BU Law Announces
2009 Commencement Speaker,
Governor Howard Brush Dean III
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About Governor Dean
Howard Brush Dean III has been a prominent figure in U.S. politics since the 1980's. Entering the Vermont House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1982, Dean went on to become lieutenant governor in 1986. Both were part-time positions, allowing Dean, a 1978 graduate of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, to continue his career as a medical practitioner.
In 1991, Dean left medicine to become governor of Vermont. From 1991 to 2003, he was elected to five two-year terms, making him the second longest-serving governor in Vermont history. During this time, Dean’s term held much success: Vermont paid off much of its public debt, balanced its budget 11 times and lowered income taxes twice. Also notable was Dean’s expansion of The “Dr. Dynasaur” program, which ensures universal health care for children and pregnant women in Vermont. Dean also served as chairman of the National Governors Association from 1994 to 1995.
An early front-runner in the 2004 Democratic Presidential nomination, Dean denounced the 2003 invasion of Iraq and called on Democrats to more strongly oppose the Bush Administration. Dean showed strong fundraising ability, and was a pioneer of political fundraising via the Internet; however, he eventually lost the nomination to Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. Following his loss, Dean formed the organization Democracy for America and later was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee in February 2005.
As chairman of the DNC, Dean created and employed the "50 State Strategy." The strategy was devised to make Democrats competitive in conservative states often dismissed as "solid red.” The strategy’s success was revealed after the 2006 midterm elections when Democrats took back the House and picked up seats in the Senate from normally Republican states such as Missouri and Montana. In the 2008 election, Barack Obama employed "The 50 state strategy" as the backbone of his candidacy, targeting voters across the country rather than primarily focusing on battleground states. Since resigning from the DNC in 2009, Dean has been named the DNC’s “chairman emeritus.”
BU Law is honored to welcome Howard Dean as the 2009 Commencement Speaker.