Jesse Jackson 

Baptist minister Jesse Jackson has been on the political scene since the 1960s, rising to notoriety through his extensive work in civil rights as well as runs for the presidency in 1984 and 1988. He has also embroiled himself in several scandals, including an extramarital affair. 

Jesse Louis Jackson Sr was born October 8, 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina. His parents were Helen Burns and Noah Louis Robinson. Robinson, however, was married to somebody else at the time of Jackson’s birth, and Burns was only sixteen. Opting to stay with his first family, Robinson was not a part of Jackson’s life. When Burns was eighteen, she married Charles Henry Jackson, who was a father figure in Jackson’s life and later adopted him. 

Jackson obtained his education from Sterling High School, where he stood above the rest in both sports and academics. Turning down the option to play baseball professionally, Jackson opted to further his education at the University of Illinois. He attended on a football scholarship. After just one year, Jackson changed schools to North Carolina A&T. He followed with a stint at the Chicago Theological Seminary.

Intending to become a minister, Jackson left the school in 1966 to become more invested in the civil rights movement. He became officially ordained without the degree in 1968.  On the civil rights front, Jackson is noted for participating in the march from Selma to Montgomery, an endeavor organized by Martin Luther King Jr. By 1966, Jackson was personally appointed by King to lead the SCLC’s Operation Breadbasket, a tactic of “selective buying,” also known as boycotting. Eventually diverging from the SCLC, Jackson’s departure prompted many other prominent figures such as Al Sharpton to leave the organization as well. 

Becoming an increasingly political figure in the international arena, Jackson is noted for successfully appealing to Hafez al Assad, president of Syria, to release US pilot Robert Goodman in 1983. This earned Jackson the favor of President Ronald Reagan.  His first bid for the presidency followed shortly after in November of 1983. Although the political heavy hitters wrote him off as having little to no chance, he surprised many by taking third behind Gary Hart and eventual nominee Walter Mondale.   

Repeating his attempts in 1988, he once again exceeded expectations, capturing nearly seven million votes. His campaign was hurt, however, by substantial losses to fellow presidential hopeful Michael Dukakis. Making his voice heard in a different arena, Jackson was also vocal about his indignation at the 2004 presidential campaign between George W Bush and John Kerry. Making headlines recently, he became involved in the 2006 Michael Richards scandal, wherein Richards used racially offensive comments onstage. Jackson met with Richards and subsequently accepted his apology.  

In June of 2007, he was arrested for criminal trespass when he refused to let customers enter a gun shop that was allegedly selling firearms to local gang members. Jackson has created other scandals for himself, such as making some religiously charged comments regarding the Jewish community. Not denouncing his association with Louis Farrakhan led to an even further split between Jackson and Jewish leaders. 

In his personal life, Jackson is close friends with Bill Clinton and the entire Clinton family. He married Jacqueline Lavinia Brown in 1962. They are currently still together and have five children. 

In 2001, however, Jackson’s extramarital affair with Karin Stanford was brought to light. It was also revealed that they had a daughter together in 1999.