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Howard Dean

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This profile of a 2008 Democratic superdelegate from Vermont was part of the Superdelegate Transparency Project, a collaboration of LiteraryOutpost, OpenLeft, DemConWatch, HuffPost's OffTheBus and the Congresspedia community to build an open-source tally and informational resource on the 2008 Democratic superdelegates. (More about superdelegates.)
See all the Vermont members of Congress, candidates and blogs at the Vermont portal.
Howard Dean is the chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Contents

Democratic National Committee

On February 12, 2005, Howard Dean was elected Democratic Party Chairman. [1]

Profile

Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American Democratic politician who served as Governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003. While initially favored to win the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2004 election, he suspended his campaign on February 18, 2004, after failing to win a single primary. On March 2 he did win the primary in his home state of Vermont, the only state not won by John Kerry on Super Tuesday.

Dean's presidential campaign was remarkable at the time for its extensive use of the Internet to reach out to its supporters. The candidate and his staff frequently "blogged" while on the campaign trail and even delegated important campaign-related decisions to the outcomes of polls conducted on his website. By soliciting contributions online, mostly in small donations from individuals, the campaign shattered previous fundraising records for the Democratic presidential primary. Dean has thus been credited with being the first national candidate to play to the strengths of the Internet, in particular by engaging the American public directly in the political process.

Personal background

Howard was born in New York City to Andree Dean, art appraiser; Howard Brush Dean Jr. (deceased), former Dean Witter Reynolds top executive. He graduated from Yale University in 1971 and spent the next few years working as a stock broker. Dean received his doctor of medicine degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1978 and practiced as a physician until he became Governor of Vermont upon the death of Richard A. Snelling. Raised in the Episcopal Church, he became a Congregationalist in 1982.

Dean married Judith Steinberg Dean, M.D. She uses her maiden name (Judith Steinberg) in their joint medical practice to avoid confusion with her husband. Elsewhere she goes by Judith Dean or Judy Dean. She has raised the couple's two children, Paul and Anne, in her Jewish faith.

Early Political Career

  • 1980: Volunteer in Jimmy Carter's re-election campaign
  • 1982-1986: Served in the Vermont House of Representatives
    • Elected assistant minority leader in 1985
  • 1986: Elected lieutenant governor
    • 1988 re-elected
    • 1990 re-elected
  • August 14, 1991: - Assumed governorship (Governor Richard A. Snelling died of heart attack)
    • 1992: - first election as governor (with 74% of the vote)
    • 1994: re-elected (with 69%)
    • 1996: re-elected (with 71%)
    • 1998: re-elected (with 56%)
    • 2000: re-elected (with 50.4%, Republican 2nd place finisher received 37.9%, leftist Progressive Party 3rd place finisher received 9.5%)

Howard Dean: U.S. presidential election, 2004

Democracy for America

Democracy for America (DFA), a political action committee, was founded in 2004 by Howard Dean. His brother, James H. Dean, serves as DFA's chairman. [2]

Related SourceWatch Resources

External links

Howard Dean: External Links

  • For articles & commentary, 2003 and 2004, as well as links to websites, profiles, and other links related to Howard Dean's run as a presidential candidate in U.S. presidential election, 2004.

2005

Profiles

Websites

By Howard Dean

Interviews

  • A Talk with DNC Head Howard Dean, NPR, June 13, 2005: "Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has been busy doing what he proved in the last presidential race he does best: grass-roots organizing. But Republicans have attempted to chip away at one of the Democratic Party's most loyal voting blocs, African Americans. Dean discusses what Democrats are doing to stay relevant to their African-American base."

Articles & Commentary

2007

Note: A version of this article appears on the Wikipedia.

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