Sadly, most remember Edward (Swimmer) Kennedy as a Senator from Massachusetts.
Via WISTV
He died at his home in Coral Gables, FL, from natural causes, the Associated Press reported.
In the years immediately after the Civil War until 1967, no black people held office in the Senate. Popular elections were not used fill Senate seats until the early 1900s. Until then, state governments selected Senators.
Brooke served from 1967 through 1979. Before that he served two terms as the attorney general of Massachusetts, the first black person to sit in the office.
Edward William Brooke III was born Oct. 26, 1919 in Washington, DC. He earned his undergraduate degree from Howard University in 1941 and law degree from Boston University in 1948. Between then, he served in World War II in the Army and earned a Bronze Star.
Brooke received a Spingarn Medal from the NAACP in 1967, the organization’s highest honor, following his successful Senate election that came during a historic time of racial tensions in the country.
Despite the era during which he was raised, Brooke said he never experienced indignity or lack of opportunity because of his race. His father was a lawyer for the Veterans Administration, and the family did not lack for much.
Since Brooke, six other black politicians have won elections to the Senate, including President Barack Obama, who took one of the seats from Illinois. Nine total blacks have ever sat in Senate, and currently there are two – Tim Scott, R-SC, and Cory Booker, D-NJ.