The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights icon who twice ran for president of the United States, died on Tuesday, February 17. He was 84.

Jackson rose to national prominence in the 1960s as a close aide to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. After King's assassination in 1968, Jackson became one of the most transformative civil rights leaders in America.

His Rainbow Coalition, a bold alliance of Blacks, Whites, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans and LGBTQ people, helped pave the way for a more progressive Democratic Party. He ran for president in 1984 and 1988, smashing the perception at the time that a Black political candidate couldn't be a viable presidential candidate.

In his later years, Jackson was an elder statesman in the civil rights movement. And when Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008 to become the first Black president, Jackson was in the crowd, watching with tears in his eyes.

Jackson at Sterling High School's 1958 homecoming football game, in Greenville, South Carolina. Jackson was a prolific athlete in high school. After his high school graduation, Jackson received an offer to play baseball for the Chicago White Sox and a football scholarship from the University of Illinois. He chose the football scholarship but later transferred to North Carolina A&T State University.
Jackson at Sterling High School's 1958 homecoming football game, in Greenville, South Carolina. Jackson was a prolific athlete in high school. After his high school graduation, Jackson received an offer to play baseball for the Chicago White Sox and a football scholarship from the University of Illinois. He chose the football scholarship but later transferred to North Carolina A&T State University.
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Jackson, top left, poses with seven other students outside the city jail in Greenville, in 1960. They had been arrested for entering the "Whites only" Greenville County Library. A lawyer filed suit on their behalf and two months later the library system abandoned the formal segregation of its downtown library.
Jackson, top left, poses with seven other students outside the city jail in Greenville, in 1960. They had been arrested for entering the "Whites only" Greenville County Library. A lawyer filed suit on their behalf and two months later the library system abandoned the formal segregation of its downtown library.
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The audience applauds American Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (1929 - 1968) speaks from a lecturn at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, Washington DC, February 6, 1968. Dr. King, invited to the church as the national co-chair for the 'Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam,' spoke about ending the war in Vietnam. Fellow religious and Civil Rights leader Jesse Jackson (top left, inside doorway) is also visible as he claps and looks out over the audience. (Photo by Joseph Klipple/Getty Images)
Jackson is seen inside the doorway at the top left as Martin Luther King Jr. speaks at a church in Washington, DC, in February 1968. Jackson was a close aide to King, who was assassinated two months later.
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This April 3, 1968 file photo shows Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., second from right, standing with other civil rights leaders on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., a day before he was assassinated at approximately the same place. From left are Hosea Williams, Jesse Jackson, King, and Ralph Abernathy. Today's protests across America against racial injustice are being watched closely by people who five decades ago faced jail cells, bloody assaults, snarling dogs and even potential assassination in the battle against institutional racism. (AP Photo/Charles Kelly, File)
From left, civil rights leaders Hosea Williams, Jackson, King and Ralph Abernathy stand on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 3, 1968. The next day, King was assassinated on that balcony by James Earl Ray.
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Crowds in Memphis, Tennessee, following the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr in the city, 8th April 1968. In the centre, from left to right are singer Harry Belafonte, Coretta Scott King with Jesse Jackson behind, Reverend Ralph Abernathy and Reverend Andrew Young. (Photo by Santi Visalli/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
A crowd marches in Memphis several days after King's assassination. Jackson is at center, behind King's widow, Coretta.
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FILE-- The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, then only 27 years old, speaks with police as he leads a rally of about 4,000 people, calling for an end to discrimination in the construction trades, in Chicago, Sept. 22, 1969. To mark Black History Month, The New York Times is publishing never-before-printed photos from its archives. (Gary Settle/The New York Times)
Jackson, at right with his hands up, speaks with police as leads a September 1969 rally in Chicago. Protesters were calling for an end to discrimination in the construction trade.
Gary Settle/The New York Times/Redux
Jackson speaks during a rally at the University of California in Berkeley, California, in May 1970.
Jackson speaks during a rally at the University of California in Berkeley, California, in May 1970.
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FILE - In this Feb. 2, 1971 file photo, Rev. Jesse Jackson raises a clenched fist from the back of a police van after he and 11 others from Operation Breadbasket were arrested during a sit-in at the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co., offices in New York City. The organization, part of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, has been protesting A&P's alleged discrimination against blacks. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)
Jackson raises a clenched fist from the back of a police van after he and 11 others from Operation Breadbasket were arrested during a sit-in protest at the A&P offices in New York City in February 1971. Jackson was national director of Operation Breadbasket, an organization that strived to improve the economic condition of Black communities across the nation. It was part of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Marty Lederhandler/AP
UNITED STATES - CIRCA 1875: Reverend Jesse Jackson's march for jobs -- around the White House (Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images)
Jackson takes part in a march for jobs that was held around the White House in 1975. In December 1971, Jackson resigned from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and formed Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity).
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(Original Caption) Chicago: Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan listens as the Rev. Jesse Jackson talks during a visit to Operation Push Headquarters. Earlier in the day Reagan met with Black editors and publishers at Johnson Publications.
Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan listens to Jackson during a visit to Operation PUSH headquarters in August 1980.
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Rev. Jesse Jackson shakes hands at the 20th anniversary commemoration of the Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Freedom March, also known as the "March on Washington."
Jackson shakes hands with people in Washington, DC, in August 1983. It was the 20th anniversary of the historic March on Washington.
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(Original Caption) Washington, DC: Rev. Jesse Jackson announces his candidacy for the Democratic Presidential nomination 11/3. Jackson is the eighth candidate for the Democratic nomination. He said, "I want the Presidency because I want to affirm my belief that leadership is colorless and genderless."
Jackson announces his presidential candidacy in November 1983. "I want the presidency because I want to affirm my belief that leadership is colorless and genderless," he said.
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MANCHESTER, NH - JANUARY 7: Rev. Jesse Jackson cuts a ribbon to open his campaign headquarters in Manchester, N.H., on Jan. 7, 1984. (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Jackson cuts a ribbon to open his campaign headquarters in Manchester, New Hampshire, in January 1984.
John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe/Getty Images
CHICAGO - 1984: (NO U.S. TABLOID SALES) Politician Jesse Jackson poses with his family during his 1984 presidential campaign in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)
Jackson poses with his family during his 1984 presidential campaign. He and his wife, Jacqueline, had five children together: Jonathan, Santita, Yusef, Jacqueline and Jesse Jr.
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Jackson poses for a 1984 portrait in Tallahassee, Florida.
Jackson poses for a 1984 portrait in Tallahassee, Florida.
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UNITED STATES - MARCH 28: Television newscaster Dan Rather (left) with candidates Walter Mondale (center), Gary Hart (right) and the Rev. Jesse Jackson (standing, right) as they prepare for a presidential debate at Columbia University. (Photo by Harry Hamburg/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
Jackson prepares for a Democratic presidential debate in March 1984. Television newscaster Dan Rather is on the left, talking with candidate Gary Hart. Seated at center is Walter Mondale, who would eventually win the nomination.
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Jackson speaks in April 1984.
Jackson speaks in April 1984.
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Jackson leans towards singer Stevie Wonder as he leads a crowd in a rendition of the campaign chant "Run, Jesse, Run," in June 1984.
Jackson leans towards singer Stevie Wonder as he leads a crowd in a rendition of the campaign chant "Run, Jesse, Run," in June 1984.
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** FILE **Rev. Jesse Jackson, left, and President Fidel Castro speak to reporters at Jose Marti Airport in Havana after Castro released Cuban and American political prisoners to Jackson in this June 28, 1984, file photo, made by Associated Press photographer Charles Tasnadi. Charles Tasnadi, who braved minefields and barbed wire to escape communist Hungary and went on to spend three decades as a top Associated Press photographer, died Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008, following a stroke. Famed for his skills as a photographer and revered as a great gentleman, Tasnadi was born Karoly Tasnadi on March 1, 1925 in Ajka, Hungary. (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi)
Jackson and Cuban President Fidel Castro speak to reporters at the Jose Marti Airport in Havana, Cuba, in June 1984. Jackson went to Cuba to secure the release of 48 Cuban and Cuban-American prisoners.
Charles Tasnadi/AP
Please contact your Account Representative for licensing use on merchandise and/or resale products; fine art prints, wall décor, gallery, nonprofit or museum displays. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Bill Pierce/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock (12362841a) Rev. Jesse L. Jackson playing a pick-up game of basketball during his presidential campaign. Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Iowa, USA
Jackson plays pickup basketball in September 1987. The next month, he formally announced his candidacy for the 1988 presidential election.
Bill Pierce/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
FILE - In this March 4, 1990 file photo, civil rights figures lead marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge during the recreation of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march in Selma, Ala. From left are Hosea Williams of Atlanta, Georgia Congressman John Lewis, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Evelyn Lowery, SCLC President Joseph Lowery and Coretta Scott King. In August 2017, Jackson used a Chicago Sun-Times opinion to praise Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old woman who died in the vehicular attack in Charlottesville, Va. Jackson wrote that she "joins the martyrs of America's long struggle for equal rights." (AP Photo/Jamie Sturtevant)
Jackson and other civil rights activists march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in March 1990. They were recreating the Selma-to-Montgomery marches from 1965.
Jamie Sturtevant/AP
THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR -- "Bang the Drum Ashley" Episode 2 -- Air Date 09/17/1990 -- Pictured: (l-r) Jesse Jackson; Jeffrey A. Townes as Jazz; Will Smith as William 'Will' Smith -- Photo by: Alice S. Hall/NBCU Photo Bank
Jackson jokes around with DJ Jazzy Jeff, center, and Will Smith while appearing on an episode of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" in 1990.
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WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 16: Ousted Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide (R) meets 16 October 1993 with Jesse Jackson (L) on the set of his television show "Both Sides with Jesse Jackson" on CNN. Aristide was to return to Haiti 30 October under terms of an U.N. (Photo credit should read PAMELA PRICE/AFP via Getty Images)
Jackson meets with ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on the set of his CNN television show "Both Sides with Jesse Jackson" in October 1993.
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Jackson waits while son Jesse Jackson Jr. introduces him to delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, in August 1996.
Jackson waits while son Jesse Jackson Jr. introduces him to delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, in August 1996.
Ron Edmonds/AP
FILE - In this Saturday, May 1, 1999 file photo, U.S. Rev. Jesse Jackson, second from right, holds hands as he leads a prayer with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, second from left, Yugoslav Minister of Foreign Affairs Zivadin Jovanovic, left, and U.S. Rep. Rod Blagojevich, D-Ill., right, in Belgrade. Milosevic agreed Saturday to release three American soldiers captured the previous month and would be handed over to Jackson as part of his "peace effort,'' the state-run Tanjug news agency said. (John H. White/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, Pool)
Jackson holds hands with Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic, left, and US Rep. Rod Blagojevich, right, as he leads a prayer in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in May 1999. Jackson successfully negotiated the release of three US soldiers who had been held in Yugoslavia for more than a month.
John H. White/Chicago Sun-Times/Pool/AP
The Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr. (L) points out his mother to U.S. President Bill Clinton (R) after receiving the Medal of Freedom at the White House in Washington, August 9, 2000. Clinton handed out 15 medals to honorees ranging from Simon Wiesenthal to Senator Daniel Patrick Moyihan.
Jackson points out his mother to US President Bill Clinton after he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in August 2000.
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Rev. Jesse Jackson, right, reacts during a prayer service for Coretta Scott King at the new Ebenezer Church on Auburn Ave. in Atlanta Monday, Feb. 6, 2006. Ebenezer Pastor Rev. Raphael Warnock is to the far left. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, Pool)
Jackson reacts during a prayer service for Coretta Scott King in Atlanta in February 2006.
John Bazemore/Pool/AP
WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 13: Rev. Jesse Jackson (C left) comforts Ambassador Andrew Young as Young gives an invocation at the groundbreaking of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial November 13, 2006 in Washington, DC. The memorial to the slain civil rights leader has been in the works for 10 years and will be situated on the National Mall near the Tidal Basin between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Jackson and US Rep. John Lewis hold a shovel together during the groundbreaking of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. The groundbreaking ceremony took place in Atlanta in November 2006.
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D 77808-08 Reverend Jesse Jackson and Jacqueline Jackson. OBLIGATORY CREDIT - CAMERA PRESS / Graham Turner / Guardian. Reverend Jesse Jackson and his daughter Jacqueline rest on the tour bus during Jackson's five day, nine city tour with new initiative Equanomics UK, 22/08/2007.
Jackson and his daughter Jacqueline rest on a bus during a five-day, nine-city tour with the Equanomics UK initiative in 2007.
Graham Turner/Guardian/Camer​a Press/Redux
(NYT172) CHICAGO -- Nov. 4, 2008 -- ELN-OBAMA-22 -- The Rev. Jesse Jackson is overcome with emotion as he joins supporters of Sen. Barack Obama in Chicago's Grant Park as they cheer the news that their candidate won the presidential election on Tuesday night, Nov. 4, 2008. Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics with ease as the country chose him as its first black chief executive. (Damon Winter/The New York Times)
Jackson is overcome with emotion in Chicago's Grant Park after Barack Obama won the presidential election in November 2008.
Damon Winter/The New York Times/Redux
Civil rights activist and Baptist minister Reverend Jesse Jackson addresses the Occupy London demonstration at St Paul's Cathedral, London, UK. 14/12/2011.
Jackson speaks to Occupy London protesters outside St. Paul's Cathedral in December 2011.
Thabo Jaiyesimi/Camera Press/Redux
CHICAGO, IL - APRIL 16: Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. throws out a ceremonial first pitch before the Chicago Cubs Texas Rangers gameat Wrigley Field on April 16, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. All uniformed team members are wore jersey number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day. The Rangers defeated the Cubs 4-2. (Photo by Brian D. Kersey/Getty Images)
Jackson throws out the ceremonial first pitch before a Chicago Cubs baseball game in April 2013. It was Major League Baseball's annual Jackie Robinson Day, where all players wear Robinson's number to honor the player who broke the league's color barrier.
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Nowai Korkoyah, the mother of Thomas Eric Duncan, the first patient diagnosed with Ebola on U.S. soil, holds hands with Reverend Jesse Jackson in Dallas, Texas October 7, 2014. Duncan remains in critical condition, he is on a ventilator and receiving kidney dialysis, the Dallas hospital treating him said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES - Tags: HEALTH DISASTER POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
Jackson holds hands with Nowai Korkoyah in Dallas in October 2014. Korkoyah was the mother of Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man who was the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States. Duncan died the next day.
Jim Young/Reuters
Jesse Jackson and Rev Al Sharpton at the Mass for victims in Charleston's mass murder.
Jackson hugs a child in June 2015, as he attends a Mass for victims of the church massacre in Charleston, South Carolina.
Anne Hollande/Hans Lucas/Redux
The Rev. Jesse Jackson watches the State Senate debate on the removal of the Confederate battle flag at the South Carolina State House in Columbia, S.C., July 6, 2015. The South Carolina Senate voted Monday to remove the flag from the grounds of the State House. (Travis Dove/The New York Times)
Jackson watches the South Carolina State Senate debate removing the Confederate battle flag from the State House grounds in July 2015. Jackson was born in Greenville, South Carolina, on October 8. 1941.
Travis Dove/The New York Times/Redux
Cameron Sterling, 15 years old, is comforted by Reverend Jesse Jackson at the end of Alton Sterling's funeral at Southern University in Baton Rouge Louisiana.
Jackson tries to comfort 15-year-old Cameron Sterling at the funeral of Sterling's father, Alton, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in July 2016. Sterling was shot and killed by one of two police officers who confronted him outside a convenience store. Cell phone video showed Sterling pinned to the ground by the officers before he was shot; police said Sterling was reaching for a gun. No charges were brought against the officers involved. The fatal encounter between Sterling and the two White police officers spurred Black Lives Matter protests across the nation.
Ben Depp/Redux
Jackson walks past room 305 at the National Civil Rights Museum, formerly the Lorraine Motel, in Memphis, Tennessee in April 2018. Jackson was staying in room 305, next to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in room 306, when King was assassinated on the balcony in April1968.
Jackson walks past room 305 at the National Civil Rights Museum, formerly the Lorraine Motel, in Memphis, Tennessee in April 2018. Jackson was staying in room 305, next to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in room 306, when King was assassinated on the balcony in April1968.
Mark Humphrey/AP
Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rev. Jesse Jackson wave to the crowd at a rally for Sanders at Calder Plaza in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Sunday, March 8, 2020. Michigan's presidential primary is Tuesday. (Anntaninna Biondo/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)
Jackson and US Sen. Bernie Sanders wave to a crowd in Grand Rapids, Michigan, while Sanders campaigned for the presidency in March 2020. Jackson endorsed Sanders in the race.
Anntaninna Biondo/The Grand Rapids Press/AP
Reverend Jesse Jackson pays his respects at the casket of civil rights pioneer and longtime U.S. Representative John Lewis (D-GA), as it sits at the top of the East Front Steps of the U.S. Capitol for a public viewing in Washington, U.S., July 28, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner
Jackson pays his respects to US Rep. John Lewis, another civil rights icon, at the US Capitol in July 2020. Lewis became the first Black lawmaker to lie in state at the US Capitol rotunda.
Tom Brenner/Reuters
Rev. Jesse Jackson receives the Pfizer's BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, from Dr. Kiran Chekka, Covid Administration Physician at the Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Jackson receives his first shot of a Covid-19 vaccine at a Chicago hospital in January 2021.
Charles Rex Arbogast/AP
Revered Jesse Jackson speaks in front of a mural of George Floyd next to Cup Foods after a jury found former Police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all counts in the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, M.N., U.S., on Tuesday, April 20, 2021. Cup Foods is where police were called after Floyd was accused of attempting to use a counterfeit $20 bill and was later murdered after Chauvin knelt on his neck for over 9 minutes and 29 seconds. Credit: Samuel Corum / CNP/Sipa USA
Jackson speaks in front of a Minneapolis mural of George Floyd in April 2021 after a jury found former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murdering Floyd.
Samuel Corum/CNP/Sipa USA
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Reverend Jesse Jackson attend a demonstration outside the U.S. Capitol building calling for an extension of the CDC moratorium on residential evictions, in Washington, U.S., August 2, 2021. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Jackson joins US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez outside the US Capitol during an August 2021 demonstration calling for an extension on the federal eviction moratorium.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Jackson is seen at the US Capitol in January 2023.
Jackson is seen at the US Capitol in January 2023.
Mark Peterson/Redux
Jackson, center, appears at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Selma, Alabama, in March 2023 for the annual commemoration of Bloody Sunday.
Jackson, center, appears at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Selma, Alabama, in March 2023 for the annual commemoration of Bloody Sunday.
Andi Rice/The New York Times/Redux
Jackson appears at the Democratic National Convention with the Rev. Al Sharpton, left, and two of his sons — Jonathan Jackson and Yusef DuBois Jackson — in August 2024.
Jackson appears at the Democratic National Convention with the Rev. Al Sharpton, left, and two of his sons — Jonathan Jackson and Yusef DuBois Jackson — in August 2024.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Jackson bows his head in prayer as he visits the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in March 2025 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," when police attacked civil rights marchers on the bridge.
Jackson bows his head in prayer as he visits the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in March 2025 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," when police attacked civil rights marchers on the bridge.
Kevin Wurm/Reuters