Edward Brooke

Edward Brooke

Edward William Brooke III (born October 26, 1919) is an American politician and was elected to the United States Senate as a Republican from Massachusetts in 1966, 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. He was the first African American popularly elected to the Senate. Brooke would remain the only person of African heritage sent to the Senate in the 20th century until Democrat Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois in 1993, and was the last Republican Senator elected from Massachusetts until the 2010 election of Scott Brown. He is also the only African American reelected to the Senate. Since the death of Charles H. Percy on September 17, 2011, Brooke is the oldest living Republican Senator and the second oldest overall.

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