Edward Brooke, one of the most powerful Black men who ever became a U.S. senator has died at 95. Brooke died of natural causes at his Coral Gables, Florida, home surrounded by family members. He achieved fame by being the first Black to ever be elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote in 1966; he was one of only nine Blacks to ever achieve the rank of U.S. senator since the days of Reconstruction.
After the Civil War there were Blacks who were sent to the Senate from Southern states, however, the process was different. Back then, senators were appointed by their state legislatures, not by a popular vote as today. Brooke ran as a Republican candidate in Massachusetts, which was a solid Democratic state with only a 12 percent Black population. Despite this fact, Brooke won election and served a total of 2 terms as until his defeat by Paul Tsongas in 1978. His loss was due in part to a bitter divorce battle that included an admitted affair with journalist Barbara Walters.
While a senator, he was known as a liberal figure and was the first Republican to publicly call for the resignation of President Richard Nixon. He was quoted as saying at the time that Nixon “lost the confidence of the country and I don’t know of anything he could do to turn it around.” He also was a prominent figure in the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and the 1969 Federal Housing Act. The Brooke amendment of the act limits to 25 percent the amount a family must pay for rent in public housing. Brooke was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2009.
