Edward Brooke

Who is Edward Brooke?

Edward William Brooke III is an American Republican politician, in 1966 being the first African American popularly elected to the United States Senate. He was the only person of African heritage sent to the Senate in the 20th century until Democrat Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois in 1993, and the only African-American Senator to serve multiple terms. He was elected to the Senate as a Republican from Massachusetts, defeating his Democratic opponent, former Massachusetts governor Endicott Peabody in a landslide. He served for two terms, and was defeated by Paul Tsongas in the 1978 senate election.

Brooke was the last Republican Senator elected from Massachusetts until Scott Brown was elected in 2010, and, until 2013, was the most recent Republican of African-American heritage to be elected to the Senate in his own right. Brooke is also the oldest living former Senator.

In 1967, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP.