Henry Martin "Scoop" Jackson (May 31, 1912 – September 1, 1983) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a
U.S. representative (1941–1953) and
U.S. senator (1953–1983) from the state of
Washington. A
Cold War liberal
Cold War liberal is a term that was used in the United States during the Cold War, which began after the end of World War II. The term was used to describe liberal politicians and labor union leaders who supported democracy and equality. They sup ...
and
anti-Communist Democrat, Jackson supported higher military spending and a hard line against the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, while also supporting social welfare programs,
civil rights, and labor unions.
Born in
Everett, Washington, to
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
immigrants, Jackson practiced law in Everett, after graduating from the
University of Washington School of Law
The University of Washington School of Law is the law school of the University of Washington, located on the northwest corner of the main campus in Seattle, Washington.
The 2023 '' U.S. News & World Report'' law school rankings place Wash ...
. He won election to Congress in 1940, and joined the Senate in 1953 after defeating incumbent Republican senator
Harry P. Cain
Harry Pulliam Cain (January 10, 1906 – March 3, 1979) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Washington who served as a Republican from 1946 to 1953. Cain is mainly remembered for his conservative and often hig ...
. Jackson supported the major civil rights of the 1960s, and authored the
National Environmental Policy Act, which helped establish the principle of publicly analyzing environmental impacts. He co-sponsored the
Jackson–Vanik amendment, which denied normal trade relations to countries with restrictive emigration policies.
Jackson served as Chairman of the
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources from 1963 to 1981. He was twice an unsuccessful candidate for the
Democratic presidential nomination, in
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...
and
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 ...
. While still serving in the Senate, Jackson died in 1983.
His political beliefs were characterized by support of civil rights, human rights, and
safeguarding the environment, but with an equally strong commitment to oppose
totalitarianism in general, and
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
in particular. The political philosophies and positions of Scoop Jackson have been cited as an influence on a number of key figures associated with
neoconservatism, including
Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Dundes Wolfowitz (born December 22, 1943) is an American political scientist and diplomat who served as the 10th President of the World Bank, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, and former dean of Johns Hopkins ...
and
Richard Perle
Richard Norman Perle (born September 16, 1941) is an American political advisor who served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs under President Ronald Reagan. He began his political career as a senior staff member to ...
, both of whom previously served as aides to the Senator.
The Seattle-based
Henry M. Jackson Foundation was created in 1983 by his former colleagues and staff, as well as his widow and other family members, to further his work. In 1987, the Department of Defense gave to the Jackson Foundation a one-time, $10 million appropriation for its endowment, in honor of the Senator. To date, the Foundation has awarded over $26 million in grants to educational and non-profit institutions. Jackson also sponsored legislation to form the Foundation to Advance Military Medicine, which was later renamed in his honor at the time of his death, to the
Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine.
Early life
Jackson was born in the home of his parents, Marine (Anderson) and Peter Jackson, in
Everett, Washington, on May 31, 1912. His mother and father were both immigrants from
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
. Peter Jackson was born Peter Gresseth, and changed his name when he immigrated. He met Marine at the Lutheran church in Everett, where they were married in 1897. Henry was the fifth, and youngest, of the Jackson children; he was nicknamed "Scoop" by his sister in his childhood, after a comic strip character that he was said to have resembled.
He went on to graduate with a B.A. degree from
Stanford University, and a J.D. degree from the
University of Washington School of Law
The University of Washington School of Law is the law school of the University of Washington, located on the northwest corner of the main campus in Seattle, Washington.
The 2023 '' U.S. News & World Report'' law school rankings place Wash ...
, where he joined the
Delta Chi fraternity.
Early career
In 1935, the year of his law school graduation, he was admitted to the bar, and began to practice law in Everett. He found immediate success, and was elected to become the prosecuting attorney for
Snohomish County
Snohomish County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. With a population of 827,957 as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous county in Washington, after nearby King and Pierce counties, and the 75th-most populous ...
from 1938 to 1940, where he made a name for himself prosecuting bootleggers and gamblers.
In 1961, Jackson, called by ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' the Senate's "most eligible bachelor", married Helen Hardin, a 28-year-old Senate receptionist, but Jackson did not move out of his childhood home, where he lived with his unmarried sisters for several years. The Jacksons had two children: Anna Marie Laurence and Peter Jackson. Peter went on to serve as a speechwriter for Governor
Christine Gregoire
Christine Gregoire (; née O'Grady; born March 24, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 22nd governor of Washington from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004, and ag ...
.
In Congress
Jackson successfully ran for
Congress as a
Democrat in 1940 and took his seat in the House of Representatives with the
77th Congress on January 3, 1941. From then on, Jackson did not lose any congressional elections.
Jackson joined the Army when the United States entered
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
but left when
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
ordered all representatives to return home or resign their seats. He visited the
Buchenwald
Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or sus ...
concentration camp a few days after its liberation in 1945. He attended the International Maritime Conference in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
, in 1945 with the American delegation, and he was elected president of the same conference in 1946, when it was held in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
. From 1945 to 1947, Jackson was also the chairman of the
Committee on Indian Affairs.
In the 1952 election, Jackson relinquished his seat in the House for a run for one of Washington's Senate seats. Jackson soundly defeated Republican senator
Harry P. Cain
Harry Pulliam Cain (January 10, 1906 – March 3, 1979) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Washington who served as a Republican from 1946 to 1953. Cain is mainly remembered for his conservative and often hig ...
and remained a senator for over thirty years. He was Washington's first U.S. senator to be born in the state. Jackson died in office in 1983 after winning re-election for the fifth time in 1982.
Though Jackson opposed the excesses of
Joe McCarthy, who had traveled to Washington state to campaign against him, he also criticized
Dwight Eisenhower for not spending enough on national defense. Jackson called for more inter-continental ballistic missiles in the national arsenal, and his support for nuclear weapons resulted in a primary challenge from the left in 1958, when he handily defeated Seattle peace activist Alice Franklin Bryant before winning re-election with 67 percent of the vote, which he topped the next four times he ran for re-election.
During the 1960 Democratic presidential primary, Jackson was the first choice of fellow senator
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
for a running mate, though JFK became convinced that a Southerner would better balance the ticket.
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
was later selected.
Jackson boasted one of the strongest records on civil rights during the civil rights movement. He supported the 1957 and the 1964 Civil Rights Acts.
On July 22, 1965, President
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
signed the Water Resources Planning Act into law, noting Jackson as one of the Congress members to "have made a very invaluable and very farsighted contribution to America's future."
In April 1968, responding to the assassination of
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
, Jackson gave a speech about the legacy and injustice of inequality.
In 1963, Jackson was made chairman of the
Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, which became the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in 1977, a position he held until 1981. In the 1970s, Jackson joined with fellow senators
Ernest Hollings
Ernest Frederick "Fritz" Hollings (January 1, 1922April 6, 2019) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from South Carolina from 1966 to 2005. A conservative Democrat, he was also the 106th governor of South Carolina, ...
and
Edward Kennedy
Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...
in a press conference to oppose President
Gerald Ford's request for Congress to end
Richard Nixon's price controls on domestic oil, which had provoked oil companies into withholding gasoline during the
1973 Oil Crisis.
Kaufman writes that after 1968, Jackson "emerged as an intellectual and political leader in the perennial struggle of U.S. foreign policy to reconcile ideals with self-interest."
Jackson authored the
National Environmental Policy Act, which has been called one of the most influential environmental laws in history. It helped to stimulate similar laws and the principle of publicly analyzed environmental impact in other states and in much of the world.
Jackson was also a leader of the fight for statehood for
Alaska and
Hawaii. In 1974, Jackson sponsored the
Jackson–Vanik amendment in the Senate (with
Charles Vanik
Charles Albert Vanik (April 7, 1913 – August 30, 2007) was a Democratic politician from Ohio. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1955 to 1981.
Early life
Vanik was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Stella (Kvasn ...
sponsoring it in the House), which denied normal trade relations to certain countries with non-market economies that restricted the freedom of emigration. The amendment was intended to help refugees, particularly minorities, specifically Jews, to emigrate from the
Soviet Bloc. Jackson and his assistant,
Richard Perle
Richard Norman Perle (born September 16, 1941) is an American political advisor who served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs under President Ronald Reagan. He began his political career as a senior staff member to ...
, also lobbied personally for some people who were affected by this law such as
Anatoly (now Natan) Sharansky.
In March 1975, Jackson released a statement in which he expressed the view that it was paramount the
Franklin Peroff case be found out to be either "an aberration or was symptomatic of much greater problem" within the Drug Enforcement Administration.
In June 1975, Jackson stated that if accounts about the conduct of former director of the Drug Enforcement Agency
John R. Bartels Jr. were correct then his actions amounted to obstruction of justice and that evidence disclosed "in the last two days would indicate that there was a conscious, premeditated plan involving misconduct at the highest levels of the D.E.A."
In July 1977, the Senate approved a funding for the experimental nuclear reactor compromise proposal by Jackson and Idaho senator
Frank Church. While the initial version by President Carter sought a decrease in funding from 150 million to 33 million, the Jackson and Church measure halved the funding to 75 million.
In October 1979, the Senate voted in favor of President Carter's energy mobilization board plan, Jackson labeling the plan the "centerpiece" of Carter's program that was essential to guaranteeing the effectiveness of the rest of the legislation and was noted for successfully persuading colleagues to reject amendments to the plan. Later that month, after the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted in favor of the Alaska public lands legislation, President
Jimmy Carter issued a statement thanking Jackson and other members for supporting the legislation.
Jackson also led the opposition within the Democratic Party against the
SALT II treaty and was one of the leading proponents of increased foreign aid to Israel.
For decades, Democrats who support a strong international presence for the United States have been called "Scoop Jackson Democrats," and the term is still used to describe contemporary Democrats such as
Joe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for ...
and
R. James Woolsey, Jr.
Jackson served for all but the last three years of his Senate tenure with Democratic colleague and friend
Warren G. Magnuson. As a result, he spent 28 years as the state's junior senator, even though he had more seniority than all but a few of his colleagues. "Scoop" and "Maggie," as they affectionately called each other, gave Washington clout in national politics well beyond its population. They were one of the most effective delegations in the history of the Senate in terms of "bringing home the bacon" for their home state. Washington received nearly a sixth of public works appropriations but ranked only 23rd in population.
Criticism
Jackson was known as a hawkish Democrat. He was often criticized for his support for the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
and his close ties to the defense industries of his state. His proposal of
Fort Lawton
Fort Lawton was a United States Army post located in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, Washington overlooking Puget Sound. In 1973 a large majority of the property, 534 acres of Fort Lawton, was given to the city of Seattle and dedicated as ...
as a site for an
anti-ballistic missile system was strongly opposed by local residents, and Jackson was forced to modify his position on the location of the site several times, but continued to support ABM development. American Indian rights activists who protested Jackson's plan to give Fort Lawton to Seattle, instead of returning it to local tribes, staged a
sit-in. In the eventual compromise, most of Fort Lawton became
Discovery Park, with leased to
United Indians of All Tribes
United Indians of All Tribes (also known as the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, or UIATF) is a non-profit foundation that provides social and educational services to Native Americans in the Seattle metropolitan area and aims to promot ...
, who opened the
Daybreak Star Cultural Center there in 1977.
Opponents derided him as "the senator from
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...
" and a "whore for Boeing" because of his consistent support for additional military spending on weapons systems and accusations of wrongful contributions from the company; in 1965, 80% of Boeing's contracts were military.
Jackson and Magnuson's campaigning for an expensive government
supersonic transport
A supersonic transport (SST) or a supersonic airliner is a civilian supersonic aircraft designed to transport passengers at speeds greater than the speed of sound. To date, the only SSTs to see regular service have been Concorde and the Tupol ...
plane project eventually failed. In addition, contrary claims he was an environmentalist, Jackson was almost as much a "whore for logging companies" as for Boeing, according Carsten Lien's book, the "Olympic Battleground."
After his death, critics pointed to Jackson's support for
Japanese American internment camps during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
as a reason to protest the placement of
his bust at the University of Washington.
Jackson was both an enthusiastic defender of the evacuation and a staunch proponent of the campaign to keep the Japanese-Americans from returning to the Pacific Coast after the war.
Presidential campaigns
Jackson was not only successful as a politician in Washington state, but he also found recognition on the national level. He rose to the position of chairman of the
Democratic National Committee in 1960, after being considered for the vice presidential ticket spot that eventually went to fellow senator
Lyndon Johnson.
Jackson ran for president twice, and both campaigns were noted for the hostile reception they received from the left wing of the Democratic Party. Jackson's one-on-one campaigning skills, which were extremely successful in Washington state, did not translate as well to the national stage. Even his supporters admitted that he suffered from a certain lack of charisma.
1972 presidential campaign
Jackson was little known nationally when he first ran in
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...
.
George McGovern, who eventually won the nomination, even accused Jackson of racism for his opposition to
busing despite Jackson's longstanding record on civil rights issues. Jackson's high point in the campaign was a distant third in the early Florida primary, but he failed to stand out of the pack of better-known rivals, and he made real news only later in the campaign, as part of the "Stop McGovern" coalition, which raised what would be known as the "Acid, Amnesty and Abortion" questions about McGovern. Jackson suspended active campaigning in May after a weak showing in the Ohio primary and finishing well behind McGovern,
Ed Muskie, George Wallace, and
Hubert Humphrey in early primaries.
Jackson re-emerged at the August Democratic convention after the runner-up, Humphrey, dropped out of the race. Jackson's name was placed in nomination by
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
governor
Jimmy Carter, and he finished second in the delegate roll call, well behind nominee McGovern.
1976 presidential campaign
Jackson raised his national profile by speaking out on Soviet-U.S. relations and Middle East policy regularly, and he was considered a front-runner for the nomination when he announced the start of his campaign in February 1975. Jackson received substantial financial support from Jewish-Americans who admired his pro-
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
views, but his support of the Vietnam War resulted in hostility from the left wing of the Democratic Party.
Jackson chose to run on social issues, emphasizing law and order and his opposition to busing. He was hoping for support from labor, but the possibility that
Hubert Humphrey might enter the race caused unions to offer only lukewarm support.
Jackson made the fateful decision not to compete in the early Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary, which Jimmy Carter won after liberals split their votes among four other candidates. Though Jackson won the Massachusetts and New York primaries, he dropped out on May 1 after losing the critical
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
primary to Carter by 12% and running out of money.
Death
On September 1, 1983, Jackson died suddenly in Everett of an
aortic aneurysm at the age of 71, shortly after giving a news conference condemning the Soviet attack on
Korean Air Lines Flight 007
Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (KE007/KAL007)The flight number KAL 007 was used by air traffic control, while the public flight booking system used KE 007 was a scheduled Korean Air Lines flight from New York City to Seoul via Anchorage, Alas ...
. News reports showed video footage in which he was seen reflexively massaging the left side of his chest while talking, and speculated that it was his reaction to an early symptom of the fatal attack.
Jackson's death was greatly mourned.
New York Senator
Daniel Patrick Moynihan stated "Henry Jackson is proof of the old belief in the Judaic tradition that at any moment in history goodness in the world is preserved by the deeds of
36 just men who do not know that this is the role the Lord has given them. Henry Jackson was one of those men." Jackson is buried in
Evergreen Cemetery in Everett.
Legacy
* Jackson was posthumously awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984.
Ronald Reagan called him "one of the greatest lawmakers of our century," and stated:
* In 1983, Jackson was awarded Delta Chi of the Year.
* One of Jackson's last acts as Senator was to sponsor legislation creating what became the
Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, which was named after him after his death.
* Jackson's extended community of staff, colleagues and family members created the Henry M. Jackson Foundation from public monies and private donations to give grants to nonprofits and educational institutions. Its board members have included Richard Perle,
Tom Foley, and
Jeane Kirkpatrick
Jeane Duane Kirkpatrick (née Jordan; November 19, 1926December 7, 2006) was an American diplomat and political scientist who played a major role in the foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration. An ardent anticommunist, she was a lo ...
.
* On March 28, 1981, Jackson gave the principal address at the christening of the
USS ''Bremerton'' (SSN 698). The ''Bremerton'' was the second ship to have the name, preceded by the
USS ''Bremerton'' (CA 130). It was christened by Mrs. Henry M. Jackson on July 22, 1978. The USS ''Bremerton'' (SSN 698) was mentioned in the classic
Tom Clancy novel, ''
The Hunt for Red October''.
* The
University of Washington has named the
Jackson School of International Studies in his honor. However, students objecting to Jackson's hawkish views on the Cold War in the mid-1980s caused the university to move a
bust of the senator to the end of an abandoned corridor until it was restored to a more prominent place outside the Jackson School in 2006.
* The
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
ballistic missile submarine was also named after him, in recognition of his longtime support of the nation's military. It is the only Ohio-class submarine not named after a U.S. state.
*In 1983, the
Snohomish County Public Utility District
The Snohomish County Public Utility District is a public utility agency providing power to over 367,000 customers in Snohomish County and on Camano Island, Washington. It provides water service to about 23,000 customers in the northeast sectio ...
began operation of the
Henry M. Jackson Hydroelectric Project outside
Sultan, Washington
Sultan is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located approximately east of Everett at the confluence of the Skykomish River and the Sultan River, a minor tributary. The city had a population of 4,651 at the 2010 cen ...
.
* In 1994, the
Everett School District
Everett Public Schools, officially Everett School District No. 2, is the main public school district for the city of Everett, Washington. In addition to covering most of Everett, the district also serves the city of Mill Creek, Washington, Mill ...
completed construction of
Henry M. Jackson High School in
Mill Creek, Washington
Mill Creek is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located between the cities of Everett and Lynnwood, approximately northeast of Seattle. The city has a population of 20,926 as of the 2020 census. The city lies along ...
.
* The
Henry M. Jackson Wilderness Area was created in his honor by the 1984 Washington Wilderness Act.
* The
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), formerly named the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, is a Washington, D.C.-based, non-profit and pro-Israeli lobby and think tank. It was founded in 1976 focusing on ...
, with the cooperation of the Jackson family, awards a Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson Distinguished Service Award to individuals for their career dedication to U.S. national security. Jackson won the first award in 1982, and it was named after him after his death. Winners include
Max Cleland
Joseph Maxwell Cleland (August 24, 1942 – November 9, 2021) was an American politician from Georgia. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a disabled U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War, a recipient of the Silver Star and the Bronze Star ...
,
Joe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for ...
,
Dick Cheney,
Jane Harman
Jane Margaret Lakes Harman (born June 28, 1945) is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1993 to 1999, and from 2001 to 2011; she is a member of the Democratic Party. Harman was the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committ ...
, and
Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Dundes Wolfowitz (born December 22, 1943) is an American political scientist and diplomat who served as the 10th President of the World Bank, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, and former dean of Johns Hopkins ...
.
Influence on neoconservatism
Jackson believed that evil should be confronted with power.
His support for
civil rights and equality at home,
married to his opposition to ''
détente'',
his support for human rights
and democratic allies,
and his firm belief that the United States could be a force for good in the world
inspired a legion of loyal aides who went on to propound Jackson's philosophy as part of neoconservatism. In addition to Richard Perle, neoconservatives
Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Dundes Wolfowitz (born December 22, 1943) is an American political scientist and diplomat who served as the 10th President of the World Bank, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, and former dean of Johns Hopkins ...
,
Bill Kristol,
Charles Horner, and
Douglas Feith were former Democratic aides to Jackson who, disillusioned with the Carter administration, supported
Ronald Reagan and joined his administration in 1981, later becoming prominent foreign policy makers in the 21st-century
Bush administration. Neoconservative
Ben Wattenberg
Benjamin Joseph Wattenberg (born Joseph Ben Zion Wattenberg;Roberts, Sam New York ''Times'', June 29, 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-29. August 26, 1933 – June 28, 2015) was an American author, neoconservative political commentator and demographer, ...
was a prominent political aide to Jackson's 1972 and 1976 presidential campaigns. Wolfowitz has called himself a "Scoop Jackson Republican" on multiple occasions.
Many journalists and scholars across the political spectrum have noted links between Senator Jackson and modern neoconservatism.
[Harrop, Froma.]
Dems Need Another Scoop Jackson
", RealClearPolitics, November 23, 2005.
Jackson's influence on foreign policy has been cited as foundational to the
George W. Bush administration's foreign policy, and the
Iraq War. Jackson biographer Robert Kaufman says "There is no question in my mind that the people who supported Iraq are supporting Henry Jackson's instincts."
Peter Beinart
Peter Alexander Beinart (; born February 28, 1971) is an American liberal columnist, journalist, and political commentator. A former editor of ''The New Republic'', he has also written for ''Time'', ''The New York Times'', and ''The New York Revie ...
, author of ''
The Good Fight: Why Liberals—and Only Liberals—Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again'', argues that the Democratic Party should return to Jackson's values in its foreign policy, criticizing current-day neoconservatives for failing to adopt Jackson's domestic policy views along with his foreign policy views.
The Henry Jackson Society
In 2005, the
Henry Jackson Society was formed at the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
, England. The non-partisan British group is dedicated to "pursuit of a robust foreign policy ... based on clear universal principles such as the global promotion of the rule of law, liberal democracy, civil rights, environmental responsibility and the market economy" as part of "Henry Jackson's legacy."
[Statement of Principles]
", Henry Jackson Society, March 11, 2005. The organization is now based in London and hosts high-profile speaker events in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
.
Jackson Papers controversy
Senator Jackson's documents were donated to the
University of Washington shortly after his death in 1983, and have been archived there ever since. When the materials were donated in 1983, university staff removed all information considered
classified at the time.
Additional materials were added to the collection until 1995.
At some point, library staff discovered a classified document in the collection and sent it to the government for
declassification
Declassification is the process of ceasing a protective classification, often under the principle of freedom of information. Procedures for declassification vary by country. Papers may be withheld without being classified as secret, and event ...
.
In response, in the summer of 2004, a man who identified himself as an employee of the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) called the
University of Washington asking to inspect Senator Jackson's archived documents housed there. He found a document labeled as classified and showed this to a librarian.
In February 2005, 22 years after Jackson's death, a five-person team including staff of the CIA,
Department of Defense, the
Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-re ...
, and the
Information Security Oversight Office
The Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) is responsible to the President for policy and oversight of the government-wide security classification system and the National Industrial Security Program in the United States. The ISOO is a comp ...
came to the library to review all of Jackson's papers to remove anything still considered classified, or reclassified since then. The Department of Energy found nothing of concern, but the CIA blanked lines in about 20 papers and pulled 8 documents out of collection.
, some files in the collection are available only to those regarded by the library as "serious researchers", who must first sign a release not to divulge some of the information contained in the files.
Electoral history
See also
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Henry M. Jackson High School
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References
External links
Henry M. Jackson Collectionnbsp;– University of Washington Digital Collection
*
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at 4president.org
Henry M Jackson Papers, at the University of Washington
at the U.S. Senate
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ttp://www.hmjackson.org/ Henry M Jackson FoundationThe Henry Jackson Society at the University of Cambridge
Henry M. Jackson—A Life in Politics biography
Henry M. Jackson, late a senator*
Archives
Guide to the Henry M. Jackson Papers 1912–1987. Approximately 1,240 Cubic Ft. At th
University of Washington Libraries Special Collections
Richard J. Brooks Papers.1956–2000. 7.62 cubic feet. 8 boxes, one vertical file, one oversize folder, one mapcase folder. At th
University of Washington Libraries Special Collections Contains correspondence from Senator Henry M. Jackson.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Henry Martin
1912 births
1983 deaths
20th-century American politicians
American people of Norwegian descent
American Presbyterians
Deaths from aortic aneurysm
Democratic National Committee chairs
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Washington (state)
Democratic Party United States senators from Washington (state)
Politicians from Everett, Washington
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Sierra Club awardees
Stanford University alumni
Candidates in the 1972 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1976 United States presidential election
University of Washington School of Law alumni