In private, though, the relationship was more complicated, and not as close as it seemed. The men had different approaches to politics: Jackson was old school, an unyielding civil-rights-era fighter ever on the lookout for injustice to denounce. Obama—like other younger black politicians who came up after Jim Crow—was less heated, a results-oriented pragmatist who was willing to compromise and who saw the old guard's combative style as obsolete.

the Rev. Al Sharpton tells NEWSWEEK. "There's definitely a generational divide going on in the black community, and it's been happening for a while. People who deny it aren't seeing clearly."

Jackson Junior seemed to take his father's words personally. "Reverend Jackson is my dad and I'll always love him," he said. "He should know how hard that I've worked for the last year and a half [for Obama] … So, I thoroughly reject and repudiate his ugly rhetoric."

Rep. Jackson said that his dad's way of doing things is a throwback to another time: "