Jesse Jackson Jr.

Jesse Louis Jackson Jr. (born March 11, 1965) is an American politician.

A member of the Democratic Party, he is the son of activist and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson and, prior to his career in elected office, worked for his father in both the elder Jackson's 1984 presidential campaign and his social justice, civil rights and political activism organization, Operation PUSH.

Jackson's wife, Sandi Jackson, served on the Chicago City Council.

He was an all-state running back on his football team in high school and was featured in the February 1984 issue of Sports Illustrated as part of their Faces in the Crowd section, which noted him for his 15 touchdowns, 889 rushing yards, and 7.2 yards per carry in six games.

During the 1984 Democratic primaries, the three Jackson brothers sometimes appeared at events together in support of their father's presidential campaign.

While in college, Jackson held a voter registration drive that registered 3,500 voters on a campus with 4,500 students.

His first job after graduation was as an executive director for the Rainbow Coalition.

Jackson enrolled in North Carolina A&T University, his father's alma mater, earning his Bachelor of Science degree magna cum laude in 1987.

He decided to follow his father's advice to receive a seminary education at the Chicago Theological Seminary, where he earned his master's degree a year early but opted not to become ordained.

Jackson proceeded to law school at the University of Illinois and convinced his future wife to transfer there from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Jackson was again involved in his father's campaigning during the 1988 Democratic primaries.

In 1988, in the dealings between his father and Michael Dukakis at the 1988 Democratic National Convention, Jackson's father obtained for him a position as an at-large member of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) by a nomination from Democratic Party chairman Paul Kirk.

Jackson Jr. was the last of the five children to speak and introduced his father with the words "a man who fights against the odds, who lives against the odds, our dad, Jesse Jackson."

At the time, in Time magazine, Margaret Carlson depicted the younger Jackson as a well-spoken and compelling personality who would likely carry any of his father's political aspirations that his father was unable to achieve himself.

His experience with the DNC gave him the opportunity to work on numerous congressional election races.

After the convention he also became a vice president of Operation PUSH.

Jackson was arrested on his twenty-first birthday in Washington, D.C., following his participation in demonstrations against apartheid at the South African Embassy.

He had been arrested with his father and brother the year before in a similar activity.

He then earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1993.

Jackson never sat for the bar exam despite finishing his coursework a semester early.

As a teenager, Jackson and his brother Jonathan assisted in their father's civil rights activities.

He served as the U.S. representative from IL's 2nd congressional district from 1995 until his resignation in 2012.

He served as a national co-chairman of the 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign.

Jackson established a consistent liberal record on both social and fiscal issues, and he has co-authored books on civil rights and personal finance.

In October 2012, Jackson was investigated for financial improprieties including misuse of campaign funds.

Jackson resigned from Congress on November 21, 2012, citing mental and physical health problems, including bipolar disorder and gastrointestinal problems.

On February 8, 2013, Jackson admitted to violating federal campaign law by using campaign funds to make personal purchases.

Jackson pleaded guilty on February 20, 2013, to one count of wire and mail fraud.

On August 14, 2013, he was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison.

Jackson was released from prison on March 26, 2015.

Jackson was born in Greenville, South Carolina, and was raised in the Jackson Park Highlands District of the South Shore community area on the South Side of Chicago.

He was one of five children of Jesse and Jacqueline (Brown) Jackson.

He attended nursery school at the University of Chicago and attended John J. Pershing Elementary School.

At age five, Jackson mimicked his father in a speech atop a milk crate at the Operation PUSH headquarters.

His time with his father sometimes occurred in the time between political meetings.

He and his brother Jonathan were sent to Le Mans Academy in Rolling Prairie, Indiana after Jackson was diagnosed as hyperactive.

As a young cadet, he was paddled at times for disciplinary reasons.

During his tenure there, he earned the rank of Company Commander.

Jackson repeated ninth grade and was suspended from school twice.

Jackson graduated from St. Albans School.