Five American presidents, including President Donald Trump, have been invited to services next week commemorating civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate Rev. Jesse Jackson in Washington, D.C., South Carolina and Chicago.
The U.S. Secret Service has already conducted a security sweep in anticipation of presidents in attendance at the House of Hope on the South Side, where a “People’s Celebration” will be held Friday, March 6. The event is likely to be the largest and most star-studded among a week’s worth of events. The Secret Service will also secure locations in Washington, D.C., where the family is planning to hold services next week, in anticipation of potential presidential and foreign leader arrivals.
The Jackson family has invited Trump and former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Joe Biden and George W. Bush to events commemorating him. It’s unclear which events the presidents will attend.
The family on Tuesday said they had not received any confirmations of presidential arrivals, but anticipated them after a full schedule is released about services in both South Carolina and Washington.
Events are being held in South Carolina, where Jackson was born, and in Washington, D.C., to allow people to mourn Jackson. Details on the South Carolina and Washington events are still being finalized but will happen between March 1 and 5. House Speaker Mike Johnson last week declined a request by Jackson’s family to have him lie in repose at the U.S. Capitol — but alternative Washington, D.C., locations were being discussed, including Howard University, the Washington National Cathedral or the National Museum of African American History.
Jackson will lie in repose Thursday, Feb. 26, and Friday, Feb. 27, at Rainbow PUSH’s Kenwood headquarters at 930 E. 50th St. The services both days will start at 10 a.m. A “People’s Celebration” in Chicago will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 6, at House of Hope at 752 E. 114th St. Doors open at 9 a.m. Private homegoing services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, March 7, at Rainbow PUSH. Doors open at 8 a.m., with limited capacity.
Trump was among top political leaders to extend his sympathies after Jackson’s death.
“I knew him well, long before becoming President,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account. “He was very gregarious — Someone who truly loved people! Despite the fact that I am falsely and consistently called a Racist by the Scoundrels and Lunatics on the Radical Left, Democrats ALL, it was always my pleasure to help Jesse along the way.”
Obama wrote in a statement with former First Lady Michelle Obama that Jackson “laid the foundation” for his own presidential campaign “to the highest office of the land.”
“Michelle and I will always be grateful for Jesse’s lifetime of service, and the friendship our families share,” the Obamas said. “We stood on his shoulders.”
Relatives of Jackson said that “all are welcome,” regardless of political party.
Jackson died at age 84 Feb. 17. He had been in declining health for a decade. In 2017 he announced he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease two years earlier, but last April he revealed that it was actually misdiagnosed progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare neurological disorder. He stepped down as president of PUSH in July 2023, citing health concerns. Jackson appeared onstage at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August 2024, when he was presented to the crowd after a video celebrating his life, but he did not speak.