Edward William Brooke III (1919 - 2015)

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Biography

Edward Brooke III is Notable.

Edward Brooke III was awarded the Spingarn Medal for outstanding achievement by an African American.

Edward Brooke was an American politician who served as the Attorney General of Massachusetts and a Senator from Massachusetts. In 1966, he became the first African American popularly elected to the United States Senate.^[1][2]

Edward William Brooke III was born on October 26, 1919 in Washington, D.C.. He was the son of Edward William Brooke, Jr. and Helen C. Seldon.^[3] He grew up in Washington, D.C.^[4],^[5],^[6] He was educated in the public school system of Washington, D.C. After graduating from high school, he completed a Bachelor's of Science at Howard University, a Historically Black College University, in 1941. ^[2]

Military Service

Captain Edward Brooke III served in the United States Army in World War II
Service started: 1942
Unit(s):
Service ended: 1945

Brooke served as an officer in the US Army during World War II, in the segregated unit of the 366th Infantry Regiment of United States Army.

After The War

After discharge from the military, he attended Boston University Law School, where he received an LL.B. in 1948, and an LL.M. in 1950, after which he began to practice law. ^[2]

Political Career

• Massachusetts: Attorney General, 1962-1966
• National: "United States Senator, Massachusetts, 1966-1972; 1972-1978

His political career began in his home state of Massachusetts, with his first campaign in 1960, as the Republican nominee for the secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, however, he lost this race to Kevin H. White. He service as the chairman of the Boston's finance commission from 1961-162, until his election to Attorney General of Massachusetts. He remained in that office until his election as a Senator for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in November 1866.

During his tenure in the senate, he was an open critic of the White House's failure to support members of the black community, noting failures to enforce school integration, and overall neglect . He supported extension of minimum wage law to support jobs in unskilled professions, He actively expressed his belief that the federal government needed to increase access to subsidies for public commuter rail and mass transit systems. He noted his opposition to supreme court nominations of Clement F Haynsworth Jr, G Harrold Carswell, and William H Rehnquist. ^[2]

As a Republican, Senator Brooke was initially a supporter of Richard Nixon, however his tone gradually changed throughout Nixon's tenure. He made a public appearance on November 4, 1973, on ABC's "Issues and Answers, he was asked if he believed Nixon should resign:

"I have reluctantly come to that conclusion. I don't think that the county can stand the trauma that it has been going through for the past few months. It has been like a nightmare..........He might not be guilty of any impeachable offense. On the other hand, there is no question that the President has lost his effectiveness as the leader of this country, primarily because he has lost the confidence of the people of the country. I think, therefore, that in the interests of this nation that he loves that he should step down, tender his resignation^[7]

He was the first senator to call for President Nixon's resignation during the Watergate scandal. ^[8]

After leaving office, he practiced law in Washington, D.C.

Marriage and Children

While serving in Italy, he met his wife, Remigia Ferrari-Scacco. They divorced in the 1970s.^[9]

Brooke married Anne Fleming in 1979. Information on his children is withheld for privacy of the living, per wikitree guidelines.

Death and Burial

He died January 3, 2015.^[3] He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA.^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia: Edward Brooke
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Ragsdale, Bruce A; Treese, Joel D., 1960- Black Americans in Congress, 1870-1989,United States Congress, House. Office of the Historian, 1990. pages 5-6
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Douglas Martin, "Edward W. Brooke III, 95, Senate Pioneer, Is Dead." New York Times, January 4, 2015.
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNLB-F2Z : accessed 1 February 2018), Edward Brooke Jr. in household of Edward Brooke, Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, United States; citing ED 207, sheet 5A, line 30, family 84, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 211; FHL microfilm 1,820,211.
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMK2-TM5 : accessed 4 February 2018), Edward W Brooke Jr. in household of Edward W Brooke, Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 50, sheet 8A, line 4, family 125, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 293; FHL microfilm 2,340,028.
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K7S8-9XC : accessed 4 February 2018), Edward W Brooke in household of Edward W Brooke, Tract 33, District of Columbia, Police Precinct 2, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 1-29, sheet 9B, line 42, family 159, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 553.
7. ↑ Hosansky, David. Eyewitness to Watergate. (A Division of Congressional Quarterly, Inc: Washington, D.C) 2007. page 155
8. ↑ Richard L. Madden, “Brooke Appeals to Nixon to Resign for Nation’s Sake,” 5 November 1973, New York Times: 1; Brooke, Bridging the Divide: 208–209.
9. ↑ "After Years Apart, Senator Brooke and His Italian Wife File for Divorce—and Tempers Erupt." People, Volume 6, Number 7. August 16, 1976.
10. ↑ Burial site of Senator Edward William Brooke, III (26 Oct 1919–3 Jan 2015), Find A Grave: Memorial #140851948, citing Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA

• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Brooke, Edward W. 2007. Bridging the Divide: My Life. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.
• Biography of Senator Edward W. Brooke III, on "History, Art, & Archives: United States House of Representatives," website