November 3, 1983 | Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Announces His First Campaign For President
Civil Rights Leader Rev. Jesse L. Jackson announced on November 3, 1983 that he would be a candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1984.
Jackson became the second African American after Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm to run a major national campaign for President of the United States. Rev. Jesse L. Jackson finished third in the race for the democratic nomination, receiving 3,282,431 or 18.2 percent of the total votes in the Democratic Primary. Former Vice President Walter Mondale received the nomination with a total of 6,952,912 votes or 38.2 percent. Senator Gary Hart finished second with 6,504,842 votes or 35.85 percent. It has been reported that the Jackson campaign helped register one million new voters.![By O'Halloran, Thomas J. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Jesse Jackson participating in a rally, January 15, 1975](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Jesse_Jackson_participating_in_a_rally%2C_January_15%2C_1975.jpg/512px-Jesse_Jackson_participating_in_a_rally%2C_January_15%2C_1975.jpg)
A young Jesse Jackson surrounded by marchers carrying signs advocating support for the Hawkins-Humphrey Bill for full employment, near the White House, Washington, D.C. (January 15, 1975)
![By Elvert Barnes [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons March3.J27.UFPJ.WDC.27jan07](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/March3.J27.UFPJ.WDC.27jan07.jpg/512px-March3.J27.UFPJ.WDC.27jan07.jpg)
Rev. Jesse Jackson at a 2007 anti-war rally.