Edward William Brooke III (October 26, 1919 – January 3, 2015) was an American Republican politician. In 1966, he became the first African American popularly elected to the United States Senate. No other senator of African heritage was elected until Democrat Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois in 1992. Brooke was also the last Black Republican to serve in the United States Senate until the 2012 appointment of Tim Scott in South Carolina. He was elected to the Senate as a Republican from Massachusetts, defeating former Massachusetts governor Democrat Endicott Peabody in a landslide. He served for two terms, and was defeated by Paul Tsongas in 1978.