Brown, Ronald Harmon, 1941-1996

Ronald Harmon Brown (August 1, 1941 – April 3, 1996) was an American lawyer, lobbyist, and politician. He served as the United States Secretary of Commerce during the first term of President Bill Clinton. Prior to this he was chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). He was the first African American to hold these positions.

Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Harlem, New York, Brown attended Hunter College Elementary School and Rhodes Preparatory School vefore earning a B.A. from Middlebury College and a J.D. from St. John's University. While at Middlebury College, Ron Brown became the first African-American member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, collegiate fraternity. Brown was commissioned through the ROTC program as a 2nd Lieutenant of Armor in the United States Army in 1962. After tours of duty in Germany and California, deploying temporarily to Korea, he left the United States Army as a Captain in 1967 and joined the National Urban League. In the eleven years he spent there, he served as a developer-trainee adviser from 1968 to 1976 and deputy executive director for programs and governmental affairs from 1976 to 1979. Upon leaving the National Urban League, Brown worked for a short time as the deputy campaign manager for Senator Edward Kennedy. From 1981 to 1986, Brown was a lobbyist and lawyer with the law firm of Patton, Boggs & Blow. 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. 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. On April 3, 1996, when Brown was on an official trade mission, a U.S. Air Force CT-43 (a modified Boeing 737) carrying Brown and 34 other people crashed into a mountainside on approach to Croatia's Dubrovnik Airport. Brown was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.