Free Republic

CHICAGO — A few years ago, the political career of Representative Jesse L. Jackson Jr. was soaring. His appeal had long since crossed race and class lines — a Barack Obama before anyone heard of Barack Obama — and he seemed destined for a political future that could reach higher and wider than that of his father, the civil rights leader and former presidential candidate whose name he shared. But Mr. Jackson’s prospects have tumbled precipitously since the end of 2008. Most recently, Mr. Jackson, 47, has been absent from Congress since June 10, and in the last few weeks...

Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is suffering from debilitating depression and even collapsed at his home in Washington two months ago, his wife said in an interview published Saturday that revealed new details about his secretive leave of absence. Sandi Jackson, who is a Chicago City Council member, told the Chicago Sun-Times that contrary to rumors, her husband did not try to kill himself and was not being treated for alcohol or drug addiction. "No, no, none of that is true," she said. The Chicago Democrat and son of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson has been off the job...

{Buried last paragraph of article:} He has been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee in recent years over allegations that he improperly raised money for former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich (D) in an effort to win appointment to the Senate seat formerly held by President Obama. As part of a corruption investigation, Blagojevich was heard on a tape saying that Raghuveer Nayak, an associate of Jackson, had offered to pay $1.5 million to the governor if the congressman was appointed to the Senate. Nayak was arrested last month on unrelated fraud charges just days after Jackson’s medical leave began....

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.is undergoing treatment for bipolar II depression at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., the facility said today. Mayo Clinic said the diagnosis came after extensive evaluation. “Congressman Jackson is responding well to the treatment and regaining his strength,” it said in the statement. The statement added: “Many Americans have bipolar disorder. Bipolar II disorder is a treatable condition that affects parts of the brain controlling emotion, thought and drive and is most likely caused by a complex set of genetic and environmental factors. Congressman Jackson underwent bariatric surgery in 2004, specifically a duodenal switch. This type...

CHICAGO — U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., a Chicago Democrat who took a hushed medical leave two months ago, is being treated for bipolar disorder, the Mayo Clinic announced Monday. The Rochester, Minn.-based clinic specified his condition as Bipolar II, which is defined as periodic episodes of depression and hypomania. Hypomania is a less serious form of mania. "Congressman Jackson is responding well to the treatment and regaining his strength," the clinic said in a statement...

The Mayo Clinic said Monday that U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and is under treatment there for the condition. Jackson has been hospitalized at the Rochester, Minn., center and absent from Congress since June 10. He’s been suffering from massive depression and gastrointestinal issues, a likely complication from a risky weight-loss surgery known as a “duodenal switch.”

Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., whose whereabouts haven't been disclosed since he mysteriously took a medical leave several weeks ago, is being treated for depression at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., according to a statement Friday from the hospital. Jackson is undergoing an extensive inpatient evaluation for depression and for gastrointestinal issues, according to the statement, which also provided the first details about his medical condition. But it provided no details about where the congressman, the son of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, had previously been staying. [Snip] The timing of [Jackson's] leave has raised questions, in part because...

THE Rev. JESSE JACKSON is devastated over the headline-making mystery illness that’s struck his son, U.S. Congressman Jesse Jr. – and The ENQUIRER has learned the shocking cause of the tragedy. “At first we thought he was sim­ply exhausted,” said a source close to the family. “But after five weeks of extensive evaluation, doctors diagnosed Jesse Jr. with bipolar disorder.” The serious mental condition is triggered by chemical imbalances in the brain, which propels sufferers from manic highs to depressive lows. Some insiders point the finger of blame squarely at a gastric bypass operation the 47-year-old poli­tician underwent in 2004...

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s mother, Jacqueline Jackson, told a Rainbow/PUSH conference Friday that her son has suffered years of “enormous disappointment.” “I’m not ashamed to say ... he thought he was going to be a senator. He thought he was going to have a chance to run for mayor. And young people don’t bounce back from disappointment like me and my husband,” she said.

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s mother, Jacqueline Jackson, told a Rainbow/PUSH conference Friday that her son has suffered years of “enormous disappointment.” “I’m not ashamed to say ... he thought he was going to be a senator. He thought he was going to have a chance to run for mayor. And young people don’t bounce back from disappointments like me and my husband" she said. . . .

Rep. Jackson's condition 'more serious' than thought, getting in-patient treatment By Daniel Strauss - 07/05/12 11:56 AM ET Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), who took a leave of absence from Congress, is suffering from a medical condition more serious than "initially believed," according to a statement from his office. The nine-term lawmaker is receiving "in-patient" treatment for "certain physical and emotional ailments," the statement noted. It did not provide additional details about his illness or how long he would be absent from Capital Hill. "Congressman Jackson's medical condition is more serious than we thought and initially believed," Jackson spokesman Frank...

Under pressure to reveal where he is and what his “ailments” may be, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s doctors released a statement Wednesday night saying he is being treated for a “mood disorder.” But the statement is unlikely to dampen the speculation about the Illinois Democrat’s mystery medical ordeal, considering the statement gave few details. The release, sent out by the lawmaker’s spokesman, did not identify his doctor’s name nor the facility at which he is being treated. The statement read: “Information regarding the Congressman’s treatment is protected by federal law under the privacy provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and...

BREAKING: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell: Rep Jesse Jackson Jr is in a rehab facility in AZ suffering from alcoholism and addiction -@JesseRodriguez — HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) July 11, 2012

The mystery surrounding Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., deepened on Tuesday as speculation swirled around the Illinois Democrat’s health and political future. Democratic sources say Jackson — who has not been on Capitol Hill since June 10 — may not return to the House until after the August congressional recess. Jackson’s office said in a June 26 statement that the lawmaker was suffering from exhaustion and would take a “medical leave of absence” to receive treatment for the condition. No date has been given for Jackson’s return, and Democratic lawmakers and aides now believe it could last weeks or even...

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told reporters today that he believes Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) needs to explain to voters what kind of ailment he is suffering from “soon.” “As a public official though, there reaches a point when you have a responsibility to tell people what you’re facing and how things are going. Sen. Kirk has done that, and I think Congressman Jackson will face that, too,” Durbin told reporters in Chicago, according to a transcript provided by his office.

Nearly two months after taking a leave of absence from Congress, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s congressional office today said he is being treated at an "in-patient medical facility" for an unnamed ailment. "Recently, we have been made aware that he has grappled with certain physical and emotional ailments privately for a long period of time," Jackson's spokesman Frank Watkins said in a statement. "At present, he is undergoing further evaluation and treatment at an in-patient medical facility." Jackson took a leave of absence from his House duties in early June because of "exhaustion." His condition is now "more serious than...

CHICAGO—U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who defeated a primary challenge this year despite being the target of a House ethics investigation, has been on a medical leave for two weeks and is being treated for exhaustion, his office announced Monday. In a three-sentence news release, Jackson's office disclosed that the Democrat went on leave June 10 but did not provide further details, including how long he would be away. In the release, he asked that his family's privacy be respected.

The House Ethics Committee may be probing a second allegation that Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) broke House rules, according to the Chicago lawmaker. Jackson, speaking before the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board on Monday, vehemently denied any wrongdoing, saying that a campaign donor’s purchase of a plane ticket for a woman he had an extramarital affair with, though at his behest, did not break the chamber’s rules. “[It was] not a personal benefit to me, I don't believe, under the House rules. A benefit to the person for whom he bought the ticket. He didn't buy tickets for me. Did...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., called on House Democrats Tuesday at a closed Democratic Caucus meeting to approve a resolution critical of Texas Gov. Rick Perry for not having removed a racially offensive slur from a rock at his family’s hunting camp. The racially charged name of the site, "N – head," was first reported in a Washington Post story Sunday. The Perry presidential campaign disputed the account and said the rock with the offensive word at the entrance of the leased hunting area in Throckmorton County, Texas, had been painted over at Perry’s instruction in the...

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) said Tuesday he is “deeply sorry” for having “disappointed some supporters” regarding his relationship with a female “social acquaintance.” But the congressman vowed to stay in office in the wake of a Chicago Sun-Times report that a major political fund-raiser has told federal authorities that Jackson directed him to offer former Gov. Rod Blagojevich millions of dollars in campaign cash in return for an appointment for Jackson to the U.S. Senate, to succeed President Obama. The allegation by Oak Brook businessman Raghuveer Nayak regarding fund-raising runs counter to public statements Jackson has made as...