of the political process, including 40 million poor
whites, 6 million Hispanics, one-half million Native
Americans, and millions of women. He urged them
to join his National Rainbow Coalition organization.
Early in the campaign, Jackson attracted national
attention when he traveled to Syria as a “self-
appointed diplomat” to obtain the release of an Afri-
can American airman, Robert Goodman, Jr. When
he succeeded, Jackson and Goodman received a
hero’s welcome from crowds at the airport in Wash-
ington, D.C. A reluctant President Reagan, who had
offered Jackson no support, received them at the
White House. Many criticized Jackson’s bold mis-
sion as grandstanding, but he had demonstrated
that he was not merely a civil rights activist. In June
of 1984, Jackson engaged in more private diplo-
macy, traveling to Cuba, where he persuaded Cuban
leader Fidel Castro to release twenty-two Americans
and twenty-six anti-Castro Cubans who been jailed
there.
Jackson competed in the primary elections with
little money but tremendous energy. He traveled
tirelessly to speak in New Hampshire, Florida, Michi-
gan, Illinois, and South Carolina. Although there
were initially seven candidates for the Democratic
nomination, after the first few primaries the field
narrowed to three: Walter Mondale, Gary Hart, and
Jackson. Mondale was clearly the front-runner, sup-
ported by many African American politicians within
the party, but Jackson carried the inner-city African
American vote, placing third in the northern pri-
mary races. He won primaries in Virginia, South
Carolina, Louisiana, and the District of Columbia.
In New York, he received 26 percent of the vote.
More African Americans voted in New York than in
any prior state election, and Jackson carried almost
one-quarter of the Hispanic vote as well. Nationally,
3.5 million voters, more than 20 percent of the total
vote, supported his nomination; he carried more
than forty congressional districts. Over 2 million vot-
ers in the primaries were newly registered.
Jackson’s campaign, however, was plagued by seri-
ous blunders. His raw ambition, volatile tempera-
ment, and inclination to exaggerate contributed to
his problems. In an “off the record” interview with
African American reporters, Jackson used the ethnic
slurs “Hymie” and “Hymietown” to refer to Jews and
New York City. When these remarks were reported in
The Washington Post, Jackson at first denied having
made them, then he denied that they were ethnically
insensitive. In late February, however, he made an
emotional apology to Jewish leaders. He continued
to apologize throughout the campaign, but irrepa-
rable damage had been done to his image as a leader
of a diverse racial and ethnic coalition. Jackson fur-
ther alienated American Jews and whites by his asso-
ciation with the black separatist leader of the Nation
of Islam movement, minister Louis Farrakhan, who
made frequent statements attacking whites and Jews.
Jackson survived numerous political storms and
was a prominent figure at the Democratic National
Convention, but he did not win the nomination.
President Reagan easily won reelection in 1984 over
the Democratic candidate, Walter Mondale, but a
record number of African American voters turned
out for Mondale, thanks in part to Jackson’s efforts.
In 1988, Jackson ran again against a number
of Democratic hopefuls, drawing enormous crowds
wherever he went. After early losses in Iowa and New
Hampshire, he won several southern primaries, in-540 Jackson, Jesse The Eighties in America
Jesse Jackson in 1983.(Library of Congress)