U.S. House of Representatives

January: Jackson begins his first term, U.S. Representative, 2nd District, Washington State and appoints John L. Salter as his administrative assistant

January: President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his annual message to Congress encouraging aid to Great Britain

December: World War II begins

Jackson is appointed to the U.S. House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee and the U.S. House Rivers and Harbors Committee (1941-1952)

February: President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues an executive order authorizing the internment of Japanese Americans in the Pacific Northwest

June 1: Opening of the Grand Coulee Dam, Grand Coulee, Washington

November: Jackson is reelected to U.S. House of Representatives, 2nd District, Washington State, defeating Republican opponent Payson Peterson

Jackson serves on U.S. House Civil Service Committee

The Northwest PowerPool is formed

Dr. Dorothy Fosdick joins the U.S. State Department

January: Jackson begins second term, 78th Congress, U.S. House of Representatives, 2nd District, Washington State

March: Construction of the Hanford Facilities begins, Benton County, Richland, Washington

September: Jackson enlists in the army in Fort Lewis, Washington and is sent to boot camp in Fort McClellan, Alabama, where he meets George Wallace

November: President Roosevelt orders all Congressmen out of the military

Jackson serves on U.S. House Small Business Select Committee (1943-1948)

November: Jackson is reelected to U.S. House of Representatives, 2nd District, Washington State, defeating Republican opponent Payson Peterson

November: Warren G. Magnuson elected to U.S. Senate

Jackson is appointed to the U.S. House Conservation of Wildlife Resources Select Committee (1944-1946) and serves as chairman, U.S. House Indian Affairs Committee (1944-1947)

January: Jackson begins third term, 79th Congress, U.S. House of Representatives, 2nd District, Washington State

April 12: President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies, and Vice President Harry S. Truman is inaugurated 33rd President of the United States

April 22: Jackson and U.S. Congressional delegation visit the Buchenwald concentration camp, Buchenwald, Germany

November 15: President Harry S. Truman appoints Jackson U.S. delegate to the Maritime Preparatory Technical Conference of the International Labor Organization, Copenhagen, Denmark

December: Jackson visits Norway

December: President Harry S. Truman sends General George C. Marshall to China to negotiate the conflict between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Kuomintang (KMT) party

Jackson declines Senator Samuel T. Rayburn’s offer to chair the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

March 5: Winston S. Churchill delivers his Iron Curtain Speech, Westminster College, Fulton, Massachusetts

June-July: Jackson is elected chairman, International Maritime Labor Conference, Seattle, Washington

November: Jackson is reelected to U.S. House of Representatives, 2nd District, Washington State, defeating Republican opponent Payson Peterson

Jackson co-sponsors and aids the passage of the Indian Claims Commission Act

January: Jackson begins fourth term, 80th Congress, U.S. House of Representatives, 2nd District, Washington State

February: Chinese Civil War resumes between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Kuomintang (KMT) party

March 12: President Harry S. Truman issues the Truman Doctrine establishing economic and military support to Greece and Turkey

June 23: The Taft-Hartley Act passes

July 12: The U.S. issues the Marshall Plan

August: Jackson visits Norway

Washington State counterpart to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), the Cantwell Committee, begins investigations

Jackson serves on U.S. House Appropriations Committee (1947-1952)

February: Klement Gottwald, Communist Party Leader, becomes the leader of Czechoslovakia

April: Hungry Horse Dam construction contract approved

May 14: Israel declares independence

May 30: The Columbia River floods near Vanport, Portland, Oregon

June 24: Soviets blockade access to Western Berlin

June: Vandenberg resolution (S.R. 239) is passed

November-December: Jackson serves as chairman, International Labor Organization, Joint Commission Meeting, Geneva, Switzerland

November: Jackson is reelected to U.S. House of Representatives, 2nd District, Washington State

Peter Jackson (father) dies

Jackson is appointed to the U.S. Congress, Atomic Energy Joint Committee (1948-1952)

January: Jackson begins fourth term, 81st Congress, U.S. House of Representatives, 2nd District, Washington State

January: Jackson is appointed to the U.S. House Appropriations Committee and the U.S. House Interior Subcommittee

April 21: Mao Zedong's communist forces cross south of Yangtze River and capture Nanking

August 24: North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) established

August: The Soviet Union explodes its first atomic bomb

October 1: People's Republic of China is established

January 25: Alger Hiss is found guilty of perjury and sentenced to five years imprisonment

April: Paul Nitze's National Security Council (NSC) 68 is sent to President Harry S. Truman

June 25: Korean War begins

November: Jackson is reelected to U.S. House of Representatives, 2nd District, Washington State, defeating Republican opponent Herb Wilson

November: Warren G. Magnuson is reelected to U.S. Senate

Jackson declines President Harry S. Truman’s offer of undersecretary of the Department of the Interior

April 11: President Harry S. Truman dismisses General Douglas MacArthur

April 27: Jackson designated one of ten most effective Congressmen by Liberty Magazine

Second powerhouse built, Grand Coulee Dam, Grand Coulee, Washington

Columbia Basin irrigation project begins

February 4: Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is established

May 31: Jackson announces candidacy, U.S. Senate, Washington State

September: Jackson defeats Democratic candidate Hugh B. Mitchell in the primaries

November: Jackson elected to U.S. Senate, defeating Republican opponent Harry P. Cain

November: Dwight D. Eisenhower elected President of the United States

December 9: Jackson contacts the secretary of the U.S. Navy concerning Admiral Hyman G. Rickover