He served for two terms, and lost to Paul Tsongas in the 1978 Senate election. Brooke was the oldest living former Senator since Harry F. Byrd, Jr.'s death on July 30, 2013.[3]
Brooke was the first African-American politician to be popularly elected to the Senate.[4] He was the only person of African heritage sent to the Senate in the 20th century until Democrat Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois in 1993.[5] Brooke was also the first African-American senator since the Reconstruction Era.[1]
Brooke was the last Republican Senator elected from Massachusetts until Scott Brown was elected in 2010.[5] Brooke was also the oldest living former Republican Senator[3] and oldest living former Senator after the death of Harry F. Byrd, Jr. in July 2013.[3] Byrd was Senator around the same time as Brooke.[5]
Personal life
He married Remigia Ferrari-Scacco in 1947. They had two children. They divorced in 1979. He married Ann Fleming in 1979. Their marriage would last until Brooke's death in 2015. They had one child. He wrote a book about his life, Bridging the Divide: My Life, in 2007. He lived in Coral Gables, Florida.
In September 2002, he was diagnosed with breast cancer. He worked at raising awareness of the disease among men.[6]
Death
On January 3, 2015, Brooke died at his home in Coral Gables, Florida at the age of 95 from natural causes.[7]
Edward W. Brooke Charter School A public charter school founded in Senator Brooke's honor, dedicated to building great teachers and closing the achievement gap.
