Vice President George H.W. Bush accused Jackson of being “swayed” in foreign policy, but the civil rights leader’s “citizen diplomacy” led to the release of hundreds of prisoners held overseas.
Jesse Jackson’s journey
Jesse Jackson’s journey
Jesse Jackson held many titles. Pastor. A leader of the civil rights movement. Democratic presidential candidate. Shadow senator of Congress in Washington, DC.
Jackson, who passed away on February 17 after a long illness, was also a versatile negotiator responsible for securing the release of hundreds of hostages, “human shields” and prisoners of war around the world. Thanks to Jackson, more than 100 Americans escaped from foreign captivity or captivity.
The civil rights icon’s efforts earned him praise from Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton and sniping from the State Department and other officials. Several of those freed were American soldiers and airmen who had been captured. Some were accused of wrongdoing by a hostile government. They were held in countries such as Cuba, Iraq, Syria, Kosovo, Gambia, and Liberia.
In awarding Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000, Clinton cited his “legendary ability to persuade people to do things they would not otherwise do to free innocent people imprisoned around the world, including American military personnel from the Middle East to the Balkans.”
Saddam Hussein’s human shield
A group of Americans were among hundreds of civilians held as human shields by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ahead of the 1990-1990 Gulf War.
A former U.S. diplomat working at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad at the time recounted Jackson’s arrival on the eve of the conflict.
“He came to the embassy and said, ‘What can I do for you?'” Stephen Thibeau said in an oral history interview with the Institute for Diplomatic Research and Training. “So Jackson met with the Iraqis, and the Iraqis actually offered to take a certain number of hostages.”
In a letter to Hussein published by the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, Jackson implored the leader not to “close the door to dialogue and humanitarianism.”
It was the plea to sit down and talk that underpinned much of his activism and so-called “citizen diplomacy.”
Jackson ‘opened the door’ to American POWs
Alvin B. Tillery, a Northwestern University political scientist who has written about black political leadership and foreign policy, said Jackson’s unique position helps explain why he was so successful in freeing Americans held overseas.
Mr. Tillery said Mr. Jackson’s position as one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “principal successors” allowed him to overcome barriers that have eluded many others. Tillery said he was someone who “opened doors and got people to pick up the phone,” a success that current government officials and members of Congress sometimes failed to achieve.
Jackson rose to fame early in life, participating in sit-ins as a teenager and participating in the deadly Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Alabama, at age 23. Jackson first entered politics in the early 1980s in Washington, D.C., and launched his first presidential campaign in 1984. That same year, he would also begin what would become a decades-long career in “Track 2” diplomacy, sometimes referred to as “humanitarian” or “humanitarian” or “humanitarian.” “People” diplomacy.
In January 1984, Jackson successfully secured the release of Lt. Robert Goodman, a U.S. Navy pilot who had been held for 30 days in Syria after being shot down over Lebanon.
President Ronald Reagan, who opposed Jackson’s efforts, said at a ceremony in the Rose Garden that “Pastor Jackson’s mission was a personal mission of mercy.” “And he has earned our gratitude and admiration.”
Jackson then traveled to Cuba in June 1984 to negotiate the release of 22 American prisoners of war held by Fidel Castro’s regime.
A 1990 conversation with Saddam Hussein led to the release of hundreds of foreigners and about 100 Americans who had been prevented from leaving the country.
In 1999, Jackson helped negotiate the release of American soldiers held by Serb forces in Kosovo, and the following year he helped negotiate the release of four journalists held in Liberia.
The effort was met with celebration and criticism.
Despite his success in negotiating his release in the mid-1980s, Mr. Jackson’s relentless lobbying sometimes worried the Reagan administration, especially as he became even more well-known during his second successful run for the White House in 1988.
When Mr. Jackson announced in July 1988 that he was interested in contacting the Iranian government through a third party to seek the release of American hostages in Lebanon, the U.S. State Department was reluctant.
State Department spokesman Charles E. Redman dismissed Mr. Jackson’s efforts, saying the government believes “the official route offers the best chance of success.”
Vice President George Bush was less diplomatic, calling Jackson a “loose cannon” who was “rolling around” on foreign policy.
Mr. Jackson’s bid for the Oval Office effectively ended in June 1988, after Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis won key primaries in California and New York. Even after failing to win the Democratic nomination, his political star power was at its peak.
Mr. Dukakis himself has not publicly supported the efforts of his fellow Democrats, telling Seattle news outlets that private citizens should not try to conduct foreign policy.
But Jackson stood his ground, straddling the line between his role as a rising Democratic Party and his role as an independent interlocutor who thrived on his ability to move beyond the rigid confines of government.
an enduring humanitarian legacy
At the time, Tillery called Jackson’s efforts to free Robert Goodman from Syria “a huge positive story for this country.” His success in rescuing three American servicemen from Kosovo 15 years later was also widely praised.
“He was a great American patriot. If he had a line with Saddam Hussein or Castro or the Syrian regime, he would try to use that line to bring Americans home, and that’s exactly what he did,” Tillery said.
For Jonathan Franks, a consultant who works on lawsuits on behalf of Americans brought abroad, Jackson’s influence and influence are unparalleled.
What makes third-party negotiators like Jackson successful are “people with a Rolodex,” he said.
“If you called me today and said, ‘I have a loved one in prison somewhere and the government won’t help me,’ my instinct would be to go find someone with a name,” Franks said.
While outcomes are not guaranteed, especially in the case of kidnapping for ransom, a high-profile name can make a big difference in drawing attention to a case, he said.
“I would have done anything to have had someone of Jesse Jackson’s moral credibility and prominence,” Franks said, recalling a recent complex case in which several Americans were released.
Kathryn Palmer is USA TODAY’s political reporter. She can be reached at the following address: kapalmer@usatoday.com And to X@Kathryn Purml. Sign up for her daily politics newsletter here.
