THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 13, 1996 TAG: 9604130004
SECTION: FINAL PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
The question remains too long unanswered: When will an African American be president?
But in 1992, a politically savvy African American played the kingmaker. As the first black chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Harlem-reared Ronald H. Brown helped a flawed Arkansas governor defeat a sitting president.
As president, Bill Clinton picked Brown to be his Secretary of Commerce, the first African American to hold that post. Brown was reported to be the sole Cabinet member at Clinton's side when the most-important presidential decisions were made.
On April 3, Brown, 54, died in the service of his country when his plane crashed on a Croatian hill. Also killed were 34 others. Under Brown's leadership, they, too, died serving America.
At Brown's memorial service Wednesday, President Clinton eulogized, ``I want to say to my friend, just one last time, `Thank you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here.' ''
One is hard-pressed to think of anything Brown lacked. He was handsome, smart and smooth - the consummate Washington insider, the Clark Clifford of his time. As a lawyer and deal maker, he proved, as Clinton put it, that ``you could do well and do good.'' He exuded confidence in himself but also in others around him. The impossible didn't sound that hard when Brown described it.
At the end, he faced legal problems; but the good he did - for the mighty and the little people - dwarfed questions about his dealings.
In a front-page story Thursday, The Washington Post called Brown ``a national symbol of personal achievement and racial bridge-building.''
At the Commerce Department he had his staff memorize this one-sentence statement: ``The mission of the Department of Commerce is to ensure economic opportunity for every American.''
When Brown said that, it sounded possible. by CNB