May 1, 1999 - Successfully negotiates with Slobodan Milosevic for the release of three U.S. soldiers that had been held in Yugoslavia for over a month.

August 9, 2000 - Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton.

January 18, 2001 - Publicly acknowledges he fathered a daughter out of wedlock in 1999 with Karin Stanford, the former head of Rainbow/PUSH's Washington bureau.

July 9, 2008 - Apologizes for disparaging comments he made on July 6 about presidential candidate Barack Obama while on a break during an interview by Fox News. Jackson says he was unaware his microphone was still on.

September 2012 - Two American citizens serving prison sentences for treason in Gambia are allowed to return to the U.S. after the Rev. Jesse Jackson makes a face-to-face appeal for their release to President Yahya Jammeh.