Brown, Ron

Brown, (Ronald Harmon) Ron

(1941–  ) cabinet officer, lawyer; born in Washington, D.C. Son of Howard University graduates, he grew up in Harlem. After graduating from Middlebury College (1962) and service with the U.S. Army (1962–66), he earned his law degree at St. John's University School of Law (1970). While working for the National Urban League (NUL) in New York, he was elected district leader of the Democratic Party in Mount Vernon, N.Y. (1971). He was with the Washington, D.C., office of the NUL (1973–79), and he then held a series of positions under Senator Edward Kennedy; he worked for the Democratic National Committee (1981–85). In 1981 he had joined the Washington, D.C., law firm of Patton, Boggs & Blow, thereby becoming its first African-American partner, and for several years he made his name as a corporate lobbyist. By 1988 he was serving as a strategist to Jesse Jackson's presidential campaign, and his role as a unifier at the Democratic Convention led to his being chosen in 1989 to head the Democratic National Committee. Successful handling of the Democratic Party's own factions and of Bill Clinton's campaign in 1992 led to Brown's being appointed secretary of commerce in 1993.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.