Mr. Fowler additionally discovered himself defending a plan to entice potential donors with quite a lot of perks in alternate for his or her {dolla
Mr. Fowler additionally discovered himself defending a plan to entice potential donors with quite a lot of perks in alternate for his or her {dollars}, together with dinners with the Clintons, non-public conferences with administration officers, participation in “situation retreats” and “honored visitor standing” on the get together’s 1996 conference in Chicago. In an editorial, The New York Occasions referred to as the plan “seedy.”
In 1996, Mr. Fowler efficiently fought off a lawsuit by the perimeter candidate Lyndon LaRouche, who was looking for the Democratic nomination for the fifth time. He filed the go well with after Mr. Fowler had instructed state events to ignore votes for him. Mr. Fowler had described Mr. LaRouche’s views as “explicitly racist and anti-Semitic” and had accused him of defrauding donors and voters. Mr. LaRouche was not, he stated, “a bona fide Democrat.”
Donald Lionel Fowler was born on Sept. 12, 1935, in Spartanburg, S.C. He earned a level in psychology from Wofford Faculty in Spartanburg, the place he was a star basketball participant; he was later inducted into its Corridor of Fame. He acquired a grasp’s diploma and a doctorate in political science from the College of Kentucky.
Whereas holding his political posts and operating an promoting and public relations enterprise in Columbia, he taught political science for 5 many years on the College of South Carolina and in addition on the Citadel, South Carolina’s army school.
His first spouse, Septima (Briggs) Fowler, with whom he had two youngsters, died in 1997. In 2005, Mr. Fowler married Carol Khare. That they had labored collectively on the Democratic Nationwide Committee and at his communications agency. Carol Fowler grew to become chair of the state get together in 2007.
Full data on survivors was not instantly accessible.
This yr, the Fowlers’ dwelling within the 5 Factors space of Columbia, the state capital, grew to become a daily cease for a lot of Democrats looking for their get together’s presidential nomination within the run-up to the South Carolina major in February. Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Invoice de Blasio had been amongst those that confirmed up as dozens of individuals crowded into the Fowlers’ front room.
Consultant Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the Home majority whip and a frequent visitor lecturer in Mr. Fowler’s lessons, advised the South Carolina newspaper The State, “Don was at all times the connector, the one bringing political pals and, generally, enemies collectively.”
The New York Occasions contributed reporting.