Civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate Jesse Jackson dies aged 84

Civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson died "peacefully" this morning at the age of 84, the two-time presidential hopeful's family has said in a statement.

The family, who hailed Reverend Jackson's role in the civil rights movement, did not immediately provide a cause of death in their statement.

Reverend Jackson was seen as the young protégé of Martin Luther King during the 1960s, later setting up the Rainbow-PUSH movement in Chicago.

He also played a leading role in the Democratic Party, running for the White House in 1984 and 1988.

Reverend Jackson finished in a distant third place in 1984, missing out on the Democratic nomination to Walter Mondale and Gary Hart.

However, the civil rights leader secured a second-place finish in 1988, shocking his rivals to finish narrowly behind Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis.

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