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.