Civil right leader Rev. Jesse Jackson has died at the age of 84.
A protégé of Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1960s, Jackson rose to national prominence as a tireless advocate for racial justice and political empowerment. Over decades, he worked to organize and uplift African American communities, ultimately mounting two historic campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 1980s.
1984 Democratic Presidential Candidates: Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio; Sen. Alan Cranston, D-Calif.; Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C.; former Sen. George McGovern, D-S.D., Sen. Gary Hart, D-Colo.; former Vice President Walter Mondale; Rev. Jesse Jackson, and former Florida Gov. Reubin Askew.
Six weeks before the New Hampshire primary, the newly opened Nelson A. Rockefeller Center hosted its first-ever presidential debate at Dartmouth College. Held on January 15, 1984, the Democratic presidential debate brought together eight candidates: Senators John Glenn, Alan Cranston, Ernest Hollings, and Gary Hart; former Senators George McGovern and Reubin Askew; former Vice President Walter Mondale; and Rev. Jesse Jackson. Broadcast live for three hours on PBS to an estimated nine million viewers, the event was the first presidential talk-show-style debate of its kind.
Candidates drew their on-stage seating positions from a hat once owned by famed Dartmouth alumnus Daniel Webster.
For the Rockefeller Center, the event signaled its emergence as a national forum for civic engagement. For Jackson, it was another platform to advance a campaign rooted in expanding political participation and challenging the status quo.
As we remember Jesse Jackson, we also recall his place in the Rockefeller Center’s earliest history, a candidate who helped inaugurate a tradition of robust, nationally significant debate, one that continues to define the Center’s mission today.