Former President Bill Clinton and William Bowen laugh together at the naming ceremony for the William H. Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2000.

Former chairman of First Commercial Bank and tax lawyer William H. Bowen died Wednesday evening at age 91, close family friends said Thursday.

Bowen, who served as former President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff during Clinton’s run for president from 1991 to 1992, died at the Fox Ridge assisted living home in Little Rock. The Pulaski County corner’s office determined that the cause of death was choking.

Bowen is remembered by faculty and friends at the William H. Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, named for Bowen in 2000. Bowen School dean emeritus and law professor Chuck Goldner was an associate dean under Bowen and said he learned a great deal from him.

“Bill would be in his office Tuesday and Thursday, reading papers,” Goldner said. “His door was always open so anyone could go talk to him.”

Former managing partner at the firm of Friday, Eldredge and Clark Byron Eiseman said he knew Bowen for more than 50 years and he said he can attribute the success of his career over the years to Bowen.

“He really was a great contributor to the state and the community,” Eiseman said. “I never would have been a lawyer if it hadn’t been for him.”

Eiseman met Bowen while Eiseman was still a student in the same tax law class Bowen had taken at New York University a decade earlier. Bowen hired Eiseman at the law firm, and at the first meeting Eiseman attended with Bowen, Bowen gave Eiseman a quick rundown of a bill the Banker’s association wanted introduced at the meeting.

“Then, we get into the meeting and Bill says, 'I need to leave for 30 minutes or so,'” Eiseman said. “And told the bankers if they had any questions, ‘Byron can answer them.’”

Eiseman laughed and said he got lucky the bankers weren’t too hard on him.

“He was the kind of person who knew everybody, tremendous charisma,” Eiseman said. “He always rose to the top, no matter what the circumstances.”

Eiseman said he had spoken to Bowen a couple weeks earlier when they had gotten lunch together and at the time, Bowen was having difficulty swallowing but seemed as vibrant and charismatic as ever.

Governor Mike Beebe released a statement after Bowen's death, calling him a "mentor" and a "good friend."

“Bill Bowen ... always exhibited class and Southern charm. A lawyer’s lawyer, he could be passionate and serious about the law while never losing his great sense of humor. His legacy will live on through UALR’s law school, and his name will continue to elicit respect and trigger fond memories for years to come,” Beebe said.

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said in a statement that he and his wife were saddened by the loss of Bowen.

“With the death of William H. Bowen, Arkansas has lost a man who was without equal in Arkansas in terms of his success, kindness and commitment to public service. Bill will be missed, but his legacy will live on forever, and through that legacy, Arkansas will be a better place.”

McDaniel said Bowen wrote him a note early on in McDaniel’s first term as attorney general. McDaniel said he framed the note, and is proud to have graduated from the Bowen school of law and to have learned under Bowen, who was dean at the time.

"Thank you, Bill, for all that you were and all that you did,” McDaniel said in closing.

Bowen was a World War II veteran and retired from the U.S. Naval Reserve as a lieutenant commander. He earned his law degree in taxation from New York University, and went on to join the law firm Mehaffy, Smith and Williams, which would later become Smith, Williams, Friday and Bowen. After serving as the chairman and CEO of First Commercial Bank, he retired to be Clinton’s chief of staff, before serving as dean of the UALR School of Law in 1995.

Bowen is survived by his wife, Connie, and his three children, Dr. William Scott Bowen of Little Rock; Cynthia Bowen Blanchard of Russellville; and Patricia Bowen Barker of Little Rock. Bowen also is survived by 12 grandchildren.

Read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more on this story.