How Jesse Jackson set the stage for Bernie Sanders and today’s progressives
- Written by Bert Johnson, Professor of Political Science, Middlebury College
Bernie Sanders, then the mayor of Burlington, greets Jesse Jackson backstage at a 1988 Vermont rally where he endorsed Jackson's presidential bid.AP Photo/Toby TalbotJesse Jackson’s two campaigns for president, in 1984 and 1988, were unsuccessful but historic. The civil rights activist and organizer, who died on Feb. 17, 2026, helped pave...
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