Brown elected chairman of the Democratic Party
Ronald H.Brown a former Supreme Court lawyer and leader of the National Urban League is elected chairman of the Democratic Party National Committee.He was the first African American to hold the top position in a major political party in the United States.Brown born in Washington D.C.
in 1941 was raised in New York Citys Harlem where he worked as a welfare caseworker before joining the U.S.Army.After holding important positions in the National Urban League an advocacy group for the renewal of inner cities he became a member of the U.S.
Supreme Court bar and served as chief counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee.As chairman of the Democratic Party Brown played a pivotal role in securing the 1992 election of Bill Clinton the first Democratic president in 12 years.In 1993 he was appointed Americas first African American secretary of commerce by President Clinton a capacity in which he served until April 3 1996 when he and 32 other Americans were killed when their plane crashed into a mountain in Croatia.Brown had been leading a delegation of business executives to the former Yugoslavia to explore business opportunities that might help rebuild the war-torn region.
