Politics. On Point.

The White House is honoring the anniversary of the passing of former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown . Secretary Brown was a dedicated public servant whose untimely death during a trade mission to Croatia on April 3, 1996 ended his life far too soon. His vision continues to be important and today’s work at the Department of Commerce builds on his legacy. Brown served his country in Korea as a soldier in the U.S. Army and in the halls of Congress as chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. He also broke down barriers – becoming the first African American chairman of the Democratic National Committee and the first African American to serve as U.S. Secretary of Commerce. In this latter role, he made perhaps his largest impact.During his tenure at Commerce, Secretary Brown pioneered a focus on exports that helped to boost the U.S. economy in the 1990s and contributed to one of the largest periods of economic expansion in our nation’s history. During a time when e...

A fitting tribute to Ron Brown , former Commerce Secretary, as he gets a Washington, DC street named after him. The street, located between Constitution and Pennsylvania avenues at 14th Street NW, near the White House, is named Ron Brown Way . Brown served as Commerce Secretary from 1993-96. The honor comes some 15 years to the month when an Air Force plane crashed into a Croatia mountainside killing Brown in April, 1996. His son, Michael Brown , serves as DC's councilman. Gary Locke is the outgoing Secretary of Commerce, appointed by President Barack Obama.  Locke has since been named Ambassador to China to replace 2012 presidential candidate Jon Huntsman Related Brown's death suspicious Brown on Arlington Cemetery web site ** Updat e ** President Obama speaks about the legacy of Ron Brown as he dedicates the Ronald H. Brown United States Mission to the United Nations Building in New York, NY.  ( Video ).