 |
|
|
|
Edward Brooke
|
 |
|
(Born Oct. 26, 1919, Washington, D.C.)
American lawyer and legislator, the first African-American to be popularly elected to the U.S. Senate.
Brooke earned his undergraduate degree at Howard University (Washington, D.C.) in 1941 and served as an infantry officer during World War II. After being discharged, he earned two law degrees at Boston University, where he was editor of the law review.
Brooke began practicing law in 1948 and became a successful Boston attorney. He met with defeat, however, when he ran in 1950 and again in 1952 for a seat in the Massachusetts legislature. He also failed in his 1960 bid to become the Massachusetts secretary of state. From 1961 to 1962 he served as chairman of the Boston Finance Commission, seeking evidence of corruption in city politics.
In 1962 Brooke, a Republican, was elected attorney general of Massachusetts. A vigorous prosecutor of official corruption, he was re-elected in 1964 by a large margin, despite the success of Democrats that year.
In 1966 Brooke ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate and won by nearly half a million votes. He established a reputation as a soft-spoken moderate on civil rights and a leader of the progressive wing of his party. In 1972 he was overwhelmingly reelected.
In 1978, however, beset by personal problems including a divorce and accusations of financial misdeeds, Brooke lost his bid for a third term. In 1979 he became chairman of the National Low-Income Housing Coalition and resumed the practice of law.
Copyright © 2002 Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.
|
|
|
|
