Scope and Content Note
Ronald Harmon Brown (1941-1996) was a lawyer and Democratic Party operative who managed presidential campaigns for Edward Kennedy and Jesse Jackson and served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. These papers relate entirely to Brown’s term as United States secretary of commerce during the Clinton administration. The papers span 1992-1996, ending when he died in a plane crash while on a mission to Croatia. They treat Brown’s death and legacy as well as his efforts to expand American exports and work with agencies such as the National Information Infrastructure, National Institute of Standards and Technology Programs, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Featured also are congressional relations including legislation to dismantle the Department of Commerce and his trips and missions in the United States and to foreign countries.