In the first year he was able to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, Robinson ask voters to think of only his on-field statistics and abilities. He did not want them to think of his cultural impact on the game. He was elected on the first ballot, becoming the first African-American inducted into the Cooperstown museum.
In 1965, Robinson served as an analyst for ABC's "Major League Baseball Game of the Week" telecasts. He was the first black person to do so. On June 4, 1972, the Dodgers retired his uniform number, 42, along with those of Roy Campanella (39) and Sandy Koufax (32). From 1957 to 1964, Robinson was the vice president for personnel at Chock full o'Nuts. He was the first black person to serve as vice president of a major American company. Robinson always considered his business career as advancing the cause of African-Americans in business. Robinson also chaired the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's (NAACP) million-dollar Freedom Fund Drive in 1957. He served on the organization's board until 1967. In 1964, he helped start, with Harlem businessman Dunbar McLaurin, Freedom National Bank – an African-American-owned and operated bank based in Harlem. He also served as the bank's first Chairman of the Board. In 1970, Robinson started the Jackie Robinson Construction Company to build housing for low-income families.
Robinson was active in politics throughout his post-baseball life. He called himself a political independent. But he held conservative thoughts on several issues, including the Vietnam War (he once wrote Martin Luther King, Jr. to defend the Johnson Administration's military policy). After supporting Richard Nixon in his 1960 presidential race against John F. Kennedy, Robinson later praised Kennedy for his views on civil rights. He then supported Hubert Humphrey against Nixon in 1968. In 1964, Robinson became one of six national directors for Nelson Rockefeller's Republican presidential campaign. He later became special assistant for community affairs when Rockefeller was re-elected governor of New York in 1966.
Robinson made his final public appearance on October 15, 1972. He threw the ceremonial first pitch before Game 2 of the World Series. He accepted a plaque honoring the 25th anniversary of his MLB debut, but also said, "I'm going to be tremendously more pleased and more proud when I look at that third base coaching line one day and see a black face managing in baseball." This wish was fulfilled only after Robinson's death. After the 1974 season, the Cleveland Indians gave their coaching job to Frank Robinson (no relation), a Hall of Fame-bound player who would go on to coach three other teams. Despite the success of these two Robinsons and other black players, the number of African-American players in Major League Baseball has gone down since the 1970s.
After Robinson's retirement from baseball, his wife, Rachel Robinson, went for a career in academic nursing. She became an assistant professor at the Yale School of Nursing and director of nursing at the Connecticut Mental Health Center. She also served on the board of the Freedom National Bank until it closed in 1990. She and Jackie had three children: Jackie Robinson Jr. (born November 18, 1946), Sharon Robinson (born January 13, 1950), and David Robinson (born May 14, 1952).
Robinson's oldest son, Jackie Robinson Jr., had emotional trouble during his childhood. He entered special education at an early age. He enrolled in the Army in search of a disciplined environment. He served in the Vietnam War. He was injured in action on November 19, 1965. After his discharge, he struggled with drug problems. Robinson Jr. eventually completed the treatment program at Daytop Village in Seymour, Connecticut. He became a counselor at the institution. On June 17, 1971, at the age of 24, he was killed in an automobile accident. The experience with his son's drug addiction turned Robinson, Sr. into someone who fought against drugs for the rest of his life.
Robinson did not live long after his son. Problems with heart disease and diabetes made Robinson weak. He was almost blind by middle age. On October 24, 1972, he died of a heart attack at home in Stamford, Connecticut, aged fifty-three. Robinson's funeral service on October 27, 1972, at New York City's Riverside Church had 2,500 people come. Many of his former teammates and other famous black baseball players served as pallbearers. The Rev. Jesse Jackson gave the eulogy. Tens of thousands of people lined the procession route that followed to Robinson's gravesite site at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. There he is buried next to his son Jackie and mother-in-law Zellee Isum. Jackie Robinson Parkway also runs through the cemetery.
After Robinson's death, his widow founded the Jackie Robinson Foundation, of which she remains an officer as of 2010. On April 15, 2008, she announced that in 2010 the foundation will be opening a museum about Jackie in Lower Manhattan. Robinson's daughter, Sharon, became a midwife, educator, director of educational programming for MLB, and the author of two books about her father. His youngest son, David, who has ten children, is a coffee grower and social activist in Tanzania.
According to a poll conducted in 1947, Robinson was the second most popular man in the country, behind Bing Crosby. In 1999, he was named by "Time" magazine on its list of the . Also in 1999, he ranked number 44 on the "Sporting News" list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players. He was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team as the top vote-getter among second basemen. Baseball writer Bill James, in "The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract", ranked Robinson as the 32nd greatest player of all time based on his performance on the field. James noted that Robinson was one of the top players in the league throughout his career. Robinson was among the 25 first members of UCLA’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 1984. In 2002, Molefi Kete Asante included Robinson on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans. Robinson has also been honored by the United States Postal Service on three different postage stamps, in 1982, 1999, and 2000.
The City of Pasadena has recognized Robinson in several ways. Brookside Park, located next to the Rose Bowl, has a baseball field and stadium named Jackie Robinson Field. The city's Human Services Department owns the Jackie Robinson Center, a community outreach center that provides early diabetes detection and other services. In 1997, a $325,000 bronze sculpture by artists Ralph Helmick, Stu Schecter, and John Outterbridge showing oversized nine-foot busts of Robinson and his brother Mack was put up at Garfield Avenue, across from the main entrance of Pasadena City Hall. A granite footprint lists multiple donors to the commission project, which was organized by the Robinson Memorial Foundation and supported by members of the Robinson family.
MLB has honored Robinson many times since his death. In 1987, both the National and American League Rookie of the Year Awards were renamed the "Jackie Robinson Award" in honor of the first to receive the award (Robinson's Major League Rookie of the Year Award in 1947 encompassed both leagues). On April 15, 1997, Robinson's jersey number, 42, was retired by Major League Baseball. No future player on any major league team can wear it. The number was retired in ceremonies at Shea Stadium to mark the 50th anniversary of Robinson's first game with the Dodgers. A few players who wore number 42 as a salute to Robinson, such as the Mets' Butch Huskey and Boston's Mo Vaughn, were allowed to continue to use the number by means of a grandfather clause. The Yankees' Mariano Rivera is the last player in the major leagues to wear jersey number 42 on a regular basis.