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Professional
 1963: Becomes
active in the civil rights movement by organizing sit-ins and
demonstrations against hotels, restaurants and theaters in Greensboro,
N.C., that did not admit blacks.
1966:
Selected by Martin Luther King Jr. to head Chicago's Operation
Breadbasket, a program run by the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC) to help black communities secure better jobs
and services through non-violent protests and boycotts. Becomes
national head for the program the next year.
1968:
Present when Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated at the Lorraine
Motel in Memphis, Tenn.
 1971:
Leaves the SCLC and Operation Breadbasket to found Operation PUSH
(People United to Save Humanity) in Chicago.
1976: Launches
PUSH-Excel, a program designed to reverse the growing problems
of vandalism, drug abuse, teen-age pregnancy and high school dropouts.
1979:
Makes first trip to South Africa, where he advocates civil disobedience
to protest the country's apartheid laws. Also travels to the Middle
East. While in Lebanon, creates a controversy by meeting with
Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat.
1983:
Announces his first campaign for the Democratic presidential
nomination.
1984:
Acting on his own, Jackson travels to Syria and secures the freedom
of an American Navy pilot who had been shot down over Lebanon
and captured by the Syrians. Makes a disparaging remark about
Jews and describes New York as "Hymietown." He later apologizes
but is haunted by the remark during his campaign for the Democratic
presidential nomination, which he eventually lost to former Vice
President Walter Mondale.
1986:
Steps away from Operation PUSH to form the National Rainbow Coalition.
Arrested during protests against apartheid outside the South African
embassy in Washington.
1988:
Makes second run for the Democratic presidential nomination. While
Jackson's bid came up short again, he scored 12 primary and caucus
victories and picked up more than 500 Democratic convention delegates
along the way.
 1990:
Wins the release of foreign hostages held by Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein after invasion of Kuwait.
1992:
Begins hosting a weekly interview show on CNN called "Both Sides
with Jesse Jackson."
1995:
Returns to Operation PUSH as chief executive officer.
1996:
Merges Operation PUSH and the Rainbow Coalition into the Rainbow
PUSH Action Network.
1997:
Appointed by President Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright as "Special Envoy of the President and Secretary of State
for the Promotion of Democracy in Africa." Tours Africa in early
1998.
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