9781422277782

C H A P T E R 1 RAINBOWEXPRESS S hortly after lunchtime on July 14, 1988, a blazing summer afternoon, the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson departed Chicago for the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. He was, so far as anyone could recall, the first person seeking the presidential nomination of a major American political party to go to its national convention by bus. It was, to be sure, not Greyhound he traveled. His vehicle was a nicely appointed motor coachwithakitchen, televisionsets, and twospacious seatingareas.On theoutside, beneath the bus windows, several Jackson for President signs held the smiling likeness of the candidate andadvertised the point of the trip. Jacksonwouldbe leading a parade of seven chartered buses—the Rainbow Express—on the 715-mile journey southward. Climbing aboard, Jackson hoisted a thumbs-up gesture to the small band of admirers on the sidewalk, waved to the considerably larger group of reporters and photographers, then gave his wife a farewell kiss. Jacqueline Jackson, as her husband later noted, possessed the “good sense” to travel to Atlanta by plane. Inside the bus, Jackson threaded his way through his children, his aides, and his friends toward one of the deeply cushioned seats. Dressed in jeans and a white polo shirt, he looked perhaps 15 years younger than his age of 46 and he moved with the ease of a college quarterback.

C H A P T E R 1 : R A I N B Ow E x P R E S S

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