Jackson, “Scoop” [Henry]
Jackson, “Scoop” [Henry] (1912–1983), U.S. senator.Born in Everett, Washington, Jackson was the son of working‐class Norwegian immigrants. As a young boy he sold newspapers, the source of his lifelong nickname, “Scoop.” After becoming a lawyer and county prosecutor, Jackson won election to the House of Representatives in 1940 as a Democrat, serving six terms before winning a Senate seat in 1952.
Between 1952 and his death of a heart attack in 1983, Jackson became one of the Senate's major champions of a strong military defense. In the late 1950s, he criticized the Eisenhower administration for neglecting defense and supported controversial claims of a “missile gap” with the Soviet Union. Deeply suspicious of the Soviets, Jackson opposed arms limitations, arguing against President John F. Kennedy's creation of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and voting reluctantly for the...
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