WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Rev. Jesse Jackson withdrew from public view at a potentially critical hour for the civil rights movement Thursday after disclosing that he had an extramarital affair that resulted in the birth of a daughter a year and a half ago.

A steady stream of supporters -- including Jackson's son, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. -- visited with him at his Chicago home, some carrying Bibles. But the only word from Jackson was a statement issued in the early morning hours revealing the affair.

"I fully accept responsibility and I am truly sorry for my actions," he said.

Spokesman John Scanlon said Jackson issued the statement to get out in front of anticipated tabloid reports. Scanlon said the child was the result of an affair Jackson had with a woman who worked in the Washington office of Jackson's civil rights group, the Rainbow-PUSH Coalition.

In his statement, Jackson said he would temporarily step aside from public life to spend time with his family.

The statement came amid the Senate confirmation hearings for John Ashcroft, President-elect Bush's nominee for attorney general -- a choice denounced by Jackson and other civil rights leaders. Jackson has demanded that Democratic senators vote against Ashcroft.

Jackson's staff said he has not yet decided whether he will attend a rally Saturday in Florida to protest voting irregularities that he says disenfranchised blacks during the presidential election.

Jackson, a Baptist minister and one-time aide to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., said he has provided "emotional and financial support" since the baby's birth. "As her mother does, I love this child very much," he said.

"I was born of these circumstances, and I know the importance of growing up in a nurturing, supportive and protected environment," said Jackson, 59. "So I am determined to give my daughter and her mother the privacy they both deserve."

He said he knows friends and supporters will be disappointed in him and asked for their "forgiveness, understanding and prayers."

The Rev. Joseph Lowery, who was a close colleague of King and co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said he hopes Jackson participates in the Florida rally but would understand if he didn't.

"We can't get bogged down. We can't let this interfere with his continued public service," said the 79-year-old Lowery, who plans to help lead the rally. "The Bible says let him without sin cast the first stone. So instead of casting stones, he needs our prayers and our support."

Jesse Jackson Jr. issued a statement appealing to the public to "understand and respect our privacy."

"Over the course of nearly four decades of marriage, my father and our family have survived many dangers and endured many crises and, with God's help, we hope to endure this one as well," the younger Jackson said.

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley called it "a personal thing with his wife and his family" and would not comment.

That sentiment was echoed by many in the city that has become the base of operations for Jackson's civil rights work.

"It's his business. We're only human," said Jamese Duckett, a 26-year-old Chicagoan who is a driver for Cook County. "Everybody's allowed to make mistakes. At least he 'fessed up and took responsibility."

In 1998, Jackson, once a Democratic presidential candidate himself, was a steadfast presence at President Clinton's side as the president struggled with the disclosure of his affair with Monica Lewinsky and the impeachment proceedings that followed. He went to the White House to pray with Clinton's family on a grim weekend in August that year, as Clinton admitted the truth to his wife and daughter and, in a televised speech, to the nation.

The child is reportedly 20 months old, meaning she could have been conceived as early as July 1998 -- a month before his visit with the president.

Last August, Clinton awarded Jackson the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. At that time, Jackson lavished praise on his wife, Jackie, and his five children for supporting him in his long career.

While the news may have a short-term effect on Jackson's effectiveness -- for example, in Florida and in Jackson's opposition of Ashcroft -- some Jackson watchers said he will have no problem bouncing back.

"He has come back before from conflicts of one kind or another," said Ron Walters, a political science professor at the University of Maryland. "Certainly the African American community, by seeing what happened to Clinton, is able to put these things into perspective"