Jesse Jackson 'proved that a black man could be a serious contender for the White House'
France 24
by FRANCE24February 17, 2026
Charismatic US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, an eloquent Baptist minister raised in the segregated South who became a close associate of Martin Luther King Jr and twice ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, has died at age 84, his family said in a statement on Tuesday. Despite never winning the nomination, Jackson did something arguably more significant – registering millions of new voters and proving that a black man could be a serious contender for the White House, FRANCE 24's Fraser Jackson said, reporting from Washington.
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Originally published on France 24 on 2/17/2026