Howard Golden, who as Brooklyn borough president for a quarter-century pressed to strengthen the borough economically, and defended it against slights real or perceived in the years before it experienced a gentrifying revival, died on Jan. 24 at his home in the Kensington section of Brooklyn. He was 98.

Mr. Golden’s career in politics developed as he moved up in Brooklyn’s Democratic party. He was a city councilman from Borough Park for seven years before being chosen to fill the borough president’s post temporarily when it became vacant on Jan. 3, 1977. He won election to his first full term later that year. His 25-year run ended on Dec. 31, 2001.

Mr. Golden remained a lifelong champion of Brooklyn, his pride in the borough unshakable. In a speech in 2000, he said, “There are two kinds of people in this world — those that come from Brooklyn, and those that wish they did.”