Doctor-turned-politician Howard Dean spent 11 years as the Democratic governor of Vermont.
Elected lieutenant governor of Vermont in 1986, Dean ascended to the governorship in 1991 after the death of then-Gov. Richard Snelling.
A critic of President Bush's tax cuts, Dean has urged that they be rolled back to help pay for expanded health care. The former governor is also concerned with social justice, including education and health care reform.
Before turning to politics, Dean shared a medical practice with his wife, Dr. Judith Steinberg. He received his bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1971 and his medical degree from New York's Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1978. He previously served in the Vermont House from 1982 to 1986.
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NAME: Howard Dean.
BIRTH DATE: Nov. 17, 1948.
EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree, Yale University, 1971; Medical degree, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1978.
EXPERIENCE: Governor of Vermont, 1991-2002; lieutenant governor of Vermont, 1986-91; member of the Vermont House of Representatives, 1983-1986; physician in private practice specializing in internal medicine, 1978-82.
FAMILY: Wife Judy; two children.
QUOTE: "At every turn when there has been an imbalance of power, the truth questioned, or our beliefs and values distorted, the change required to restore our nation has always come from the bottom up from our people."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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