jackson resigned as president of Rainbow Coalition to pursue the United States presidency. After emerging as a dark horse third candidate between Vice President John Glenn and Senator Gary Hart, Jackson was offered the slot as Glenn's running mate during the Democratic National Convention. Jackson accepted the offer, and the two went on to defeat the Republican ticket, making Jackson the first African-American to serve as vice president.
As vice president, Jackson became famous for his fiery speeches and outspokenly liberal positions, much to the chagrin of some within the Glenn administration. Jackson's greatest contributions as vice president were his efforts to negotiate the release of prisoners in countries that were hostile towards the U.S., such as the release of American pilot Robert Goodman and the release of U.S. POWs in Cuba and Vietnam. Jackson also made great allies in the legislature despite his lack of political experience, becoming an ally to Majority Leader Ted Kennedy compared to Glenn's frostier reception of the liberal icon.
In 1992, with Glenn's term expiring, Jackson declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination again. Jackson faced stiff competition from Arkansas governor Bill Clinton, who had become the poster boy for the New Democrat faction of the party, only narrowly winning the Democratic nomination, selecting Senate veteran Walter Mondale as his running mate. He went on to face United States Senator from Illinois Donald Rumsfeld. The race was an especially close one, and Jackson lost the popular vote by just under 2 million votes, winning the Electoral College 292-246. Rumsfeld initially contested the results in the three southern states that had allowed Jackson to win, Georgia and the Carolinas, before ultimately conceding. Jackson was sworn in on January 20, 1993, making him the first African-American and person of color to serve as the President of the United States.
In his first term as president, Jackson saw the passage of sweeping legislation, working closely with Senate Majority Leader Kennedy to pass bills such as the American Health Reform Act, colloquially known as Jacksoncare, to abolish private insurance with exception to cosmetic and non-emergency operations. Jackson also declared support for a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and came out in favor of same-sex marriage and a universal basic income. He passed the North American Settlement for the Creation of Activity and Revenue, the NASCAR Treaty, with the countries of Mexico and Canada. In 1994, in response to Jacksoncare and NASCAR, the Republican Party took control of both chambers of Congress in 1996, even as Jackson narrowly won a second term against Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
In his second term, Jackson saw an increased focus on social issues, signing into law federal legalization of same-sex marriages and, in 1999, the Columbine Act, which added mental healthcare services to Jacksoncare and increased the age of gun ownership from 18 to 21. Jackson also ensured that Glass-Steagal was renewed and expanded, as well as passing the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban treaty.
After leaving office, Jackson has remained a highly polarizing if respected figure in American politics. Among liberals and Democratic moderates, Jackson ranks highly in presidential rankings for his passage of universal healthcare and support for same-sex marriage, as well as making history as the first person of color to serve as president. Some scholars blame Jackson for the Republican Revolution that took hold in the 1990's, and conservative scholars often claim that Jackson is responsible for America being challenged more frequently in the War on Terror. Despite this, several of Jackson's policies ended up benefitting the American people in the long-term, with Jackson's repeal of Glass-Steagall being credited as lessening the impact of the 2008 housing crisis and Jacksoncare being pivotal in combating the opioid crisis.