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Brown was determined but controversial politician

WASHINGTON: U.S. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, who died in a plane crash off Croatia on Wednesday, was a skilled political operative and a determined, though controversial cabinet officer. He was 54.

Croatian government officials said early on Thursday that Brown and the 32 others on board the military plane died in the crash near the town of Dubrovnik.

Born in Washington, D.C., on August 1, 1941, and raised in New York's Harlem district, Brown was the first black American to become chairman of a major U.S. political party. He played a key role in organising President Bill Clinton's successful 1992 election campaign.

Hailing the man who helped him to end a 12-year Republican Party lock on the White House, Clinton called Brown "a brilliant negotiator and perhaps, the most outstanding chairman of the Democratic Party in my lifetime."

Facing Republican campaign attacks on the Democrats as the party of big government and higher taxes, Brown joined with Clinton in crafting a new centrist image for their party.

At the same time, he worked quietly but tirelessly for Democratic unity in the runup to the election, effectively using his links with the black community.

Clinton rewarded Brown by appointing him commerce secretary in December 1992. But almost immediately Brown became a controversial figure.

First, he was accused of accepting a $700,000 bribe from a Vietnamese businessman in return for help in ending the U.S. trade embargo against Vietnam.

Brown denied the allegation and in February 1994 was cleared of wrongdoing by the Justice Department.

But in May 1995, Attorney General Janet Reno requested the appointment of a special counsel to look into Brown's financial affairs after the Justice Department found evidence of possible wrongdoing related to Brown's ties to a former business partner, Nolanda Hill.

Brown and Hill had co-owned an investment and consulting firm. Brown did virtually no work for the company but Hill had paid him more than $400,000 since 1993 to buy his share of the partnership.

With Republicans urging Clinton to fire Brown, a panel of judges last July announced the appointment of former Florida judge Daniel Pearson as independent counsel to lead a criminal investigation into the affair. The probe was continuing at the time of Brown's death.

The allegations marred an otherwise successful tenure for Brown as Commerce Secretary during which he proved an aggressive and successful advocate for U.S. corporations seeking foreign trade deals.

Seeking to remake a cumbersome bureaucracy of 36,000 employees into an aggressive machine dedicated to maximizing U.S. exports, Brown soon impressed corporate executives with his determination and dedication.

In December 1994, DuPont Co. chairman Edgar Woolard called Brown the star of the Clinton administration and said he had given U.S. business more support than any previous Commerce Secretary.

Brown was a tireless traveller, often leading delegations of top U.S. executives on foreign trips when he pushed for contracts and urged countries like China and Japan to remove trade barriers to U.S. exports.

It was on just such a trade trip that his plane went down off Dubrovnik.

Brown's activism did not stop Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, targeting Brown's department as a prime example of a federal agency that should be scrapped.

Brown's philosophy as Commerce Secretary was perhaps most clearly stated when he accepted the nomination from Clinton in December 1992.

"If we are truly serious about rebuilding our economy ... we simply must have a national strategy to help our businesses and our workers compete and win in this global economy," Brown said then.

Brown grew up in New York City's Harlem at the famed Hotel Theresa, a mecca for black entertainers, including Duke Ellington, Count Bassie and Bille Holiday.

His college-educated father managed the hotel on 125th St and Seventh Avenue and eventually became an official in Franklin Roosevelt's administration.

After earning a law degree at St. John's University, Brown began his career at the Urban League, an major black pressure group, working his way up in 11 years to become deputy executive director, chief counsel and chief Washington spokesman.

Brown seemed to have learned the need for party unity after working for Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy in 1980 and watching his candidate split the Democrats and leave the way clear for Republican Ronald Reagan's victory.

In 1984 and 1988, Brown worked for civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, who was an unsuccessful presidential candidate.

Brown lived in Washington D.C. with his wife Alma, who is public affairs director for a local radio station. He had two grown-up children: Michael and Tracey.-Reuter