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'{{Short description|American politician (1941–1996)}} {{for|the NOAA ship|NOAAS Ronald H. Brown (R 104)}} {{Other people}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Ron Brown | image = RonBrownUS.JPG | office = 30th [[United States Secretary of Commerce]] | president = [[Bill Clinton]] | term_start = January 22, 1993 | term_end = April 3, 1996 | predecessor = [[Barbara Franklin]] | successor = [[Mickey Kantor]] | office1 = Chair of the [[Democratic National Committee]] | term_start1 = February 11, 1989 | term_end1 = January 21, 1993 | predecessor1 = [[Paul G. Kirk]] | successor1 = [[David Wilhelm]] | birth_name = Ronald Harmon Brown | birth_date = {{birth date|1941|8|1}} | birth_place = [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1996|4|3|1941|8|1}} | death_place = near [[Dubrovnik]], Croatia | restingplace = [[Arlington National Cemetery]] | party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] | spouse = {{marriage|Alma Arrington|1962}} | children = 2, including [[Michael A. Brown (Washington, D.C., politician)|Michael]] | education = [[Middlebury College]] {{small|([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])}}<br>[[St. John's University (New York City)|St. John's University, New York]] {{small|([[Juris Doctor|JD]])}} | allegiance = United States | branch = United States Army | serviceyears = 1962–1967 | rank = [[Captain (United States O-3)|Captain]] | battles = [[Vietnam War]] }} '''Ronald Harmon Brown''' (August 1, 1941 – April 3, 1996) was an American politician. He served as the [[United States Secretary of Commerce]] during the first term of [[President of the United States|President]] [[Bill Clinton]]. Prior to this he was chairman of the [[Democratic National Committee]] (DNC). He was the [[List of African-American United States Cabinet members|first African American]] to hold these positions. He was killed, along with 34 others, in a [[1996 Croatia USAF CT-43 crash|1996 plane crash in Croatia]]. ==Early life== Ron Brown was born in [[Washington, D.C.]], and was raised in [[Harlem, Manhattan|Harlem]], [[New York (state)|New York]], in a [[middle-class]] family. He was a member of an African-American social and philanthropic organization, [[Jack and Jill (organization)|Jack and Jill]] of America. Brown attended [[Hunter College Elementary School]] and [[Rhodes Preparatory School]]. His father managed the Theresa Hotel in Harlem where Brown and his family also lived. His best friend John R. Nailor moved into the penthouse while he was 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 (renamed to [[Pepsi]] in 1961), one of the first to be targeted specifically towards the African-American community.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/business/06boyd.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin | last=Martin | first=Douglas | date=May 6, 2007 | title=Edward F. Boyd Dies at 92; Marketed Pepsi to Blacks. | work=[[The New York Times]] | access-date=May 5, 2007}}</ref> == Military career == While at [[Middlebury College]], Ron Brown became the first African-American member of [[Sigma Phi Epsilon]], collegiate [[Fraternities and sororities|fraternity]]. Brown was commissioned through the ROTC program as a 2nd Lieutenant of Armor in the [[United States Army]] in 1962 after graduating from Middlebury, the same year he married Alma Arrington. After tours of duty in Germany and California, deploying temporarily to Korea, he left the United States Army as a Captain in 1967. Brown then joined the [[National Urban League]], a leading economic equality group in the United States. Meanwhile, Brown enrolled at [[St. John's University School of Law]] and obtained a degree in 1970.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights |url=https://www.stjohns.edu/law/about/places/ronald-h-brown-center-civil-rights |access-date=September 13, 2022 |website=www.stjohns.edu |language=en-US}}</ref> ==Rise in the Democratic Party== [[File:RonaldHarmonBrown.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Ron Brown at the 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 [[United States Senator|Senator]] [[Edward M. Kennedy]] who sought the [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic Party]]'s presidential nomination. Brown was hired in 1981 by the Washington, D.C., law firm [[Squire Patton Boggs|Pattoytgggggggggggggggggggggbhjinffffvtfgh n Boggs]] as a [[lawyer]] and a [[lobbying|lobbyist]].{{citation needed|date=September 2014}} In May 1988, Brown was named by [[Jesse Jackson|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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1988/05/15/jackson-picks-party-insiders-for-atlanta/51a82e4e-0fb9-472c-81c8-2e2049c19636/|title= JACKSON PICKS PARTY INSIDERS FOR ATLANTA |last=Schwartz|first=Maralee |date=May 15, 1988|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> ==Democratic National Committee== In 1982, Brown was named deputy chairman of the [[Democratic National Committee]]. That same year, he began lobbying the U.S. government on behalf of the brutal [[Duvalier]] regime which was then in power in [[Haiti]]. Over the next four years, Brown earned $630,000 helping to persuade the Administration to continue aid to the government of dictator [[Jean-Claude Duvalier]]. Brown refused to drop the Duvaliers despite being criticized for representing such unsavory clients.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ron Brown|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/president/players/brown.html|access-date=February 4, 2022|website=PBS}}</ref> Brown was elected chairman of the [[Democratic National Committee]] on February 10, 1989, becoming the first African American chosen to lead a major U.S. political party. He later played an integral role in running a successful [[1992 Democratic National Convention]] and in Bill Clinton's successful [[1992 United States presidential election|1992 presidential run]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ron Brown|url=http://www.myblackhistory.net/Ron_Brown.htm|access-date=February 4, 2022|website=BHA}}</ref> ==Secretary of Commerce== {{Further|Presidency of Bill Clinton}} [[Bill Clinton|President Clinton]] then appointed Brown to the position of [[United States Secretary of Commerce|Secretary of Commerce]] in 1993. Clinton's highest priority was bolstering the economy, not diplomacy, and Brown produced results. He led delegations of entrepreneurs, businessmen and financiers to South Africa, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, Egypt, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Ireland, India, and Senegal. He was leading a trade mission en route to Croatia when all passengers died in a plane crash.<ref>Shirley Anne Warshaw, ''The Clinton Years'' (2009), pp. 49-50.</ref> During his tenure Brown was involved in the [[Commerce Department trade mission controversy]]. ==Criticism== During the [[Nannygate]] scandal, Brown admitted that he had failed to pay taxes for his maid, who was an illegal immigrant.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kelly|first=Michael|date=February 12, 1993|title=Washington Memo; Household Hiring Is Trickier With New Broom in Capital|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/12/us/washington-memo-household-hiring-is-trickier-with-new-broom-in-capital.html|access-date=July 15, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 1996, before Brown's trade mission, he was involved in selling seats on the plane used for the mission to raise funds for [[Bill Clinton]]'s reelection campaign.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ex-Ron Brown Partner Claims Clintons Backed 'Sale' Of Trade Seats - March 23, 1998|url=https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/03/23/trade.sale/|access-date=July 15, 2021|website=www.cnn.com}}</ref> In 1993, Brown was alleged to have accepted $700,000 from Vietnamese businessmen Nguyen Van Hao so that Brown would lift the embargo against Vietnam.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Brown's Accuser in Bribery Probe Says FBI Told Him Of Death Threat|url=https://apnews.com/article/de0609ea9b9070c1ebf69b454861684b|access-date=July 15, 2021|website=AP NEWS|language=en}}</ref> ==Death== {{main|1996 Croatia USAF CT-43 crash}} [[File:USAF CT-43A crash 1996.jpg|thumb|right|USAF helicopter over wreckage of Brown's plane, approximately 3 kilometers north of the Dubrovnik Airport, April 4, 1996.]] On April 3, 1996, when Brown was on an official trade mission, a U.S. Air Force [[Boeing T-43|CT-43]] (a modified [[Boeing 737]]) carrying Brown and 34 other people, including ''New York Times'' Frankfurt Bureau chief [[Nathaniel C. Nash]], crashed into a mountainside on approach to Croatia's [[Dubrovnik Airport]]. The Air Force attributed the crash to pilot error and a poorly designed landing approach.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.defense.gov/|title=U.S. Department of Defense|website=U.S. Department of Defense}}</ref> Speculation about the crash included many government cover-up and [[conspiracy theories]], largely based on Brown having been under investigation by [[independent counsel]] for [[political corruption|corruption]].<ref name=browninvestigation>Frieden, Terry, [http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/news/9611/14/ron.brown/index.shtml "Independent Counsel: No Conclusions On Brown Probe"], CNN.com, November 14, 1996</ref> 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 people, 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."<ref>{{cite news|title=Black Leaders Seek Conspiracy Probe in Brown's Death |newspaper=LA Times |author=Robert L. Jackson |date=December 25, 1997 |url=http://articles.latimes.com/1997/dec/25/news/mn-2268 }}</ref> Brown was buried in [[Arlington National Cemetery]]. ==Honors and legacy== [[File:Ron Brown Way Street Sign Washington DC July 2023.jpg|thumb|right|Street sign commemorating Secretary Ron Brown, Washington DC]] On April 5, 1996, President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton planted a white dogwood tree on a hill on the South Lawn in memory of Brown and the others killed in the aircrash.<ref>[https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/04/05/Clinton-plants-tree-in-Browns-memory/1814828680400/ Clinton plants tree in Brown's memory]. upi.com April 5, 1996</ref> On January 8, 2001, Brown was presented, posthumously, with the [[Presidential Citizens Medal]] by President [[Bill Clinton]], twelve days before [[George W. Bush]] took office. 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.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}} Many academic scholarships and programs have been established to honor Brown. [[St. John's University School of Law]] established the Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights and Economic Development in memorial.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stjohns.edu/academics/graduate/law/academics/centers/ronbrown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090530233719/http://www.stjohns.edu/academics/graduate/law/academics/centers/ronbrown|url-status=dead|title=Stjohns.edu|archive-date=May 30, 2009}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.absolute-croatia.com/dubrovnik/museums/ronald-brown-memorial-house|title=Ronald Brown memorial house|access-date=April 3, 2014}}</ref> The largest ship in the [[NOAA]] fleet, the [[NOAAS Ronald H. Brown|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 in March 2011.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/03/ron-brown-commerce-department-street-renamed/1#.UqZV2dKtjQg | work=USA Today | title=Ron Brown Way to honor late Commerce chief | date=March 25, 2011}}</ref> 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.<ref>Remarks by the President at Dedication of the Ronald H. Brown United States Mission to the United Nations Building [https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/29/remarks-president-dedication-ronald-h-brown-united-states-mission-united Whitehouse.gov]</ref> In 1997, [[Daniel C. Roper]] Middle School in Washington, DC, was renamed Ronald H. Brown Middle School in his honor.<ref> Ronald H. Brown Building: Designation Act of 1997 http://www.openlims.org/public/L12-84.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806074128/http://www.openlims.org/public/L12-84.pdf |date=August 6, 2016 }} </ref> That school was closed in 2013 and the building reopened as Ronald Brown College Preparatory High School in 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/the-countrys-newest-all-boys-public-high-school-opens-its-doors/2016/08/22/a09a78e6-688d-11e6-99bf-f0cf3a6449a6_story.html|title=The country's newest all-boys public high school opens its doors|newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref> His son [[Michael A. Brown (Washington D.C. politician)|Michael Brown]] was elected to the [[Council of the District of Columbia]] in 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dcboee.org/election_info/election_results/election_result_new/results_final_gen.asp?prev=0&electionid=2&result_type=3 |title=General Election 2008: Certified Results |work=District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics |date=November 24, 2008 |access-date=January 18, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125103741/http://www.dcboee.org/election_info/election_results/election_result_new/results_final_gen.asp?prev=0&electionid=2&result_type=3 |archive-date=January 25, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He lost his re-election campaign in 2012 and later pleaded guilty to the charge of accepting a bribe from undercover agents.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://apps.washingtonpost.com/data/politics/elections/guide/2012/DC/ |title=Election Results 2012 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=November 12, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226071558/http://apps.washingtonpost.com/data/politics/elections/guide/2012/DC/ |archive-date=December 26, 2014 }}</ref><ref name=pleads>{{cite news |title= Michael Brown Pleads Guilty to Bribery |first= Will |last= Sommer |date= June 10, 2013 |work= Washington City Paper |url= http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/looselips/2013/06/10/michael-brown-pleads-guilty-to-bribery/ }}</ref> He was sentenced to 39 months in prison.<ref name= guilty>{{cite news |title= Son of Former Commerce Secretary Ron Brown Pleaded Guilty to Federal Bribery Charge |work= The Afro |date= May 29, 2014 |url= http://www.afro.com/sections/news/Washington/story.htm?storyid=82879 |access-date= October 21, 2016 |archive-date= May 31, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140531105105/http://www.afro.com/sections/news/Washington/story.htm?storyid=82879 |url-status= dead }}</ref> ==See also== *[[List of African-American United States Cabinet members]] ==References== <references/> ==Further reading== * Brown, Tracey L. ''The Life and Times of Ron Brown: A Memoir'' (William Morrow, 1998). {{ISBN|0688153208}}. * Cashill, Jack. ''Ron Brown's Body'' (WND Books, 2004) {{ISBN|0-7852-6237-7}} * Clinton, Bill. ''My Life''. (Vintage. 2005). {{ISBN|1-4000-3003-X}}. [https://archive.org/details/mylifecl00clin online] * Destler, Ian. "Foreign Economic Policy Making under Bill Clinton." in ''After the End'' (Duke University Press, 1999) pp . 89–107. * Holmes, Steven A. ''Ron Brown: An Uncommon Life'' (Wiley, 2001). * Romzek, Barbara S., and Patricia Wallace Ingraham. "Cross pressures of accountability: Initiative, command, and failure in the Ron Brown plane crash." ''Public Administration Review'' 60.3 (2000): 240–253. [https://academic.udayton.edu/richardghere/POL%20305/Fall%202010/Ron%20Brown.pdf online] ==External links== *[http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=40796 Details from the USAF accident report] *[http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=64902&st=gallaudet&st1= The Presidency Project - William J. Clinton - ''Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Citizens Medal, January 8, 2001''] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090207164346/http://www.africanconnections.com/Ron_Brown_pre.html "To Make a Real Difference in the Real Lives of Real People..."], video of keynote speech at the Third African-African American Summit, Dakar, Senegal, May 1995 - (an AFRICAN CONNECTIONS documentary) - Technical Note: playback requires [http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/?promoid=BUIGP Flash 10 Player] *{{C-SPAN|5973}} {{s-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=[[Paul G. Kirk]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Chair of the [[Democratic National Committee]]|years=1989–1993}} {{s-aft|after=[[David Wilhelm]]}} |- {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=[[Barbara Franklin]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[United States Secretary of Commerce]]|years=1993–1996}} {{s-aft|after=[[Mickey Kantor]]}} {{s-end}} {{USSecCommerce}} {{Clinton cabinet}} {{DNCchairmen}} {{NAACP Image Award – Chairman's Award}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Ron}} [[Category:1941 births]] [[Category:1996 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century American politicians]] [[Category:African-American members of the Cabinet of the United States]] [[Category:American campaign managers]] [[Category:American lobbyists]] [[Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery]] [[Category:Clinton administration cabinet members]] [[Category:Democratic National Committee chairs]] [[Category:Middlebury College alumni]] [[Category:Military personnel from Washington, D.C.]] [[Category:National Medal of Technology recipients]] [[Category:Politicians from Washington, D.C.]] [[Category:Politicians from Harlem]] [[Category:Presidential Citizens Medal recipients]] [[Category:United States Secretaries of Commerce]] [[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Croatia]] [[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1996]]'