- 4 months ago
A look at the 1988 presidential run of Jesse Jackson.
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00:00Funding for Frontline is provided by this station and other public television stations nationwide,
00:07and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
00:12The big surprise of the 1988 presidential race was the phenomenal campaign of Jesse Jackson.
00:17Where the people can win!
00:20Inside the campaign, it was hope and hype driving the Jackson caravan.
00:24But in the end, Jesse lost. Or did he?
00:27I was amazed that America did as well to understand Jesse as they did.
00:32But it never approached electability.
00:36Somebody has to start it.
00:38I don't think things this big and this important get lost.
00:42Tonight on Frontline, running with Jesse.
00:52From the network of public television stations,
00:55a presentation of KCTS Seattle,
00:58WNET New York,
01:00WPBT Miami,
01:02WTVS Detroit,
01:04and WGBH Boston.
01:06This is Frontline,
01:08with Judy Woodruff.
01:13Good evening.
01:15Today, as the dust has settled from the 1988 presidential campaign,
01:19the most memorable story of the election year remains the candidacy of Jesse Jackson,
01:25the first black American to become a serious contender for the presidency.
01:30During the campaign, the most persistent question was,
01:33what does Jesse want?
01:35That question is one measure of the force of Jackson's challenge
01:39to the Democratic Party to return to its liberal roots
01:43and to America to confront its attitudes about race.
01:48A year ago, as the primary season began,
01:51Frontline climbed on Jackson's bus
01:53and followed his campaign from the Iowa caucuses
01:57to the Atlanta convention.
01:59Tonight's program is called
02:00Running with Jesse.
02:02It was produced by Orlando Bagwell
02:05and Gene Jordan.
02:06One of the forgotten children,
02:35not one of the forgotten children,
02:36one of the forgotten children,
02:36one of the forgotten children.
02:38One of the forgotten children,
02:38my name.
02:40Yard without grass,
02:42house without indoor bathroom,
02:45my name.
02:50Tin top roof,
02:54my name.
02:57My name goes in combination,
02:59every fatherless child,
03:01every poor person,
03:06Hold their heads high
03:10Say my name is his name
03:13The morning after that speech
03:17Our team from Frontline was in the crowd
03:20Waiting for Jesse Jackson to begin the final trip
03:23Of his 1988 campaign
03:25There was an air of expectation
03:28Even though technically it was too late for surprises
03:32It was now the week before the Democratic Convention
03:41Jackson did not have enough delegates
03:44To become the Democratic candidate for president
03:46And he had pointedly not been chosen
03:49By Michael Dukakis as his running mate
03:51Yet he was still on center stage
03:53And he was doing nothing to discourage rumors
03:57That something dramatic would happen on this bus trip
04:00Others were taking a plane to the convention in Atlanta
04:04But in a conscious echo of the civil rights days
04:07Jackson was taking a bus all the way from Chicago
04:10Our team was in the caravan
04:15Watching both the candidate and the people who covered him
04:18It was old-fashioned travel
04:22With new-fangled technology
04:24We had now been covering Jackson's run
04:28For the Democratic nomination for six months
04:30This last campaign trip became for us
04:33An emblem of the whole Jackson campaign
04:35A combination of hype and hope
04:38I think quite frankly
04:40It was a media coup for Reverend Jackson
04:43As far as I'm concerned
04:44It was Reverend Jackson at his best
04:47In terms of manipulating the media
04:49Here were most of us thinking that
04:52This was going to be a caravan of supporters
04:55That they were going to pick up buses along the way
04:58And there would be thousands and thousands and thousands
05:01Of Jackson people marching into Atlanta
05:04Well it turned out
05:06It was Reverend Jackson
05:07And four busloads of the national press
05:10By now reporters Mike Frisbee and Doreen Carvajal
05:15Were well aware of Jackson's media savvy
05:17It was all prop
05:19It was all staging
05:21And it was very, very shrewd
05:24It helped him steal the thunder
05:27Going into the convention
05:31The focus was on him
05:32Not on the top candidate
05:35He had all these reporters
05:39With nothing else to write about
05:41Except him
05:41It was like being a hostage on the bus
05:45Only a few members of the press
05:48Could fit on Jackson's bus at a time
05:50The caravan stopped by the side of the interstate
05:53To let reporters on and off the front bus
05:55Jackson's press secretary
05:59Delmarie Cobb
06:00Tried to keep order
06:01I was told it was a bigger bus than it is
06:04And that we were going to have at least 10 people on it
06:06There's no room to even turn on the bus
06:08If there were more bus that you can't have a bus
06:10It's still kind of hot at least
06:11We're not even supposed to be staying stopping here
06:13Except that you all got off the bus
06:15This was vintage Jackson campaigning
06:19A kind of structured free form
06:22There was a schedule, a map, and a plan
06:25But getting the schedule, seeing the map, or learning the plan
06:28Was the challenge
06:30Our turn on the front bus
06:33Came when we stopped 20 miles outside Atlanta
06:35To pick up extra passengers
06:37Waiting by the side of the road
06:41Was CBS News anchor Dan Rather
06:44Escorted by Jackson's political advisor
06:47Burt Lance
06:48Lucas came with a immigrant ship
06:57My force came with a slave ship
06:58But the same boat now
07:01And our destinies are bound
07:03If we were living in a royal blood arrangement
07:06Maybe our ships would never meet
07:08But in a democracy
07:10Our ships are not passing in the night
07:11Our ships are the same dock
07:14That's the genius of my system
07:16This democracy has its best
07:18At the beginning of this campaign
07:21Political analysts often dismissed Jackson
07:24As a protest candidate
07:26Who would appeal only to blacks
07:27But 7 million people
07:30Not just blacks
07:31Voted for him
07:32Jackson had never once been elected to political office
07:36Yet here he was entering Atlanta
07:38The runner-up for the Democratic nomination
07:41The official nominating process had begun here
07:47In February
07:48At the Iowa caucuses
07:50In Iowa politics is personal
07:57They say if a candidate doesn't come shake your hand
08:02Then you don't vote for him
08:03Jesse Jackson
08:10Jesse Jackson
08:10Determined to run in all 50 states
08:13Brought his small campaign to Iowa early
08:15He was not expected to do well
08:18He did not attract much national press
08:21We were just traveling around
08:23In a couple of vans
08:25One van was for the reporters
08:27We were just this little band of survivors
08:31There were maybe four or five of us
08:36And it was extremely cold then
08:40We were all bundled up
08:42In our thermals and things like that
08:44And we would chase them through the snow
08:47The population of Iowa is mostly rural
08:5297% white
08:54So the black preacher from Chicago
09:01Was an event
09:02Some of them were there out of curiosity
09:06Sort of dazzled by him
09:09And would go up to him and ask for autographs
09:11And you know
09:12Try to hug him
09:14Or hold him
09:15Or touch him
09:16And it was just a very innocent time
09:20People weren't paying as much attention to him
09:24The focus was on most of the other candidates
09:26I was facing foreclosure
09:28Had gotten the foreclosure notice
09:30And in the spring of 85
09:33And got a hold of Jesse
09:35And we got a telegram to our local banker
09:39He offered to come sit down at a mediation table
09:42And try to work this thing out
09:44Between myself and my bankers
09:46And we wound up going through some reorganization
09:50Giving some things back
09:51But we still got every anchor
09:53And we're going to farm
09:54And we're going to continue to farm
09:56But we couldn't have done it without Jesse
10:00And we needed him
10:01Jackson brought that farmer from nearby Missouri
10:07To speak at a rally in the tiny town of Greenfield
10:10Most of the candidates had their Iowa headquarters in Des Moines
10:15The state capital
10:16Jackson put his in Greenfield to make the point that this was a populist campaign
10:21A campaign for ordinary people
10:23Jesse Jackson came to the church I attend in Greenfield
10:28And we thought maybe we'd have 50 people there
10:31So we had a potluck and lemonade
10:33We got lemonade for 50 people and hoped we wouldn't be embarrassed
10:36And the church was filled to overflowing
10:39There were almost a thousand people there
10:41And he spoke to us that night
10:43And talked about rural people joining forces with urban people
10:48And he said rural feeders and urban eaters
10:52And that sort of caught everyone's attention
10:55Some presidents hang pictures on the wall of the White House
10:59I'm going to hang a map of Greenfield on the wall of the White House
11:02Months later, after the convention
11:08Jackson still spoke fondly of Greenfield
11:12How can I ever forget the love in Greenfield hour
11:16As people reached out and grew and got bigger than themselves
11:21It was this whole trauma where people wrestled with race earnestly
11:26But in a rather non-threatening, non-confrontational way
11:32Where people would say, well we like the Jesse Jackson message
11:36We like his courage
11:38We like the way he presents his argument
11:41We like his positions
11:43We like his standing with us at the plant gate
11:45The farm gate
11:46But they could not get across the but
11:51To the therefore we would support him
11:54Jesse Jackson is our man
11:56He'll take us through the land
11:58He's going to be on the next president
12:00In Iowa, Jackson won 10% of the delegates
12:04Finishing fourth in a field of eight
12:06I remember the state for coming out of Iowa
12:10Moving toward New Hampshire
12:11Although we had gone into double digits
12:15Which was beyond what the projected expectation was
12:19We were on network TV that week for 15 seconds
12:24Dukaka, Simon Gephardt between 22 and 24 minutes of network time
12:30So we were dismissed
12:32A week later, in the New Hampshire primary
12:37Jackson did no better than he did in Iowa
12:40A distant fourth
12:42Once the campaign began
12:45I was determined
12:46To see it to the end
12:47I knew if we survived Iowa
12:50Survived New Hampshire and got south
12:53We were going to change the equation
12:56Because we would have a running chance
12:59Of people who would put their hopes and their beliefs
13:02And their votes in the same direction
13:04Jackson was counting on the south
13:07For the first time
13:10Almost all the southern states
13:11Were holding primaries on the same day
13:14Super Tuesday was devised by southern democrats
13:17To give the south more clout
13:18In nominating a conservative democrat for president
13:21Yet Jackson strategists
13:24Saw Super Tuesday as a golden opportunity
13:27For their candidate
13:28Our joke was
13:32Let's not tell them
13:33What that really means
13:35For us
13:36We like the idea
13:39That they are organizing
13:41A Super Tuesday
13:43And, you know
13:45To the degree that they think
13:46That it will
13:47Make them more powerful
13:49It's all right
13:49Because we really know
13:50What that means
13:51In the south
13:58Almost 20% of eligible voters
14:00Are black
14:01Jackson's strategy
14:02Depended on a large
14:04Black voter turnout
14:05In March of 1988
14:08At the United House of Prayer
14:09In Charlotte, North Carolina
14:11We saw something
14:12We had not seen
14:13A month before
14:14In the chilly towns of Iowa
14:15Instead of polite interest
14:18In the Jackson campaign
14:19We saw enthusiasm
14:21Here, there was a feeling
14:30Of homecoming
14:31And a belief
14:32That this campaign
14:34Could succeed
14:35The challenge for Jackson
14:47Was to find a way
14:48To compete
14:49In 20 states at once
14:50With no money
14:52By March
14:53The campaign
14:54Was already
14:55Hundreds of thousands
14:56Of dollars in debt
14:57For a strategy
14:59Jackson turned
15:00To his campaign manager
15:02Gerald Austin
15:03We decided that
15:05The best way
15:06To deal with Super Tuesday
15:08Is we never
15:09Would have a million dollars
15:10For media
15:12But if we were able
15:14To get a large enough plane
15:15To take the media
15:17With us
15:17And go to four
15:19Or five
15:19Or sometimes even six
15:20Different media markets
15:21In a day
15:22That was our media
15:23The campaign picked
15:2682 congressional districts
15:27Where they thought
15:28Jackson could win delegates
15:29And the candidates
15:30Started running
15:31With the press
15:32Chasing behind
15:33To the beat
15:33Of a campaign song
15:35Ready for another one?
15:36I'm ready
15:36Let's go
15:37Nothing's gonna stop you
15:41Jesse
15:41Don't let nothing
15:44Turn you around
15:46Run Jesse
15:48Run
15:48Run on Jesse
15:49Run
15:50We would start in Georgia
15:53Fly to Texas
15:54Fly to Maryland
15:55Back to North Carolina
15:56Overnight in Alabama
15:58People would say
15:59Oh where'd you just come from
16:00And I
16:01I would feel like an idiot
16:02Because I'd have to pause
16:04Something
16:04I can't remember
16:06So you better just run
16:09Jesse
16:09Run
16:10Because the people
16:13They need you
16:14Nothing's gonna stop you
16:17You better see
16:18You'd get out there
16:19And he'd give that speech
16:20You'd see the crowd
16:21That was the elixir
16:22Boom
16:23You know
16:24All of a sudden
16:24He turned on
16:25He was magic
16:26And they'd get back on the bus
16:28And he'd look like
16:28The rest of us
16:30Run Jesse
16:31Run
16:32We
16:34Jesse
16:35We
16:35Nothing's gonna stop
16:39When Jesse
16:39Look at this
16:48They got a Mexican string band
16:49Let's go
16:50Lookin' good
16:51Lookin' good
16:52Lookin' good
16:53Lookin' good
16:56Brownsville, Texas
17:00One of many stops
17:02On the day before
17:03Super Tuesday
17:04The crowds were large
17:06And enthusiastic
17:07When Jackson ran for president
17:10In 1984
17:11He talked about
17:12A rainbow coalition
17:14But most of his support
17:15Came from blacks
17:16In this election
17:18He was still getting
17:19Little help
17:20From the white
17:20Democratic establishment
17:22One of the few
17:24Nationally known
17:25Democrats
17:26To endorse him
17:26Was Texas
17:27Commissioner of Agriculture
17:28Jim Hightower
17:29He had learned
17:31From 84
17:32And I'm not
17:33I'm not trying to say
17:34Here he was more
17:35Strident in 84
17:36Or more
17:38Black oriented
17:39In 84
17:40Though I think
17:41He was
17:41But I think
17:43More significant
17:44Is that
17:45His message
17:47Was clearly
17:47One of populism
17:48And he wouldn't
17:50Talk to any audience
17:51Without talking
17:52About the
17:52Inclusive
17:53Inclusiveness
17:54That is needed
17:55Within
17:55The Democratic Party
17:57And for the country
17:58A new Texas
18:00I want for women
18:02Prenatal care
18:03And then headstop
18:05And daycare
18:06On the front side
18:08Of life
18:08Rather than jail care
18:10And welfare
18:11On the back side
18:12Let's educate our children
18:13And give our children
18:14Give me my juicy
18:42Give me my juicy
18:44The endless rallies
18:50And plane rides
18:51And practically no sleep
18:53Seemed to be paying off
18:54Polls were showing
18:56A burst of support
18:57For Jackson
18:58But in this campaign
19:02Jackson had not received
19:04Something he wanted
19:05Very badly
19:06Martin Luther King Jr.
19:11Had been his mentor
19:12But when Jackson
19:14Ran for president
19:14In 1984
19:15He did not receive
19:17The endorsement
19:18Of Coretta Scott King
19:19Or Andrew Young
19:20Or other veteran leaders
19:22Of the civil rights movement
19:24Keep the dream alive
19:25Let the quest
19:27This time
19:28Most black elected officials
19:30Did endorse Jackson
19:31He did not surrender
19:32But once again
19:34His movement colleagues
19:35Kept their distance
19:37And Georgia
19:37And Mississippi
19:38We the people
19:39We the people can win
19:41I didn't endorse anybody
19:42But I tried to work
19:44With everybody
19:45I even tried to work
19:47With some Republicans
19:48Behind the scenes
19:49Because I think
19:50It's important
19:50That the issues
19:54Affecting this country
19:55Are not just partisan issues
19:56Issues like South Africa
19:58Issues like drugs
19:59Issues like child care
20:01Those are not partisan issues
20:03I never harbored
20:04Any bitterness
20:06Or hostility
20:07Even toward those
20:09Toward those
20:09Who did not support
20:10Because I knew
20:11It would just be
20:12A matter of time
20:13You weren't hurt
20:14Not really
20:15I was prepared
20:18It's like if you
20:19Were running a football
20:20Through the line of scrimmage
20:21You may get real
20:23Hit real hard
20:24But you're so focused
20:25On the goal line
20:27And you're so conditioned
20:29To expect
20:29To be hit
20:31You're hit
20:31But you're not hurt
20:32Even without that support
20:34Jackson got 91%
20:36Of the record black vote
20:37On Super Tuesday
20:38Although he received
20:39Only 7%
20:40Of the white vote
20:41He won
20:42The overall popular
20:43If we can run
20:44In 20 states
20:45In one day
20:46With a hundred thousand
20:49Dollar budget
20:50Oh when we catch them
20:52State by state
20:54And day by day
20:56They got high tech
20:59We got grassroots
21:01They got commercials
21:03We got a message
21:05They got a rich campaign
21:09And looking for a leader
21:11We got a leader
21:13We can make it
21:14We got leadership
21:16We got courage
21:17We got direction
21:19We have exterior
21:20At the tables gate
21:21We the people
21:23Can win
21:23We the people
21:25Can win
21:26We the people
21:27Can win. We the people can win. We the people can win. We the people can win. We the people can win.
21:37The day after Super Tuesday, we followed Jackson home to Chicago.
21:41Lord, for his sake, Jesus, it'll take one day at a time.
21:50It was in Chicago in the 1960s that Jackson first made his mark as a civil rights activist.
22:20But for our sake, Jesus, it'll take one day at a time.
22:31People in Chicago know Jesse Jackson well. He is not universally admired.
22:37But on that day, at Operation Push headquarters, he was among friends.
22:41I want to write a headline. Jackson feeds hungry. Jackson sets the captain free.
22:56Jackson inspires children. Jackson brings people together. Jackson builds. Jackson brings peace.
23:08I want to make a headline. I want to make a headline.
23:10The one reason why Jesse is not as popular in Chicago as he is in the rest of the country
23:16is that people here have known him too well for too long.
23:18They remember the early, more brash, more arrogant Jesse Jackson.
23:22And they look with a much more jaundiced eye when you start saying,
23:26well, Jesse has changed. He's more humble now.
23:30Chicagoans just have a hard time believing that.
23:33Even though Jackson won the Super Tuesday popular vote,
23:37Michael Dukakis was still ahead in the race for delegates.
23:40Both Dukakis and Jackson saw the coming Illinois primary as crucial.
23:57Complicating the situation was the United States Senator from Illinois, Paul Simon.
24:02Simon did poorly in the early primaries.
24:10He did not run on Super Tuesday, but resurrected his campaign in Illinois.
24:16Jackson saw Simon as a spoiler.
24:19He held on to run a one-state campaign propped up by the Democratic State Party machinery
24:29as an, in fact, favorite son for the state.
24:33And then he left Illinois and, with a faint effort, lost again.
24:42And rather than withdraw in an honorable way from the campaign process,
24:48at which time, since I came in number two, I would have gotten 47 delegates.
24:53He did not quit the campaign.
24:56He suspended the campaign.
24:59I thought that that maneuvering was beneath the dignity that Senator Simon
25:06and the fairness that he'd always projected.
25:11I'm sure he feels that way, but Simon was playing practical politics,
25:16and Jackson is also now a very practical politician.
25:20And the fact of the matter is, is that the entrenched political structure here
25:25is still mainly a white-dominated structure.
25:29Those people on the Democratic Central Committee did not want Jesse Jackson.
25:34They wanted to go, as Paul Simon delegates, to the National Convention,
25:38and they weren't going to switch.
25:44Five days before the primary,
25:48Simon and Jackson appeared together at a Democratic unity dinner.
25:52There simply is, is no better and more aggressive and more sensitive senator
25:57in, in Washington today than Paul Simon.
26:01And, and I intend to keep him there.
26:10That's my real point.
26:14That's my real point.
26:16He's so great, we need to keep him right there in that center.
26:20When Jackson was not playing hardball politics,
26:23he was often in a high school gym.
26:27He made a point of going to two or three high schools a week,
26:31even though the students could not vote.
26:34At Naperville North High School, near Chicago,
26:38Jackson's presence electrified the students.
26:41These events seemed to rejuvenate Jackson as well.
26:49On the day of the Illinois primary, though,
26:52future voters were of no use to Jackson.
26:54He needed people who could vote for him now.
26:59He went to the Robert Taylor Homes,
27:01a high-rise housing project,
27:03to get out the vote.
27:04You want him, you got him!
27:06Come on, put your mind to it!
27:07Vote for Jackson, Jackson!
27:09You know what we want from the D.A. Ferguson!
27:12Come on down, put your mind to it!
27:15You want him, you got him!
27:17These were people he knew.
27:19He hoped he could count on them.
27:21I'd walked through that area many times before.
27:27That was Harold Washington's ward,
27:29and he was an alderman, for example.
27:32And when he ran for mayor,
27:34we campaigned together in that same area.
27:40Just as on Super Tuesday,
27:42Jackson needed a record black turnout
27:44to put him over the top.
27:46But the Jackson campaign worried
27:47that blacks here were not well organized,
27:50and that voter registration rules
27:52might keep many away from the polls.
27:54Everybody get those!
27:56I do make them!
27:57Come on, boy!
27:58You're the blue jeans!
27:58It's each other, folks, and Jesse Jackson!
28:01The Gallup poll shows
28:03that in the election you're held today,
28:04not one of the Democratic candidates
28:06could beat George Bush or Bob Dole.
28:09Cap Island, Channel 5 Eyewitness News, Chicago.
28:13Our campaign of hope is winning.
28:15I feel very good about it.
28:16Senator Simon won the Democratic primary in Illinois.
28:19Jesse Jackson was a distant second.
28:22Blacks did not vote in record numbers,
28:24and once again,
28:24Jackson received just 7% of the white vote.
28:28There is much to celebrate.
28:32It seems that the people of this great state
28:34has done well by its two favorite sons.
28:39Tonight, they paid their respects
28:43to a sitting senator
28:45who focused on one state,
28:49and they've done well
28:51by our campaign
28:53as we focus in every state,
28:57every race,
28:59against all odds
29:00across this country.
29:01The next big hurdle was Michigan,
29:10another large industrial state.
29:13Despite the Illinois loss,
29:15Jackson still led the Democrats
29:17in popular votes.
29:19But many analysts felt
29:21he had reached his peak.
29:24Key local and national Democrats
29:27began to endorse Dukakis.
29:28Early statewide polls in Michigan
29:31predicted a sure Jackson defeat.
29:35No one was caught more off guard
29:36by what happened next
29:38than those of us
29:39who were covering Jackson.
29:41Good evening.
29:42Jesse Jackson's shocker landslide
29:44in yesterday's Michigan caucuses
29:46has put the Democratic presidential fight
29:48in chaos again tonight.
29:50The numbers tell the story,
29:51with Jackson beating
29:52Governor Michael Dukakis
29:53by roughly a 2-1 margin.
29:55Jesse Jackson,
29:57the Democratic front-runner?
29:58Today,
29:59that's the way it looks.
30:04NBC Nightly News.
30:06The same media that said
30:08he shouldn't run,
30:11he never should have run,
30:14he can't do as well in 88
30:17as he did in 84.
30:19Can a black run?
30:21I mean,
30:21can a black win?
30:22Is he electable?
30:23That same media came out of,
30:26out of Michigan
30:28in trauma.
30:29For many in the party hierarchy,
30:31Jackson's surge is a mind-blower.
30:33They dreaded
30:34that it would happen in Michigan,
30:36but it did happen.
30:37I cannot wait to defeat
30:38George Bush in November.
30:41Jesse Jackson's victory
30:42in Michigan last weekend
30:43has drastically changed
30:45the shape of the 1988 campaign.
30:47Stunned party professionals
30:48are saying,
30:49sometimes unhappily,
30:51he really might be the nominee.
30:52Somebody's either got to
30:54beat Jesse Jackson
30:55at these rules,
30:56or they've got to
30:58change the rules
30:58and say,
30:59it's the first white guy
31:00across the line who wins,
31:02not just the first guy
31:03across the line.
31:04I think that everybody
31:04was shocked.
31:06People in Washington
31:07were apoplectic.
31:08the mood in this town
31:11was,
31:12oh my God,
31:12this guy could win
31:13the nomination.
31:15And it wasn't only
31:16in this town,
31:17it was all over the country.
31:18All of a sudden,
31:19Jesse Jackson won
31:20a significant state,
31:22one he was not expected
31:23to win,
31:24and now he's a serious candidate.
31:26In one week,
31:31headlines changed
31:32from what does Jesse want
31:33to can he win.
31:43After Michigan,
31:44Jesse Jackson was ahead
31:45of all the other Democrats
31:46in both the popular vote
31:48and in convention delegates.
31:51He arrived in Wisconsin
31:53with polls predicting
31:54he might win again.
31:58Those were really
31:58magical times
31:59for that campaign.
32:01Some office holders
32:02are not leaders,
32:04and some leaders
32:05are not office holders.
32:06I'm a leader.
32:07My experience has brought...
32:08We went to Wisconsin
32:10to this dairy farm.
32:12It was a bigger population
32:14that he got in Watts
32:16in L.A.
32:18when he,
32:19in the middle of the day.
32:21And there was just,
32:24this tension in the air.
32:27What's happening?
32:28What's happening?
32:30Can you do it?
32:31I think you saw
32:32Reverend Jackson
32:32a little bolder.
32:35I think you saw
32:36his supporters
32:37a little more spirited.
32:40On the downside, though,
32:41when Reverend Jackson
32:42gets bold,
32:44sometimes it's not
32:45the best political
32:47thing to do.
32:48Jackson was now
32:49under intense media scrutiny,
32:51and suddenly
32:52one of his bold moves
32:53backfired.
32:54As long as he kept moving,
32:56he was fine.
32:56But when he paused
32:57after a rally
32:58in front of a union hall
32:59to take questions,
33:00they were nearly all
33:01about this.
33:02Panamanian General
33:03Noriega's letter
33:04in response
33:04to Jackson's offer
33:05of help
33:06in arranging
33:07Noriega's exit.
33:08The general
33:08offered to meet
33:09with Jackson,
33:10but Jackson today
33:11seemed to be backing
33:12out of the Noriega issue
33:13in all directions,
33:14as if he decided
33:15it wasn't a good
33:16political opportunity
33:17after all.
33:18Would he meet
33:18with Noriega?
33:19I would not do that now.
33:21I simply would appeal
33:22to members
33:22of the Congress
33:23to get more information.
33:25I didn't know about it
33:26until after it was done.
33:27I think it was a mistake,
33:29but I don't think
33:29it was the mistake.
33:32I think that
33:33it wasn't helpful.
33:35People,
33:36especially reporters,
33:36were out there
33:37waiting for Jesse Jackson
33:38to make a mistake.
33:39He did.
33:40That was a mistake.
33:42But I think that
33:43the reason we didn't
33:44do well in Wisconsin
33:45was a combination of things.
33:46We're the America,
33:47and that's our job.
33:48Number one,
33:52because we won in Michigan,
33:54people were saying,
33:55this guy could be president.
33:56This guy could win
33:57this nomination.
33:58I don't know
33:58that I want to vote for him.
34:00When I was voting for him
34:01as sort of a protest,
34:02because I liked
34:03what he had to say,
34:03that was one thing.
34:04But now I've got to look
34:05at it a different way.
34:06It's a different kind of vote.
34:10Jackson lost in Wisconsin
34:11almost 2-1.
34:12For a brief week,
34:15he had momentum.
34:16Win, Jesse, win!
34:17Win, Jesse, win!
34:19Now, the analysts
34:21were saying,
34:22to keep going,
34:23he must win
34:23the next primary.
34:25And the next primary
34:26was in New York.
34:27He believed,
34:29and I believe,
34:29that he could win
34:30in the state of New York
34:31and then use that
34:33to go on
34:34and maybe win
34:36at the convention
34:36as well,
34:37because he did win
34:38in a number of states,
34:40took a lot of southern states
34:42and some northern states
34:43and came in second.
34:44So,
34:45in a large number.
34:47So I perceived him
34:48as a very important candidate
34:50who had to be carefully
34:51scrutinized
34:53like you would
34:53any first-rate candidate
34:55running for the Democratic Party's
34:57highest nomination.
34:59New York City Mayor
35:00Ed Koch
35:01is seldom hesitant
35:01about expressing his opinions.
35:03He soon let the media
35:04know his views
35:05on Jesse Jackson.
35:06But on the other hand,
35:08he's praising Arafat
35:09and he thinks
35:10maybe Jews
35:10and other supporters
35:11of Israel
35:12should vote for him.
35:13They've got to be crazy.
35:14In the same way,
35:15they would be crazy
35:16if they were black
35:17and voted for someone
35:18who was praising Bota
35:21and the racist supporters
35:25of the South African administration.
35:27You understand what I'm saying?
35:28He's got two standards.
35:30They're not my standards.
35:31And so,
35:32I have said
35:33that it's very bad
35:35to contemplate
35:36having Jackson as president.
35:39I can remember
35:40arriving at
35:41Newark Airport
35:43and walking by a newsstand
35:45as I usually do
35:46when I come into a town
35:46just looking at the headline
35:47of the paper.
35:48And, you know,
35:49there's so many papers
35:50in New York
35:50but I concentrated
35:51on Newsday.
35:53It's a Long Island paper
35:54and the headline was
35:55Jesse Jackson
35:56and the Jews.
35:58I thought it was
35:59New Rock Group
35:59and I thought to myself,
36:01I'm in for it here.
36:03In 1984,
36:04Jackson had called
36:05New York City
36:06Jaime Town.
36:07Newspapers carried
36:08pictures of him
36:09with PLO leader
36:10Yasser Arafat
36:11and black Muslim leader
36:12Louis Farrakhan.
36:13In this campaign,
36:14people were still
36:15passionate on these subjects
36:16even if they didn't
36:17always have their facts straight.
36:19What do you think of Jackson?
36:20Not very much.
36:22Why?
36:22Why?
36:23Because he stands
36:24on all the wrong things.
36:26I was just telling
36:27these gentlemen here.
36:28The same thing happens.
36:29He says that
36:30he won't deal
36:30with South African governments
36:32or South American governments
36:34because they're terrorists.
36:35Yet he embraces
36:36and kisses
36:37Anwar Sadat
36:38or the PLO.
36:39He loves the PLO.
36:40And they're admitted,
36:42Anwar Sadat admitted
36:43on television
36:43that he's in fact
36:45a terrorist.
36:47So where does he stand?
36:48Mr. Jackson.
36:49What is going to happen?
36:50I like Reverend Jackson.
36:53My problem was
36:54Farrakhan.
36:57And I have not heard him
36:58cut himself loose
36:59from him yet.
37:00And that was my problem.
37:02Because I do like the man.
37:03I think he's fantastic.
37:05But his connection
37:06with Farrakhan
37:07frightens me.
37:08New York was hell.
37:21It was a situation
37:22where obviously
37:25there were so many
37:26death threats
37:26on Reverend Jackson's life
37:28that the Secret Service
37:30was very uptight.
37:32By uptight,
37:34I mean that
37:34they were super precautious.
37:36It was difficult
37:37for reporters
37:38to get close
37:38to Reverend Jackson
37:39at those times.
37:41Everything was tense.
37:43Every single day
37:44of that campaign
37:45was filled with tension.
37:52This week
37:53with David Brinkley.
37:54Well, I don't want to talk
37:55about black-Jewish
37:56confrontation
37:57because I don't think
37:58that's the issue.
37:59I think the issue is
38:00who's good for America
38:01and I want to talk
38:02about Jesse Jackson's
38:03character flaws
38:04if I may.
38:05Why do you think
38:06that Coretta Scott King
38:08and Hosea Williams
38:09and Andy Young
38:10as of last week
38:11have not endorsed
38:12Reverend Jackson?
38:14It is, I think,
38:14because when he was
38:16under stress
38:17and Dr. King
38:19was assassinated,
38:21he didn't tell the truth.
38:23He said he cradled
38:24Dr. King's head
38:25in his arms
38:26with the last man
38:27to speak with him.
38:28His shirt was bloody
38:29and he wore it
38:30for two days.
38:31It wasn't truthful.
38:32When under stress again,
38:34when he uttered
38:35the words
38:35Hymeetown.
38:36And I'm not faulting him
38:38in this election
38:39as a result of that.
38:40I'm faulting him
38:41for lying
38:42and saying he did not.
38:44Do you want a president
38:45who under stress
38:46is not capable
38:47of telling the truth?
38:48I never attacked him
38:49personally.
38:50I always said
38:51that Jesse Jackson
38:52was one of the smartest,
38:53if not the smartest,
38:54candidate running
38:55and the most charismatic.
38:57But I didn't agree
38:58with his philosophy.
39:00It was personal
39:01and it was racial.
39:04It was mean.
39:05It was ugly.
39:07It was unprovoked.
39:08It was unnecessary.
39:10It was the worst
39:12of leadership.
39:13Was I doing my job
39:14when others were not?
39:16Now maybe I didn't do it
39:18as well as I could have
39:19and I plead guilty
39:20to that.
39:21But if you're
39:21a lonely voice,
39:23you know,
39:23and there's no one else
39:24talking,
39:25you sound loud,
39:26you sound strident.
39:27Two days before
39:30the New York primary,
39:31Mayor Koch marched
39:32in the Israeli
39:32Independence Day parade
39:34with his preferred
39:35candidate for president,
39:36Al Gore.
39:38Michael Dukakis
39:38was also there.
39:40Jesse Jackson
39:41was conspicuously absent.
39:43Down with Jackson!
39:44Down with Jackson!
39:46Down with Jackson!
39:48Down with Jackson!
39:50At that moment
39:50in another part of town,
39:52Jackson was leading
39:53a parade of his own
39:54across the Williamsburg Bridge,
39:56which was closed
39:57for repairs.
39:59He said he wanted
40:01to draw attention
40:02to the city's
40:03crumbling infrastructure.
40:05But Jackson found
40:07it hard to get away
40:08from accusations
40:09that he was simply
40:10avoiding the Jewish community.
40:12The constant public
40:14challenges
40:15by the council
40:17of Jewish leaders
40:18who kept challenging
40:20us to come
40:21meet with them,
40:23in one sense,
40:23not so much
40:24to dialogue
40:26and that atmosphere
40:27and get a better
40:27understanding,
40:28but it was
40:28a big political
40:30talk of war.
40:31Is that why
40:31you didn't meet
40:32with them?
40:32Correct.
40:34The mayor
40:35led the charge
40:35with a religious
40:36and ethnic litmus
40:39test for support,
40:41and there was
40:41a lot of fury
40:43in the air,
40:44and I refused
40:45to bring our campaign
40:47down to that level,
40:48and so I suffered
40:50it to be.
40:51In other primaries,
40:52Jackson had often
40:53ventured into
40:53unfriendly voter territory.
40:56In New York,
40:56he stuck closer
40:57to his constituency,
40:58and as usual,
40:59he looked to
41:00future voters.
41:02If I was old enough,
41:04I'd vote for
41:04so many times.
41:07Do you think
41:07that he can become
41:08president?
41:09Yes.
41:09Do you think
41:09he'll be a good president?
41:10Yes, I'm putting
41:11all my wishes to him.
41:12Win, Jesse, win!
41:14Win, Jesse, win!
41:16When I win,
41:17the children win!
41:19When I win,
41:21seniors win!
41:22When I win,
41:23justice wins!
41:25When I win,
41:26hope wins!
41:28You must keep
41:29hope alive!
41:31Keep hope alive!
41:34Keep hope alive!
41:36Vote!
41:36Keep hope alive!
41:38Vote!
41:39Keep hope alive!
41:40Vote!
41:41Keep hope alive!
41:42Vote!
41:43Keep hope alive!
41:44Vote!
41:45Keep hope alive!
41:46Vote!
41:47Keep hope alive!
41:48Vote!
41:49Jackson lost the New York primary, decisively.
41:52The next morning, as the campaign moved on to Pennsylvania,
41:55the atmosphere was thick with disappointment.
41:59Have your attention, please.
42:01In approximately three minutes, we will arrive 30th Street Station, Philadelphia.
42:05We have to check the siege.
42:07You have all of your personal belongings.
42:11For those of us covering Jackson, the campaign seemed to be on its last legs.
42:16Even campaign insiders were discouraged.
42:25It's obvious to me that we were not going to win this nomination.
42:30And we went into Pennsylvania, which was going to be the worst big state in the country for us,
42:34because it was win-and-take-all.
42:36And except for, you know, votes in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia area,
42:42there's a vast wasteland there for us.
42:43We were not filed in all the congressional districts.
42:48And I think the campaign at that point went from a campaign to a crusade
42:54and basically fell back on a lot of what went on in 1984.
42:58It became a movement.
43:00The campaign shifted dramatically for Jarrah at that point.
43:03As long as we were on the interstate, on the thoroughfare, Jarrah was managing a regular campaign.
43:11When we went to Pennsylvania, we had to go the alternate route.
43:14And he was not equipped emotionally for the alternate route as he had been for the regular route.
43:20After New York, Al Gore withdrew from the race.
43:25But Jackson kept campaigning.
43:27He sat still only long enough to get prepared for the next appearance.
43:31This time, a debate with Dukakis in Pittsburgh.
43:33The Jackson staff continued publicly to campaign as usual.
43:50I'll be right back.
43:52If Jackson had doubts, he kept them to himself.
43:56Many around me felt a sense of letdown because of New York.
44:04I could not be down.
44:05I had to lift them up.
44:07I had to keep people moving.
44:10Because once we left New York, and only Dukakis and I remained,
44:15I had to keep earning votes against the media saying that we were going to inevitably lose.
44:24If we did win, it would be a catastrophe.
44:27All that doomsday talk.
44:29And I knew I had to go from Pennsylvania to California.
44:32And we could not surrender.
44:34It was a confusing time in the campaign.
44:59The press kept reporting there was no way Jackson could win.
45:04That Dukakis was the inevitable nominee.
45:09But Jackson kept trying to seize some advantage,
45:12while his campaign seemed to be disintegrating from within,
45:15as key staff members voiced their private doubts publicly.
45:21I pissed him off on more than one occasion by something I said.
45:26Most of the time, it was the wrong thing to say.
45:29A couple of times, I thought I was right in what I said.
45:32But his attitude was, I shouldn't have been saying anything.
45:34What I should have been doing was making sure the money was there,
45:36doing the administrative part, and let the speaking be to him.
45:39Jackson's response, which was correct, was,
45:41you can't get screwed by a reporter if you don't talk to him.
45:43I appeal him to you to do so.
45:45I know you will do it.
45:46In the jargon of the 1988 campaign,
45:49Jackson was his own spin doctor.
45:52He made a habit of calling reporters
45:53whose stories were not to his liking.
45:56Steve.
45:57Hey, Buck, how you doing?
45:58Well, good.
45:59Good, good, good, good.
46:01Great.
46:02Let me bring you a little clarity on this article yesterday.
46:05First of all, our campaign is in high gear
46:08and driving toward June 7th
46:14with great hope of winning the nomination.
46:18He doesn't screw around with small fright.
46:20I mean, if he's got a problem with CNN,
46:22he calls Ted Turner.
46:23Doesn't call the president of CNN,
46:25he calls Ted Turner.
46:26He's got a problem with the Washington Post.
46:28He calls Ben Bradley.
46:29And he's not shy about doing it.
46:32So, my brother, I don't want the people back home
46:34to have any mixed signals.
46:36Our campaign is full gear.
46:39Okay?
46:40Because I saw that particular article,
46:42which was a bit misleading.
46:49Life can be quite miserable
46:50with people who are on the plane
46:56learning their trade at your expense
46:59and opinionating every day
47:01and having such an impact upon your career,
47:05your destiny,
47:06interpreting what you're doing.
47:08If somebody writes something that he doesn't like,
47:10you know, he'll call you up the front of the plane,
47:13you know,
47:14what about this?
47:15What about this?
47:18You know, you'd see him.
47:19I mean, he was very good at that.
47:21He was very good at intimidating people.
47:23And a lot of people fell for it.
47:25And they would allow themselves to be intimidated.
47:28We really did not have an antagonistic relationship
47:31with the people on the plane,
47:34people who traveled with us.
47:37Basically because I did not watch
47:38very much television during the campaign
47:40and read very few articles about myself.
47:44No way.
47:46No way.
47:47I mean, he, you know,
47:49he read every chance he got.
47:51We used to hand him stuff on the plane.
47:53You know, he'd read everything about him.
48:01At a get-out-the-vote rally in Canton, Ohio,
48:04Jackson let his irritation with the press show.
48:08You talked to Jerry Austin and Willie Brown
48:11about not speaking up so much
48:13about the direction of the campaign
48:14and letting you handle that?
48:16We personally have talks within our,
48:19in the circle about how to,
48:21interpret who we are.
48:25So let's just stand out for the procedure.
48:27I choose, since you raised it,
48:29to bring clarity.
48:30Number one, make this very clear.
48:33We are running right through June 7th.
48:38Write that down.
48:40We're running hard in Ohio.
48:43Write that down.
48:45We are gaining popular votes
48:48and delegates in every campaign.
48:50Write that down.
48:55We intend to get our share of delegates.
48:59Based on popular votes.
49:01Write that down.
49:03We intend to come out of California,
49:05in New Jersey in search of a management team
49:08and a running mate
49:11to confront Bush.
49:15Write that down.
49:16Write that down.
49:17And that is authoritative,
49:19fresh, clear,
49:22without fear of contradiction.
49:23Thank you very much.
49:27It was still a political campaign.
49:29I mean, the logistics were all in place.
49:31We still followed the same form.
49:33But the tension was gone.
49:39There was just a certain looseness
49:41as we traveled.
49:43A looseness in the sense of
49:44people were more quick to make jokes.
49:47Jackson was more quick to make jokes.
49:50People began to study
49:51hand jive and hand gestures.
49:55And he became a thing unto itself.
50:01Nancy, we're going to go.
50:02Oh, Nancy.
50:02Oh, pop boy.
50:03Pop wave.
50:05And, uh...
50:05What was the other one?
50:07Oh, Rose Bowl wave.
50:07Rose Bowl wave.
50:09So I do Mrs. Reagan's...
50:12Mrs. Reagan's sign.
50:15He's doing it all the time.
50:16He did it from the top.
50:16Hey, now this last night
50:17he said,
50:17this is the Nancy Reagan wave.
50:19And everybody said,
50:20what?
50:22The one that you really created,
50:24what does this mean,
50:26Reverend Jackson?
50:28It's just...
50:29this whole question of dexterity.
50:32Flexibility.
50:32Now you put two like this.
50:36Put these two together.
50:38Put these in the end...
50:40in the end,
50:40you got that?
50:43There you go.
50:45Put it out there.
50:46Put it out there.
50:46Come on, let's put it.
50:50What does it mean,
50:51Reverend Jackson?
50:52What does it mean?
50:53It is, huh?
50:54What does it mean?
50:54What is it?
50:55Put these together.
50:56I can't get it.
50:57Of the dozen primaries
51:07in the last six weeks
51:08of the campaign,
51:09Jackson won only
51:10the District of Columbia.
51:12Dukakis won Indiana,
51:13Ohio, Nebraska,
51:14West Virginia,
51:15Oregon, Idaho,
51:16Montana,
51:17New Jersey,
51:18New Mexico,
51:18North Dakota,
51:19and the crucial state
51:20of California.
51:24Yet Jackson never
51:25stopped running.
51:26He competed
51:27in every primary,
51:28and his name
51:29would be placed
51:29in nomination
51:30at the Democratic
51:31National Convention
51:32in Atlanta.
51:36But what did that mean?
51:38What had been accomplished
51:39by the Jackson campaign?
51:42Win, Jesse, win!
51:44Win, Jesse, win!
51:46Win, Jesse, win!
51:48Win, Jesse, win!
51:50Win, Jesse, win!
51:52If Jesse Jackson
51:53had not run,
51:54we really never
51:55would have known
51:56that there would have been
51:58so many people
51:58of all colors
51:59and all economic backgrounds
52:03that would have voted
52:03for him.
52:04Somebody has to start it,
52:06and someone has
52:07to build upon it.
52:08I don't think
52:09things this big
52:11and this important
52:11get lost.
52:13I think that you
52:14can only improve on it.
52:17Jesse Jackson
52:18would go to the convention
52:19with 1,200 delegates,
52:21three times as many
52:23as in 1984.
52:26Yet, in none
52:27of his victories
52:28did Jackson ever
52:29come near a majority
52:31of the white vote.
52:33This is America,
52:35and America is
52:37a 90% white country.
52:39And it not only
52:40is white in its skin color,
52:41it still thinks white.
52:43And it couldn't,
52:44I was amazed
52:45that America
52:46did as well
52:47to understand Jesse
52:48as they did.
52:50And I think
52:51it was a tremendous victory
52:52for lots of reasons.
52:55But it never
52:56approached election.
52:58I mean,
52:59it never approached
53:00electability,
53:01either as president
53:02or vice president.
53:07We saw Jackson
53:09with black crowds
53:10and white crowds,
53:11with friendly audiences
53:12and hostile ones.
53:15In every situation,
53:17he was a magnet.
53:18He was the center
53:20of attention.
53:23He's 47 years of age.
53:25He can run for president
53:26again in 20 years.
53:28He'll still be younger
53:28than when Ronald Reagan
53:29first ran.
53:30Jesse Jackson
53:30has a constituency.
53:32He had it in 1984.
53:35Mondale went on
53:36to oblivion.
53:37For Ferraro to oblivion,
53:39Jesse Jackson
53:39still a major player.
53:41Bozeman, Montana.
53:42The end of the campaign.
53:45In two days,
53:46Jackson would lose
53:47the Montana primary.
53:50Can I see you
53:50give me a favor?
53:52My mom,
53:53my dad hurdles.
53:54You become
53:55such a big politician.
53:56You just got it.
53:58My dad,
53:59and my dad,
54:00out.
54:00Dad,
54:01and then,
54:01oh, give me love now.
54:04Love you.
54:07Please in Washington.
54:09Get rid of it.
54:09Get rid of it.
54:10Get rid of it.
54:10Get rid of it.
54:11On a sunny day
54:12in Montana,
54:13we saw one last time
54:14Jackson's ability
54:15to connect
54:16with all kinds of people.
54:20For us,
54:21this was the end
54:22of the campaign.
54:23But for Jesse Jackson,
54:24the campaign
54:25may never be over.
54:29You have to have
54:31tough skin
54:31and a tender heart.
54:33Don't shout
54:34too much
54:36when you win
54:36and don't cry
54:38too much
54:38when you lose.
54:39You really have
54:40to be able
54:41to bounce back,
54:43take a position.
54:45Yesterday was tough.
54:47Made some mistakes,
54:48slipped up and fell.
54:49But this day
54:50is the first day
54:50of the rest of my life.
54:52Move on.
54:54Thank you, Jesse.
54:54We love you, Jesse.
54:55I love you too, him.
54:57Thanks again.
54:57Bye, everybody.
54:59Thanks, Jesse.
55:00Bye, Jesse.
55:01Keep on line.
55:02Bye, Jesse.
55:03Later this week,
55:07here in Washington,
55:08the Democratic Party
55:09will formally elect
55:10its new chairman.
55:12The man expected
55:13to win
55:13is Ron Brown,
55:14a longtime
55:15party insider
55:16who managed
55:17Jackson's campaign
55:19at the Atlanta Convention.
55:20If Ron Brown
55:22indeed becomes
55:23the first black American
55:24to lead
55:25a major political party,
55:27his election
55:27may be one measure
55:29of what Jesse Jackson
55:31achieved
55:31in the 1988
55:33presidential campaign.
55:35Thank you for joining us.
55:36I'm Judy Woodruff.
55:38Good night.
55:41Ian Brown was one
55:42of America's
55:43million teenage runaways.
55:45For five years,
55:46he lived as a hustler
55:46on the streets
55:47of Hollywood
55:47and San Francisco.
55:49I've gone out
55:50for the guy
55:50that's told me
55:50that I look
55:51exactly like his son.
55:53And it just freaked me out
55:54on, you know,
55:54how could they be married
55:55and have children
55:56and then come
55:57and pick up a child
55:58like me on the streets
55:59and buy him
56:00for an hour?
56:01Why did Ian Brown run
56:03and why did he die?
56:04Watch Children of the Night
56:05next time on Frontline.
56:07The Night
57:07Frontline is produced for the Documentary Consortium by WGBH Boston, which is solely responsible for its content.
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57:30For videocassette information about this program, please write to this address.
57:37For a transcript of this program, please send $5 to Frontline, Box 322, Boston, Massachusetts, 02134.
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