Howard Dean

Guide Note

Howard Dean III is the former governor of Vermont and is currently the chairman of theDemocratic National Committee. Dean rose to national prominence during his failed 2004 presidential bid when he utilized the internet to attract donors and young people to his unorthodox campaign.

Dean was the most prominent anti-Iraq War Democrat of the '04 campaign. His campaign dissolved after he unleashed the infamous "scream" during a rally after placing third at the Iowa Caucuses. When the video circulated the cable news stations for days, pundits argued that Dean was not poised enough to be President.

Most importantly for the Democratic Party, Dean was a champion of the "50 state strategy," a plan which emphasized the party's need to compete in all fifty states, rather than focus on a few swing states such as Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania.

Fast Facts

1. Born: November 17, 1948
2. Early front-runner in the 2004 Democratic Presidential nomination - but lost to John Kerry
3. Dean's famous 'scream' was unleashed during his nomination campaign in January 2004
4. Currently the chairman of the Democratic National Committee
5. Trained as a physician
6. 1978: medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine
7. 1991-2003: Governor of Vermont
8. 1994 to 1995: chairman of the National Governors Association

After his election to the Vermont House of Representatives in 1982 and his election as lieutenant governor in 1986, Dean won the 1990 Vermont gubernatorial election and served as governor until 2003. From 1994-1995, he was the chairman of the National Governors Association. Dean focused largely on health care issues in Vermont during his tenure, dropping the uninsured rate from 12.7% to 9.6%.

Dean's primary focus once assuming the chairmanship of the DNC was to achieve parity with the Republican Party in fundraising capabilities and to ensure that Democrats can compete with Republicans in all 50 states, including those which tend to vote overwhelmingly Republican.