Quick Facts
Biography
Donald Lester Jackson (January 23, 1910 – May 27, 1981) was a U.S. Representative from California.
Born in Ipswich, Edmunds County, South Dakota, Jackson attended the public schools of South Dakota and California. He served as a private in the United States Marine Corps from 1927 to 1931 and again from 1940 until discharged as a Colonel in 1945 with two years' combat service overseas. He engaged in public relations, and worked as a reporter and editor in Santa Monica, California from 1938 to 1940. He served as director of publicity for the city of Santa Monica, in 1939 and 1940.
Jackson was a congressional adviser at the ninth conference of American States at Bogotá, Colombia in 1948 and was elected as a Republican to the Eightieth and to the six succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1961). His congressional service included the House Un-American Activities Committee, and a notable role in accusing Methodist Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam of engaging in communist activities. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1960.
Jackson was appointed to the House Un-American Activities Committee to replace future President Richard Nixon, who had just been elected to the United States Senate.
He worked as a radio and television commentator from 1960 to 1968, and was appointed by President Nixon as a commissioner on Interstate Commerce Commission in 1969.
Jackson resided in Sosua, Dominican Republic, West Indies, until his death in Bethesda, Maryland, May 27, 1981. He was interred in Arlington National Cemetery.