Reverend Jesse Jackson Dead at 84

Reverend Jesse Jackson Dead At 84

Published February 17, 2026 2:11 AM PST | Updated February 17, 2026 4:02 AM PST

Reverend Jesse Jackson, the civil rights pioneer and Baptist minister who twice ran for U.S. president, has died, according to his family.

Jesse's family issued a statement Tuesday morning, celebrating the icon ... "Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world.”

They went on ... “We shared him with the world, and in return, the world became part of our extended family. His unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love uplifted millions, and we ask you to honor his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by.”

Jackson died peacefully with his loved ones at his side ... his official cause of death has not yet been released.

In November, Jesse was hospitalized after living for over a decade with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), according to his Rainbow PUSH Coalition. The disease impacts patients’ ability to walk and swallow and has dangerous complications. Jesse was also diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2017.

Born in Greenville, South Carolina, Jackson quickly rose to prominence as an activist during the civil rights era. He became close with Dr. Martin Luther King and marched alongside him during demonstrations ... Jesse's advocacy for Blacks and the poor stretched over several decades.

Jackson also dove into national politics, running for the presidency in 1984 and 1988, but he lost both times.

During his 1984 campaign for the democratic nomination, Jesse famously called New York City "Hymietown," using the term "Hymie" to refer to NYC's large Jewish population.  Republican candidate Ronald Reagan won the 1984 election in a landslide.

That same year, Jackson launched his National Rainbow Coalition, which blasted Reagan's policies and championed social programs, voting rights and affirmative action. Jesse's PUSH organization and National Rainbow Coalition merged in 1996, continuing his never-ending fight for African Americans and the poor.

In 1999, Jackson helped negotiate the release of 3 U.S. servicemen held in Yugoslavia. Then-President Bill Clinton gave Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom for assisting in brokering the deal.

He had similar successes cutting deals with foreign adversaries to bring home our captive military personnel in Syria, Cuba, Iraq and Gambia. He also was elected in 1991 to be a "shadow senator" to lobby for Washington D.C. statehood, serving on term in the role.

Jackson was 84.

RIP