Edward Brooke, American Politician
Senator Edward Brooke holding a large gavel at a podium during the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami, Florida. Edward William Brooke III (October 26, 1919 E?? January 3, 2015) was an American politician. Brooke graduated from the Boston University School of Law after serving in the United States Army during WWII. After serving as chairman of the Finance Commission of Boston, Brooke won election as Massachusetts Attorney General in 1962. In 1966, he defeated Democratic Governor Endicott Peabody in a landslide to win election to the Senate, becoming the first African-American popularly elected to the United States Senate. In the Senate, Brooke aligned with the liberal faction of Republicans. He co-wrote the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which prohibits housing discrimination. Brooke became a prominent critic of President Richard Nixon and was the first Senate Republican to call for Nixon's resignation in light of the Watergate scandal. After leaving the Senate, Brooke practiced law in Washington, D.C. and was affiliated with various businesses and non-profits. In 2002, he was diagnosed with breast cancer and assumed a national role in raising awareness of the disease among men. In 2004, President George W. Bush awarded Brooke the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2009, he was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal. He died in 2015, at the age of 95, and was buried in Arlington Cemetery. Photographed by Thomas J. O'Halloran, August 6, 1968
