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By Daniel Orton
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The Reverend Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader whose “rainbow coalition” vision and two presidential campaigns reshaped American politics, died Tuesday at 84, his family said.
Jackson’s oratory, organizing, and presidential runs helped broaden the Democratic coalition and expand voting rights and representation for Black Americans and other marginalized communities over more than five decades.
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Born in Greenville, South Carolina, on October 8, 1941, Jackson rose from student activism to become a top aide to the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and later led Operation Breadbasket under the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
He ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988, delivering galvanizing convention speeches and winning contests in multiple states while drawing racially diverse crowds and voters.
Jackson negotiated high-profile overseas releases, including a U.S. Navy pilot held in Syria and political prisoners in Cuba in 1984, and three U.S. soldiers detained in Yugoslavia in 1999; President Bill Clinton later awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
He faced controversies, including his 1984 use of an anti-Jewish slur for which he apologized, and personal scandal over an extramarital affair, even as he remained a prominent advocate for civil rights and economic justice.
Jackson stepped down as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in 2023 and was honored on stage at the 2024 Democratic National Convention as Vice President Kamala Harris led the party’s ticket.
He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline, and their children Santita, Jesse Jr., Jonathan, Yusef, and Jacqueline, as well as a daughter, Ashley.
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