Howard Dean

As of June 2026, Dean sat on the board of the National Democratic Institute and was a senior strategic advisor and independent consultant for the government affairs practice at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, focusing on health care and energy issues. He also was a senior fellow at the Yale Jackson School from 2014-2024. ^{4 2}

While governor, Dean had terms as chairman of the National Governors Association, the Democratic Governors Association, and the New England Governors Conference. ⁴

Early Career

After graduating from Yale in 1971, Howard Dean took a job on Wall Street, following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather before pivoting to a career as a doctor. In 1978, he graduated from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. While working as an internal medicine resident, Dean volunteered for Jimmy Carter’s 1980 presidential re-election campaign. ¹

In 1982, Dean started an internal medicine practice with his wife, Judith Steinberg, where he worked until becoming governor in 1991. While practicing medicine, he served as a member of the Vermont House of Representatives from 1983 to 1986 and as Lieutenant Governor of Vermont from 1987 to 1991. ¹

Governor of Vermont

While serving as lieutenant governor, Howard Dean assumed the position as governor of Vermont in 1991 after Governor Richard Snelling (R-VT) died in office from a heart attack. As governor, he became known for large tax cuts while also eliminating Vermont’s budget deficit and for pursuing government-run health care programs. Initially, Gov. Dean expanded healthcare programs for low-income individuals with the goal of slowly expanding the programs to be available for all residents while opposing single-payer health systems. As governor, he also supported calls for fixing prices of pharmaceutical medicines. ⁵

As governor, Howard Dean led the creation of Vermont’s Dr. Dynasaur health program. Dr. Dynasaur is a state-administered program that expanded Medicaid coverage and offered tax credits for children who would otherwise be ineligible. Under Dean, it provided health care to all children under 18 and families with income under $55,200 for a family of four. Dean also created the Vermont Health Access Plan that provided health coverage to low-income individuals, with members receiving a 41 percent discount on prescription medicines. ³

It had been reported that Dr. Dynasaur offered lower premiums and copays compared to private insurance companies, resulting in individuals having cancelled their employer-provided insurance. The Boston Globe reported in 2002 that doctors criticized the program as it included lower fees and paid “far less” than private insurance. Furthermore, it reported that doctors claimed the program resulted in their private practices losing money and having to sell to larger health care providers. ⁶

Following Baker v. Vermont, a 1999 Vermont Supreme Court ruling that determined excluding same-sex couples from marriage licenses violated the Common Benefits Clause of Vermont’s constitution, Dean signed An Act Relating to Civil Unions into law. The bill maintained the definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman but added civil unions, consisting of couples of the same sex, as having equal benefits and protections as married couples. ⁷

According to National Public Radio (NPR), Gov. Dean told legislators that he would veto any legislation that labeled same-sex relationships as a “marriage” and opposed language that equated same-sex relationships with traditional marriages. In a 2011 interview with Vermont Public Television, Dean reflected that his opposition at the time was due to what he described as having “casual homophobia” and because he was “uncomfortable with gay people” and same-sex marriages.  ⁸

2004 Presidential Campaign

On September 5, 2001, Howard Dean announced that he would step down as governor at the conclusion of his term, and in May 2002, he announced he would run for the Democratic presidential nomination. His early campaign included opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the George W. Bush administration’s tax cuts, and the increases in the federal deficit. ¹

In November 2003, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the AFL-CIO, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) announced that they would be endorsing Dean for the Democratic presidential nomination. The SEIU’s endorsement included a voter mobilization effort where, it was reported, it initially planned to make 7 million calls and have canvassers visit 10 million homes and planned to raise $20 million from over 500,000 union members. ⁹

Dean’s presidential campaign was centered on his support for government-run health care. In May 2003, he gave a speech at Columbia University to discuss his health plan. In the speech, Dean criticized then-President George W. Bush and Republicans for implementing tax cuts that included cuts to funding for Medicaid and veterans’ programs. He stated that he planned to expand Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) as president by eliminating income and other qualifications and make the programs available to all individuals under age 25. Dean added that his health platform included a government-run health program for those otherwise ineligible for public benefits to buy into and offer “significant” tax credits for those with supposedly high premiums. ³

Dean’s health care platform also included publicly funded, discounted health-insurance programs for businesses with less than 50 employees, and he stated that he would have the federal government cover 70 percent of Continuation of Health Coverage (COBRA) premiums for employers. Lastly, he stated that he would eliminate tax deductions for businesses who allegedly pay “large salaries” to executives without offering healthcare benefits for employees. ³

Dean withdrew his candidacy in February 2004 following disappointing results in early Democratic presidential nominating contests. ¹⁰

Democratic National Committee Chair

Howard Dean was elected chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 2009 following his failed bid for the presidency. As chairman, he implemented the “50-State Strategy” to compete in more states and districts and reorganized its fundraising strategy. ²

The 50-State Strategy focused on creating a system for recruiting and supporting Democratic party candidates within each state and at all levels of government. The purpose of the strategy was to allow Democratic candidates to have a chance of winning in historically Republican jurisdictions. Candidates who previously would have had no local, state, or national support were able to launch campaigns with support from the national network created by the 50-State Strategy and potentially develop a Democratic base in historically Republican areas. ¹¹

Democracy for America

In 2005, Howard Dean founded Democracy for America (DFA), a left-of-center political action committee, following his failed presidential campaign. He stepped down after becoming DNC chair and was an advisor to the group after leaving the DNC from 2009 to 2016. It initially supported Democratic party candidates who opposed the Iraq War and supported ranked-choice voting, student loan debt relief, and Medicare for All. ¹²

In March 2013, Dean announced that DFA would be launching a “Purple to Blue Project” supporting Democratic campaigns in battleground states, beginning with Virginia and initially planned to expand to Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Michigan in 2014. In Virginia, it planned on spending $750,000 on five candidates for the Virginia House of Delegates. Dean stated that the purpose of supporting the Democratic candidates was to “stop the right-wing extremists.” Amongst the Republican efforts Dean spoke about in the announcement, he stated opposition to then-Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s (R) gubernatorial campaign and an abortion restriction bill signed by then-North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple (R). ¹³

DFA became insolvent in 2022 following the midterm election, sparking controversy over the management of funds. Leading up to the midterm elections, Politico reported that DFA CEO Yvette Simpson had informed staff it needed to raise $320,000 by the end of the year, and shortly after, Simpson attended a leadership training paid for by the organization. As DFA reached insolvency, Simpson was also scrutinized by employees for spending her time attending a sommelier-education course in Napa Valley instead of fundraising. ¹²

Political Commentary

In April 2020, Howard Dean posted to Twitter that he would no longer appear on MSNBC if the network continued to air President Donald Trump’s daily COVID-19 press conferences and called on fellow commentators to join him to develop meaningful pressure on the network. In response to his statements on COVID-19, Dean stated, “He [Trump] harms people by giving them misinformation” and “People have died because of some of the things that Trump has said.” He also went on to claim Trump is “seriously mentally impaired” and “a crackpot.” ¹⁴

In April 2026, Dean submitted a written public comment to the Vermont House Committee on Health Care that advocated for increasing state-level taxes to pay for government-run health care to be available for all individuals and condemned the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for lowering tax rates. He also criticized the second Trump administration for building a ballroom and funding renovations to the National Mall’s Reflecting Pool. He also compared socialized healthcare to Vermont’s public education system by stating it was “propped up” while still “failing to meet our needs,” arguing that a socialized health care system needed to be more effectively managed than the education system. ¹⁵