Sam W. Brown Jr. (born July 27, 1943) is a former political activist, the head of ACTION under President Jimmy Carter, and ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Early life and education Sam W. Brown Jr. was born July 27, 1943, in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He attended Abraham Lincoln High School in Council Bluffs where he was, in his own words, "the outstanding ROTC cadet."Brown, Sam "The Legacy of Choices" from The Wounded Generation, Edited by A.D. Horne copyright 1981. In his childhood, he wrote, "it never occurred to me that America could be wrong." Brown attended the University of Redlands in California,New York Times. "Moratorium Organizer: Samuel Winfred Brown Jr." by David E. Rosenbaum. October 16, 1969. where he was first the president of the young Republicans and then the student body president.White, Theodore. The Making of the President Series as quoted by David Kaiser at history unfolding In 1967 Brown was the chairman of the National Student Association's national supervisory board. In 1967 Brown ran for president of the National Student Association and lost. Brown received a B.A. from the University of Redlands in 1965, an M.A. from Rutgers University in 1966, pursued graduate studies at Harvard University Divinity School from 1966–1968, and was a Fellow at the John F. Kennedy Institute of Politics, Harvard University, in 1969.
National Student Association spokesman during CIA scandal In 1967, Ramparts magazine reported that the CIA had been using the National Student Association (NSA) for intelligence gathering abroad.Agee Jr., Phil Campus Watch fall, 1991 pp. 12-13 courtesy of www.cia-on-campus.org As revealed by the president of the organization, Philip Sherburne, in a conversation with the organization's finance director, Michael Wood, the CIA had been funneling money to the organization through various charity fronts in exchange for covert cooperation from students in the NSA's international programs.Ramparts Magazine. March, 1967. pp29-38. Reported by Sol Stern, with the special assistance of Lee Webb, Michael Ansara, and Michael Wood. Obtained via As spokesman for the national NSA's national supervisory board, Brown was particularly appalled by the predicament of members of the NSA's international programs: "The fantastic pressures these people were under were simply incomprehensible to me... The agony of these people who were trapped and were unable to break this relationship was awful."The New York Times. "Students Accuse C.I.A. of 'Trapping' Some Into Spying" by Ben. A. Franklin. February 18, 1967. Brown said that the supervisory board had no knowledge of the CIA's involvement until it was reported, announced that the NSA would assist in any investigation of the CIA's role, and said, "The United States Government owes an unconditional apology to the N.S.A. for using the N.S.A. in this duplicitous manner."
Anti-war organizer
Vietnam Summer Brown first got involved in organizing during "Vietnam Summer" in 1967 when five hundred paid staffers and twenty-six thousand volunteers organized hundreds of grass roots antiwar projects. Brown was one of the volunteers who gained valuable experience during Vietnam Summer. "I know the first time that I ever went and knocked on somebody's door and waited for them to answer so that could tell them that I wanted to talk to them about the war was not an easy moment," said Brown. Brown said that the volunteers gained valuable organizing skills that he and others would later apply during Eugene McCarthy's presidential bid. "To some extent the McCarthy campaign couldn't have happened without that," said Brown.The War Within: America's Battle Over Vietnam By Tom Wells. Published by iUniverse, 2005. ,
Youth Coordinator for McCarthy for President Brown was the youth coordinator for Senator Eugene J. McCarthy's Presidential campaign. According to Tom Wells in his book The War Within Brown would sometimes entertain the notion that McCarthy could win the nomination "sometimes for up to thirty minutes at a stretch."The War Within by Tom Wells. Published by iUniverse, 2005 p 225 The campaign's main appeal for Brown was that "it gave an opportunity and gave an excuse to walk up to people's doors and say, 'Hi. I'm Sam Brown. I'm here because I'd like to talk to you about the war in Vietnam - and about Gene McCarthy.'" Brown hoped that the McCarthy campaign would show people that protesters were "not some crazy minority."
In 2008 Brown's wife, Alison Teal, wrote about Brown's role at the 1968 Democratic Convention. "In 1968, my husband Sam was the liaison between the McCarthy campaign and the protesters and was eventually a defense witness at the Trial of the Chicago Seven," wrote Teal. "Within the leadership of the 1968 convention, there were agents provocateurs from the Chicago police and the FBI."
Brown says that hard work is the secret for being a successful organizer. "You have to be willing to work for very long hours for very little remuneration," says Brown. "But there's a great psychic remuneration." "Sam has three great qualities," said a friend in 1969. "He is willing to work every minute of every day. He is calm in the most tense crises. And he is a terribly, terribly nice, sweet person." Brown said in 1969 that organizing is what he does best and that he does not want to become a celebrity. "The worst thing that can happen to an organizer is to become identified as a leader," said Brown. "There's a terrific antileadership bias in the country now."
Coordinator for the Vietnam Moratorium Committee In April 1969 while Brown was a graduate student in ethics at Harvard Divinity School, Jerome Grossman came to Brown with the idea for a nationwide strike to protest the war in Vietnam. Brown liked the idea but suggested that instead of calling it a strike, that it be called a moratorium. In June 1969 Brown moved to Washington and set up the office of the Vietnam Moratorium Committee. David E. Rosenbaum wrote in the New York Times in 1969 that Brown "is a young man with a genius for organizing who has been the prime mover behind the Vietnam Moratorium protests."
As part of organizing the moratorium, the group ran three full page advertisements in the New York Times for a total cost of $26,328. Brown drew a salary from the moratorium committee of $75 a week. One of Brown's roles in organizing the Moratorium was fund raising which Brown called "the most demeaning thing there is." Nonetheless Brown went on fund raising trips and appeared on television as the moratorium's spokesman. Brown brought his contact lists from the McCarthy campaign with him to work on the Moratorium. "Lists are the guts of organizing," says Brown. Brown's lists included people who had contributed to liberal causes in the past, community organizers, and a list of faculty members who had signed antiwar advertisements.New York Times. "the Moratorium Organizers: Cluttered Precision" by David E. Rosenbaum. October 9, 1969.
On October 15, 1969 an estimated two million people took part in the moratorium in what may have been the largest US demonstration of all time.
On November 15, 1969 a crowd estimated at 250,000 had a massive demonstration at the Washington Monument.[New York Times. "Moratorium Group to Disband; Says Public s Tired of Protest" by David E. Rosenbaum. April 19, 1970. After the November 15 demonstration the energy in the movement seemed to dissipate. Observers attributed the apathy to President Nixon's November 3 speech in which he outlined his plan for "Vietnamization" of the Vietnam war. Brown called Nixon's speech "a tremendous political coup by managing to identify himself with the cause of peace." The organizers said that the demonstrations had been at least a partial success and took some credit for Nixon's troop withdrawals and the dismissal of the head of Selective Service, General Lewis B. Hershey. The New York Times reported that the committee was $100,000 in debt. Brown said he hoped to make up the deficit through several "peace concerts."
The Moratorium Committee announced on April 19, 1970 that it was disbanding and the organizers said that money had dried up and the "political fad" of large demonstrations had run its course. The four national coordinators including Brown said that they each planned to continue antiwar activities on their own. Brown said that he planned to write a manual on how to organize. "You'd be surprised how many people don't know how to draw up a telephone tree, set up an office, call a press conference," said Brown. "I want to tell them how to do this."
Storefront Organizing: A Mornin' Glories' Manual In 1972 Brown published Storefront Organizing: A Mornin' Glories' Manual.Storefront Organizing: A Mornin' Glories' Manual By Sam Brown. Published by Pyramid Books, 1972. , Brown dedicated the book to Jesse Unruh "who taught me the importance of organization" and to Gene McCarthy who showed Brown that "there are some things worth organizing for." The book is a compendium of some of the basics of organizing "to help and encourage people who want to organize." Brown doesn't claim the book s definitive because "imagination and inventiveness are the prime ingredients of organizing." Brown says he wrote the book to be effective regardless of one's ideological point of view. However, Brown states that "the bias is against the status quo, rather than for it" because "the few have always been well organized, the many have never been organized and have never had a voice. Grassroots organization is the way to change that." Brown's book contains the nuts and bolts of grassroots organizing including discussion of such topics as establishing a storefront, finding support in your community, planning programs, getting out crowds, handling the press, fundraising, planning rallies, and canvassing and getting out the vote.
Post-organizing activities Brown worked as a consultant for the FUND for Neighborhood Development from 1972-1973. Brown was Vice President of Brown's Better Shoes from 1970 to 1974.
Election as treasurer of Colorado Brown was elected state treasurer of Colorado and served in the position from 1975 to 1977.
ACTION director
Brown was appointed Director of ACTION by President Jimmy Carter in 1977.Webster University. "CAROLYN ROBERTSON PAYTON" (1925 - 2001). Anthony Lake, a member of president Carter's transition committee, recalled "Sam was very good at pushing his point of view with sufficient flexibility so he could make deals and stick with them. He has very deeply held and decent principles, but he is practical enough to move them along."Chaplin, Gordon "Action's where the Peace Corps Is" from the Washington Post, February 5, 1978 pp. SM9 Action Corps had been created in 1971 by President Richard Nixon to administer the Peace Corps, Volunteers in Service to America and other service programs.New York Times. "Nixon Submits Plan to Merge 9 Volunteer Programs" by Jack Rosenthal. March 24, 1971.
Changes in ACTION mission Seven months into his tenure as ACTION director, Brown released a blueprint for change, declaring "the mission of Action is to mobilize people for voluntary action at home and abroad to change the conditions that deny fulfillment of human needs by calling on the best and most creative instincts of the human spirit." Brown's outline for the new direction of the organization included:
VISTA volunteers were to reemphasize community organizing and advocacy. Decision-making in VISTA programs would be controlled by local offices rather than state or regional ones. There would be a workplace democracy program within ACTION The peace corps would refocus on "basic human needs."
Appointment and resignation of Carolyn Payton and surrounding controversy