Editing Alphonso Jackson (section)

===Early career===
Jackson began his professional career in St. Louis as an assistant professor at the [[University of Missouri – St. Louis]]. In 1977, he was named the city's director of public safety. He became executive director of the St. Louis Housing Authority four years later, a job he held until 1983. He left it to work as a consultant to a St. Louis accounting firm and intensified his political activities. Active in both Democratic and Republican circles in the city for many years, he even ran for a spot as St. Louis's municipal revenue collector. He also worked for the U.S. Senate campaign of Jack Danforth, a Republican. His rising profile earned him the attention of officials in Washington, and in 1987, he was made the director of the U.S. Department of Public and Assisted Housing for Washington, D.C.