Jesse Jackson, the civil rights activist who rose to national prominence after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and later mounted two presidential campaigns, died Tuesday at the age of 84. His daughter, Santita Jackson, confirmed he passed away at home surrounded by family.

Jackson became a national figure in the late 1960s, positioning himself as a successor to King following the 1968 assassination at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. Over the following decades, he founded Operation PUSH and later the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, leveraging boycotts and public pressure campaigns to push corporations and institutions toward hiring and contracting commitments benefiting minority communities.

Ordained as a Baptist minister, Jackson mixed faith, activism, and politics, frequently employing slogans such as “Keep Hope Alive” and “I Am Somebody” to energize supporters. He ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988, winning multiple primaries and caucuses and helping expand minority participation in national politics.

Jackson remained active well into his later years, appearing at Democratic Party events and protests tied to racial justice causes. In 2000, Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Throughout his career, Jackson drew both praise and criticism. Supporters credited him with opening political doors for minority candidates and advancing civil rights causes domestically and abroad. Critics accused him of grandstanding and courting controversy, including remarks in the 1980s that prompted public apologies.

Despite significant health challenges in recent years, including Parkinson’s disease and progressive supranuclear palsy, Jackson continued to make public appearances. His death marks the passing of one of the last major figures of the post–civil rights era who bridged activism, religion, and Democratic Party politics for more than half a century.