Jesse Jackson Jr. deserves a pat on the back. After having an affair with a waitress, being Candidate #5, and resigning from Congress due to his bipolar disorder and ongoing federal investigation 15 days after being elected, it\u2019s hard to remember the once-promising political candidate he was; a rising star in Chicago, Presidential material, even. He tried, right? It\u2019s not his fault all of these \u201cfalse\u201d scandals broke out! But, to quote Cassius, \u201cThe fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.\u201d<\/p>\n
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At the tender age of 30 Jesse Jackson Jr. was first elected into Congress in 1995. According to\u00a0The Huffington Post,<\/a>\u00a0a special election was held, due to the fact that Mel Reynolds was being convicted of several heinous crimes; including: criminal sexual assault, child pornography, wire fraud, and lying to the Federal Election Commission. Ironically enough, Reynolds is running for United States House of Representatives to represent Illinois’s 2nd Congressional District: The seat that Jackson just resigned from; the seat he once held. Before Congress, Jackson\u2019s name was known, thanks to his father: Reverend Jesse Jackson. Despite Jr.\u2019s attempt to distance himself from his father, his Congress seat was most likely thanks to his work as a national field organizer for his father’s organization, Rainbow PUSH. Jr. was also known for his ambitions to create a third airport for Chicago, much against the mindsets of Governor Richard M. Daley, and later, Governor Rod Blagojevich.<\/p>\n Years later,\u00a0TIME Magazine\u2019s<\/i>\u00a0Steven Gray<\/a>\u00a0asserted Jackson was among \u201cthe Illinois state senator’s most vigorous supporters.\u201d He was a co-chairman for both Obama\u2019s Senate race in 2004 and his presidential campaign in 2008. Jackson was adamant about his desire to have President Obama\u2019s State Senate seat, in which he left empty in 2008 after winning his first presidential term. His visible determination to succeed him in the Senate, probably didn\u2019t help Jr.\u2019s December 2008 case when Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich claimed that Jackson\u2014Candidate #5 (out of six)\u2014had proposed to raise as much as $1 million in campaign funds for the governor in exchange for the seat. However, as\u00a0The New York Times<\/a>\u00a0affirms, Jackson met with federal prosecutors and was assured that he was no longer a target of the inquiry nor alleged of misconduct. In a personal statement Jackson specified, \u201cI did not initiate or authorize anyone at any time to promise anything to Governor Blagojevich\u2026I never sent a message\u2026to the governor to make an offer, to plead my case or to propose a deal about a U.S. Senate seat\u2026I thought, mistakenly, that the process was fair, above board and on the merits\u2026that the governor was evaluating me and other Senate hopefuls based upon our credentials and qualifications.\u201d<\/p>\n Jackson isn\u2019t out of the water yet; According to another\u00a0TIME<\/i>\u00a0reporter,\u00a0Kyle Trygstad<\/a>; in April of 2009, former Gov. Blagojevich\u2019s emissaries claimed that Jackson offered not $1 million, but $5 million. Shortly after this,\u00a0Emma Graves Fitzsimmons<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0the New York Times<\/i>\u00a0quotes the\u00a0Chicago Sun-Times<\/i>, asserting that Blagojevich\u2019s fund-raiser, Raghuveer Nayak, told authorities Jackson \u201cwanted Mr. Blagojevich to know that he would help him raise $6 million.\u201d Not only another million, but also that Nayak had paid for two different airline trips for Jackson\u2019s mistress (a Washington waitress), which were not claimed as gifts on Jackson\u2019s fiscal reports. Jackson Jr. accused of raising $6 million for another candidate\u2019s election, but that he is also cheating on his wife; and it\u2019s been confirmed by Alderman\u00a0Sandi Jackson<\/a>\u00a0in a CNN interview that the latter was true. Who\u2019s to say the former isn\u2019t?<\/p>\n Now this is where it gets interesting. In March,\u00a0The Associated Press<\/a>\u00a0reports that Jackson won the primary election against former Representative Debbie Halvorson effortlessly, serving Congress for his ninth term. However, relatively shortly after winning the primary, on June 10th<\/sup>, Jackson takes medical leave; conspicuously, he doesn\u2019t tell anyone until two weeks later on June 25th<\/sup>. Interestingly, a former fund-raiser for Blagojevich\u2014possibly Nayak\u2014was charged and arrested with unrelated federal medical fraud. Jackson cites his reasons for leaving as exhaustion, yet a few weeks later on July 6th<\/sup>, his officials state he will be receiving in-patient treatment. A month after his medical-leave-statement,\u00a0Mayo Clinic<\/a>\u00a0releases a revealing testimony, confirming that Jackson is receiving in-patient treatment at their hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, for depression and gastrointestinal issues; which may have been brought on from his weight loss procedure done eight years ago in 2004. Finally, less than a month after their last,\u00a0the New York Time\u2019s\u00a0<\/i>Steven Yaccino<\/a>\u00a0publishes Mayo Clinic\u2019s final announcement on August 13th<\/sup>\u00a0that Jesse Jackson Jr. has bipolar II disorder. At Jacksons\u2019 request, Mayo Clinic reported, \u201cMany Americans have bipolar disorder. Bipolar II disorder is a treatable condition that affects parts of the brain controlling emotion, thought and drive and is most likely caused by a complex set of genetic and environmental factors.\u201d<\/p>\n While Congressmen Jackson is still on absence, recuperating in Washington, D.C. with his family and also at the Mayo Clinic facility in Minnesota,\u00a0selling his house<\/a>, another plot-twist appears in his life. Two month\u2019s later, on October 16th<\/sup>;\u00a0Michael Schmidt and Monica Davey<\/a>\u00a0collaborated to report that federal are investigating Jackson for the possible misuse of campaign money. The Washington FBI began their investigation before Jackson went on medical leave, but political experts believe neither his lack of presence in Congress since June nor this latest scandal will affect Jackson\u2019s chances of winning re-election in November, because: his name and his father\u2019s name are widely known in Chicago, his opponents are virtually unknown, and this would be his 10th<\/sup>\u00a0term. Besides, he\u2019s a good guy with good intentions, right? Thus, when November 6th<\/sup>\u00a0rolls around, it comes to no shock that Jackson won his 10th<\/sup>\u00a0term in Congress, earning 63% of Democratic citizens of the South Side of Chicago. While Jackson was still in Minnesota at Mayo Clinic,\u00a0Davey<\/a>\u00a0broadcasts his statement, \u201cOnce the doctors approve my return to work, I will continue to be the progressive fighter you have known for years. My family and I are grateful for your many heartfelt prayers and kind thoughts. I continue to feel better every day and look forward to serving you.\u201d<\/p>\n While it\u2019s obvious that Jackson would win his 10th<\/sup>\u00a0term, it\u2019s equally plausible to understand what he does next: resign. After the past four year\u2019s of hell he dealt with, it\u2019s understandable. His final statement, released by\u00a0The Associated Press<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Davey<\/a>, quotes, \u201cThe constituents of the (2nd) District deserve a full-time legislator in Washington, something I cannot be for the foreseeable future. My health issues and treatment regimen have become incompatible\u2026I am aware of the ongoing federal investigation\u2026and I am doing my best to address the situation responsibly, cooperate with investigators and accept responsibility for my mistakes, for they are my mistakes and mine alone. None of us is immune from our share of shortcomings or human frailties and I pray that I will be remembered for what I did right.\u201d Jackson\u2019s colleagues are wounded by his early resignation, but not shocked. \u201cHe sounded in so much pain,\u201d remarked Representative Bobby L. Rush of Illinois after speaking with Jackson. Local Chicagoans aren\u2019t as sympathetic, however; if he wanted to resign, he should have two weeks earlier and, as\u00a0The Huffington Post<\/a>\u00a0claims, saved his town essentially $5.1 million. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has set the special election date for March 19th<\/sup>, and\u2014if necessary\u2014a primary election for February 26th<\/sup>. Pastor Corey Brooks, Mel Reynolds, and even Sandi Jackson are rumored to be running for the special election. Though Jackson does not cite the ongoing federal investigation on both he and his wife\u2014for potentially using campaign money to furnish their home\u2014as a reason for resigning,\u00a0Alex Bruns of PBS<\/a>\u00a0wrote, \u201cWhile Mr. Jackson did not cite the investigation as a reason for his departure, legal experts said his resignation might help lawyers argue for leniency, given that he has already paid a significant penalty: his job.\u201d<\/p>\n Jesse Jackson Jr. deserved a pat on the back. He had good intentions; but was (possibly) corrupted by the clich\u00e9 Chicago political scene, and utterly inundated by his uncontrollable, blameless psychological problems. A tragic hero. A Brutus. On my way out of the Harold Washington Library, I asked a security guard (who always berates me, mind you) what he thinks about the resignation of one of our Congressmen. \u201cJesse Jackson Jr.?\u201d he looks at me and asks, and cannot help but throw back his head and laugh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jesse Jackson Jr. deserves a pat on the back. After having an affair with a waitress, being Candidate #5, and resigning from Congress due to his bipolar disorder and ongoing federal investigation 15 days after being elected, it\u2019s hard to remember the once-promising political candidate he was; a rising star in Chicago, Presidential material, even. … Continue reading jesse jackson jr.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17],"tags":[28,29],"class_list":["post-58","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journalist","tag-journalism","tag-student-work"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s5HHH1-jjjr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.axharrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.axharrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.axharrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.axharrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.axharrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.axharrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59,"href":"https:\/\/www.axharrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58\/revisions\/59"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.axharrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.axharrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.axharrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}