Jesse Jackson and the Politics of Lying in Honor

Rev. Jesse Jackson (D-IL)

This past week, Rev. Jesse Jackson passed away.  Jackson only held elected office once, winning a term as the shadow senator from Washington DC from 1991-97 (essentially an honorary lobbying position, given that, unlike the Delegate position currently-held by Eleanor Holmes Norton, the senator position does not serve on committees, cannot introduce legislation, and cannot speak on the floor of the US Congress, making it arguably the most powerless position in the federal government), still had a remarkable hold on national politics.  He was one of the key figures in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s civil rights organization (with his death, only former Rep. Andrew Young is a major player left of King's movement), and was by many definitions the heir apparent to his movement, serving as a significant civil rights leader for the decades that followed, particularly through his Operation PUSH and Rainbow Coalitions.  While Shirley Chisholm was the first Black person to run a serious campaign for president in 1972, Jackson was the first to win multiple states, first in 1984 and then again in 1988, where he placed second to Michael Dukakis.  Jackson, by many measures, was one of the most important figures in American politics in the 1980's, and arguably the most important living figure in the African-American Civil Rights movement before his death.

As a result, it was always likely that major politicians would move to pay tribute to Jackson's life.  I would not be surprised if Democratic Party luminaries like the Clintons, Obamas, Bidens, and Kamala Harris were to attend some of the services in the coming days regarding his life.  They will not, however, be seeing him lying in honor in the US Capitol, despite a request from Jackson's family to do so.  This has levied a lot of criticisms from Jackson's supporters at House Speaker Mike Johnson, including calling him racist for ignoring Jackson's family's request, and I thought it would be interesting to look at this (as it's the sort of historical political minutia that I specialize in on this blog), and whether or not Jackson's family or Johnson has history on their side even as both sides inevitably play a bit of politics in this moment of grief.

First off, it's worth noting that the request from Jackson's family is that he lie in honor, which is not usually the term Americans hear when they hear about this at a state funeral-the most common term is "lying in state."  There is a difference, though, and it points a flashlight into Johnson's potential thinking on the matter.

Lying in state is something that is done exclusively for members of the federal government, as well as high-ranking military officials.  Traditionally this is something that is basically guaranteed for former presidents (Abraham Lincoln being the first), but can also be for members of Congress (Henry Clay was the first, but others that have done so include John McCain, Daniel Inouye, & Harry Reid), Supreme Court justices (Ruth Bader Ginsburg did this, though not in the Capitol rotunda), and even key members of the armed services (Generals Pershing & MacArthur both received this honor).  Though the rooms may change (Elijah Cummings & Don Young were National Statutory Hall, Robert Byrd & Frank Lautenberg in the Senate chambers), the distinction is clear-these are members of Congress, presidents, Supreme Court justices, and military officials.  Jackson, for all his accomplishments, was none of these things.

Which would mean that in order for Jackson to be in the Capitol rotunda, he'd need to lie in "honor," which is a distinction held for individuals who do not qualify under those definitions.  This is a very small list of individuals.  Essentially it is just Capitol police officers killed in the line of duty (specifically three separate events near the capitol in 1998 & 2021), the last living Medal of Honor recipients from World War II and the Korean War, and two distinguished individuals: Rosa Parks and Billy Graham.  Jackson, if you were to include him, would be the third civilian on this list who did not die in the course of duty.

Here's where things get tricky, because I don't know that I'd include Jackson on the same list as Parks and Graham.  It's not that Parks or Graham weren't political-Parks was heavily involved in the initial congressional campaign for John Conyers, and worked for him for years, and Billy Graham maintained a personal relationship with Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon (and actively campaigned against John F. Kennedy in 1960, and for Mitt Romney in 2012).  But neither of them ran for public office (like Jackson did), and Jackson's more scandalous personal life (most notably his affair with a staffer that resulted in an out-of-wedlock child despite Jackson being married to another woman) feels quite contrary to the squeaky clean public personas that Parks & Graham maintained.

As a result, I'm going to be honest-I kind of get where Johnson is coming from here.  Johnson is not without fault of course.  I take more umbrage at his refusal to allow Dick Cheney the opportunity to lie in state, which (given Cheney's history as a Vice President, Secretary of Defense, and member of the US House) probably should've been considered more fully, and feels more so about not wanting to anger President Trump given Cheney refused to endorse him in the 2024 presidential race.  But Jackson probably doesn't earn this honor, and while it might be something a Speaker Jeffries would've done, I don't disagree with Johnson on this.  I think it would make more sense for Jackson's funeral to be attended by political luminaries, or for him to have tributes placed in terms of speeches or a moment of silence on the floor of the House, than to receive lying in honor distinctions.

One thing before we close because a lot of people are making the comparison incorrectly-Charlie Kirk never lied in state in the Capitol Rotunda.  There was a movement at the time by members of Congress (like Nancy Mace) to have him receive that honor, but it didn't happen and Johnson (who would've had the power to do so) did not make it happen.  Kirk did have a funeral service in Arizona that was attended by major figures in the government (including President Trump and Vice President Vance) and was given a moment of silence on the floor of the House, but he was not afforded this honor, and given how often I've seen that stated as fact, I just wanted to point out that it out.