Ron Brown (U.S. politician)

For the NOAA ship, see NOAAS Ronald H. Brown (R 104).
For other people named Ron Brown, see Ron Brown (disambiguation).
Ron Brown
30th United States Secretary of Commerce
In office
January 22, 1993 – April 3, 1996
President Bill Clinton
Preceded by Barbara Franklin
Succeeded by Mickey Kantor
40th Chairman of the Democratic National Committee
In office
February 10, 1989 – January 22, 1993
Preceded by Paul G. Kirk
Succeeded by David Wilhelm
Personal details
Born Ronald Harmon Brown
(1941-08-01)August 1, 1941
Washington, D.C.
Died April 3, 1996(1996-04-03) (aged 54)
near Dubrovnik, Croatia
Resting place

Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington, Virginia
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Alma Arrington
Children Michael A. Brown, Tracey L. Brown
Alma mater Middlebury College
St. John's University
Military service
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service 1962–1967
Rank Captain
Battles/wars Vietnam War

Ronald Harmon "Ron" Brown (August 1, 1941 – April 3, 1996) was the United States Secretary of Commerce, serving during the first term of President Bill Clinton. He was the first African American to hold this position. He was killed, along with 34 others, in a 1996 plane crash in Croatia.

Early life and political career

Ron Brown was born in Washington, D.C., and was raised in Harlem, New York, in a middle-class family. He was a member of an African-American social and philanthropic organization, Jack and Jill of America, where he met many African-American friends. Brown attended Hunter College Elementary School and Rhodes Preparatory School. His father managed the Theresa Hotel in Harlem, where Ron lived growing up. His best friend John R. Nailor moved into the penthouse while a student at Rhodes. Nailor was one of the other few black students who attended Rhodes Prep. As a child, Brown appeared in an advertisement for Pepsi-Cola, one of the first to be targeted specifically towards the African-American community.[1]

While at Middlebury College, Ron Brown became the first African-American member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, collegiate fraternity. As a result, the national charter of SPE at Middlebury was rescinded and the fraternity became a local known as Sigma Epsilon. Brown joined the United States Army in 1962, after graduating from Middlebury, and served in South Korea and Europe, the same year he married Alma Arrington. After being discharged in 1967, Brown joined the National Urban League, a leading economic equality group in the United States. Meanwhile, Brown enrolled in law school at St. John's University and obtained a degree in 1970.

Rising star in the Democratic Party

Ronald Harmon Brown at podium

By 1976, Brown had been promoted to Deputy Executive Director for Programs and Governmental Affairs of the National Urban League. However, he resigned in 1979 to work as a deputy campaign manager for Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who sought the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

Brown was hired in 1981 by the Washington, D.C., law firm Patton Boggs as a lawyer and a lobbyist.

In May 1988, Brown was named by Jesse L. Jackson to head Jackson's convention team at the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. Brown was named along with several other experienced party insiders to Jackson's convention operation. By June, it was apparent that Brown was also running Jackson's campaign.

Brown was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee on February 10, 1989, and played an integral role in running a successful 1992 Democratic National Convention and in Bill Clinton's successful 1992 presidential run. President Clinton then appointed Brown to the position of Secretary of Commerce in 1993.

Death

USAF MH-53J Pave Low helicopter over wreckage of the USAF CT-43A approximately 3 kilometers north of the Dubrovnik Airport in Croatia, April 4, 1996.

On April 3, 1996, when Brown was 54 and on an official trade mission, a U.S. Air Force CT-43 (a modified Boeing 737) carrying Brown and 34 other people, including New York Times Frankfurt Bureau chief Nathaniel C. Nash, crashed in Croatia. While attempting an instrument approach to Dubrovnik's Čilipi airport, the airplane crashed into a mountainside. Everyone aboard was killed instantly except Air Force Tech. Sgt. Shelly Kelly, a flight attendant, who died while being transported to a hospital.[2] The final Air Force investigation attributed the crash to pilot error and a poorly designed landing approach.[3] Speculations as to the circumstances surrounding the plane crash that caused Brown's death include many government cover-up and conspiracy theories, largely based on Brown having been under investigation by independent counsel for corruption.[4] Of specific concern was a trip Brown had made to Vietnam on behalf of the Clinton Administration. Brown carried an offer for normalizing relations between the United States and the former communist enemy.

Some, including Kweisi Mfume - head of the NAACP at the time - and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, had written federal officials to ask for more data on the suspicious circumstances of Brown's death. "Responding to homicide allegations, an official of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology acknowledged that doctors initially were puzzled by a circular wound on the top of Brown's head when his remains were recovered at the crash scene. The forensic pathologist then consulted with others and took extensive X-rays. As a result of these consultations and full-body X-rays, we absolutely ruled out anything beyond a blunt-force injury to the head."[5]

Brown was buried with full state honors in his hometown.

Honors and legacy

On January 8, 2001, Brown was presented, posthumously, with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bill Clinton. The award was accepted by Brown's widow, Alma Brown. President Clinton also established the Ron Brown Award for corporate leadership and responsibility. The Conference Board administers the privately funded award. The U.S. Department of Commerce also gives out the annual Ronald H. Brown American Innovator Award in his honor. The California Black Chamber of Commerce, every August, holds the Ron Brown Business Economic Summit.

Many academic scholarships and programs have been established to honor Brown. St. John's University School of Law established the The Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights and Economic Development in memorial.[6] The Ronald H. Brown fellowship is awarded annually to many students at Middlebury College to pursue research internships in science and technology, and the Ron Brown Scholar Program was established in Brown's honor in 1996 to provide academic scholarships, service opportunities and leadership experiences for young African Americans of outstanding promise.

A memorial room has been installed in the Ronald Brown memorial house in the old city of Dubrovnik. It features portraits of the crash victims as well as a guest book.[7]

The largest ship in the NOAA fleet, the NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown, was named in honor of his public service not long after his death. The section of 14th Street between Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenue was renamed Ron Brown Way.[8]

In March 2011, the new United States Mission to the United Nations building in New York City was named in Brown's honor and dedicated at a ceremony in which President Obama, former President Clinton and the United States representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Susan Rice, spoke.[9]

In 1997, The Daniel C. Roper Middle School in Washington, DC was renamed the Ronald H. Brown Middle School in his honor.[10] That school was closed in 2013 and the building reopened as the Ronald Brown College Preparatory High School in 2016.[11]

His son Michael Brown was elected to the Council of the District of Columbia in 2008.[12] He lost his re-election campaign in 2012 and later pleaded guilty to the charge of accepting a bribe from undercover agents.[13][14] He was sentenced to 39 months in prison.[15]

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Martin, Douglas (May 6, 2007). "Edward F. Boyd Dies at 92; Marketed Pepsi to Blacks.". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2007.
  2. ↑ Pilot error, poor equipment blamed for Brown plane crash, CNN.com. Published June 7, 1996; accessed September 12, 2008.
  3. ↑ "United States Department of Defense".
  4. ↑ Frieden, Terry, "Independent Counsel: No Conclusions On Brown Probe", CNN.com, November 14, 1996
  5. ↑ Robert L. Jackson (December 25, 1997). "Black Leaders Seek Conspiracy Probe in Brown's Death". LA Times.
  6. ↑ Stjohns.edu
  7. ↑ "Ronald Brown memorial house". Retrieved April 3, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Ron Brown Way to honor late Commerce chief". USA Today. March 25, 2011.
  9. ↑ Remarks by the President at Dedication of the Ronald H. Brown United States Mission to the United Nations Building Whitehouse.gov
  10. ↑ Ronald H. Brown Building: Designation Act of 1997 http://www.openlims.org/public/L12-84.pdf
  11. ↑ "The country's newest all-boys public high school opens its doors". Washington Post.
  12. ↑ "General Election 2008: Certified Results". District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics. November 24, 2008.
  13. ↑ "Election Results 2012". The Washington Post. November 12, 2012.
  14. ↑ Sommer, Will (June 10, 2013). "Michael Brown Pleads Guilty to Bribery". Washington City Paper.
  15. ↑ "Son of Former Commerce Secretary Ron Brown Pleaded Guilty to Federal Bribery Charge". The Afro. May 29, 2014.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Paul G. Kirk		 Democratic National Committee Chairman
1988–1993 		Succeeded by
David Wilhelm
Political offices
Preceded by
Barbara Hackman Franklin		 U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Served under: Bill Clinton
January 22, 1993 – April 3, 1996 		Succeeded by
Mickey Kantor
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