Everything about Erskine Bowles totally explained
Erskine Boyce Bowles (born
August 8,
1945) is an
American businessman and political figure from
North Carolina. He currently serves as the president of the
University of North Carolina system. In 1997-98 he served as
White House Chief of Staff and he also ran unsuccessfully for a North Carolina
United States Senate seat in 2002 and 2004.
Early life and education
Bowles was born and raised in
Greensboro, North Carolina and was the son of
Skipper Bowles, a
Democratic politician. Bowles graduated from
Virginia Episcopal School before attending college. Bowles matriculated at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was admitted to the
Zeta Psi fraternity and graduated with a business degree. After briefly serving in the
United States Coast Guard, Bowles then enrolled in the
Columbia Business School, where he earned an M.B.A. and served as
Student Body President.
Following graduation, Bowles worked for the financial firm
Morgan Stanley in
New York City. There, he met his wife, Crandall Close; the two married in 1971 and moved to North Carolina, where Bowles worked on his father's 1972 gubernatorial campaign. Crandall and Erskine have three children: Sam, Annie, and Bill. In 1975, Bowles helped launch the investment firm of
Bowles Hollowell Conner, and remained in the corporate sector until the 1990s.
The Clinton years
In
1992, he became more involved in politics as a fundraiser for
Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. President Clinton appointed Bowles to head the
Small Business Administration in 1993. From October 1994 to December 1995, Bowles served as Clinton's deputy White House chief of staff, in the first-term of the
Clinton Administration.
After briefly returning to
Charlotte, North Carolina, where he helped found the
merchant bank Carousel Capital, Bowles was appointed Clinton's
Chief of Staff in December 1996. One of Bowles's major responsibilities was dealing with federal budget negotiations between the White House and Congress. Bowles returned to
Charlotte, North Carolina and to the field of finance again in October 1998. He was also asked by North Carolina Gov.
Jim Hunt to head a task force on rural economic prosperity.
Senatorial races
Although initially reluctant to seek political office, Bowles reconsidered a run for the
United States Senate after the
September 11, 2001 attacks and, in October 2001, declared his candidacy for the Senate as a
Democratic candidate. Seeking to fill the seat being vacated by
Jesse Helms, Bowles secured the party's nomination, but was defeated in the 2002 general election by
Republican challenger
Elizabeth Dole.
In 2004, Bowles campaigned again for the Senate, seeking to fill the seat being vacated by fellow Democrat
John Edwards. He faced
Republican Richard Burr and
Libertarian Tom Bailey in a hotly contested race. The final month of the Senate campaign saw both Bowles's and Burr's campaigns turn strongly negative, with Burr's campaign attacking Bowles's associations with the
Clinton administration, while Bowles's campaign attacked Burr on his support of trade legislation and special interest donations. Both campaigns spent a great deal of money, making it one of the most expensive statewide races in North Carolina history.
Despite an early lead in the polls after the primaries, as well as fellow Democrat
Mike Easley running for a second term as governor at the top of the state party ticket, Bowles was defeated in the 2004 race as well. President Bush's comfortable electoral victory in North Carolina likely helped Burr considerably. During his concession speech in Raleigh at the Democratic headquarters, he thanked his supporters but seemed to indicate that he wouldn't run for office again. Quoting his father, he said there were "many ways to add to the community woodpile" and that political office was only one of them. Accordingly, in 2005 Bowles accepted an appointment as
United Nations Deputy Special Envoy for
Tsunami-affected Countries, once again working for Bill Clinton who was now serving as U.N. Special Envoy.
Since 2005
On
October 3,
2005, Bowles was elected by the
University of North Carolina's Board of Governors to succeed
Molly Corbett Broad as President of the system, even though some suggest that the Board of Governors broke the law in not holding public hearings in the hiring process.
Bowles is also a member of the
board of directors of
General Motors,
Morgan Stanley, and North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company and serves on the North Carolina Advisory Board of
DonorsChoose.
Electoral history
- 2004 election for U.S. Senate
- 2002 election for U.S. Senate
Further Information
Get more info on 'Erskine Bowles'.
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