A group of rhetoric scholars once got together and decided that Jesse Jackson’s 1984 Democratic National Convention speech is the 12th most significant address of the 20th century, behind the words of Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, among others.

Jackson ran for president in 1984 and 1988. He didn’t stand a chance, but listening to the civil rights leader’s call for “a more humane, just and peaceful course” below, this blogger can’t help but daydream of the world that might have been. — PZS

Jesse Jackson 1984 Democratic National Convention Speech:

Jesse Jackson 1984 Campaign Speech:

Jesse Jackson After Obama’s Election:

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