Edward W. Brooke, who in 1966 became the first black popularly elected to the U.S. Senate and who influenced major anti-poverty laws before his bright political career unraveled over allegations of financial impropriety regarding private loans, died at his home in Naples, Fla. He was 95.
Ralph Neas, a family spokesman and former legislative aide to the senator, confirmed the death. The cause was not disclosed.
Brooke, a liberal Massachusetts Republican, was one of only two blacks to serve in the Senate in the 20th century. He was the first to serve since Reconstruction, when state legislatures appointed senators. Six blacks have served in the Senate since Brooke left office in 1979.
Brooke grew up in a racially divided Washington and, after distinguished combat service in the segregated U.S. Army during World War II, he forged a legal and political career in Massachusetts. He became the state’s hard-charging attorney general before winning election to the Senate.
He was one of the most popular politicians in Massachusetts, known for his independence, both from civil rights leaders and from conservative members of his own party.
In the Senate, Brooke served on the powerful Appropriations Committee and became the ranking Republican on the Banking Committee, which gave him influence over U.S. commerce, monetary and housing policy.
He was a black, protestant Republican representing a state that was more than 95 percent white, overwhelmingly Catholic and two-thirds Democratic. “I do not intend to be a national leader of the Negro people,” he told Time magazine after his Senate election. “I intend to do my job as a senator from Massachusetts.”
Throughout his career, Brooke was mindful to the politics of race. He opposed two Nixon nominees for the U.S. Supreme Court over civil rights issues. He refused to join the Congressional Black Caucus, although he spoke at its annual convention. He voted in favor of busing to desegregate schools, although many of his Boston constituents reviled the policy.
During the Watergate scandal, he was the first Senate Republican to call for President Richard Nixon’s resignation. In 2004, Brooke received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, in large part because of his ability to bridge factions, West said.
In political and media circles, Brooke was considered a potential presidential or vice presidential contender. But his career tumbled after he filed for divorce in 1976.
His deposition revealed that he had incorrectly reported to the Senate a loan from a friend and that he had helped his mother-in-law conceal money to help her qualify for Medicaid for her nursing home care. He used some of the money to buy a Watergate condo.
Brooke said his deposition disclosure was a mistake, based on misunderstandings of his own finances. A 10-month Senate ethics investigation followed, and he was charged with welfare fraud.
The allegations cost him. He lost in 1978 to then-Rep. Paul Tsongas, D-Mass.
