by Trenna Sue Hiler

Created on: May 25, 2007   Last Updated: April 02, 2010

A certain respect comes to a man who just won't give up. Edward Brooke truly lived as that kind of man. He displayed the uncanny ability to try it one more time, with a twist, until he reached his goals.

There are many stories and credit given about the elections he won. There are several elections that he did not win, and that may be the more interesting story about the man and his conviction to keep going in the fight against the odds.

He was born to Edwin William Brooke Jr., a lawyer by profession, and Helen Seldon Brooke on October 26 1919. He was a black man dealing with changing times. His family gave him opportunities to grow and have a great education. He received a BS Sociology from Howard University and attended Boston University Law School in 1948 and 1949.

He served in the US army and an infantry Captain.

His life was not without struggles in his professional arena. He ran for a seat in the Massachusetts legislature in 1950 and he lost. He ran again in 1951 and he lost. In 1960 he wanted to become Secretary of State for Massachusetts and again the public did not agree.

Eventually, with persistence, many of his political ambitions played out. He served as a US Senator from the state of Massachusetts from Jan 3, 1967 to January 3 1979. He was the Attorney General of Massachusetts from 1963 to 1967. He served at the Chairman of the Finance Commission for the city of Boston. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004. He is one of only 21 US senators to receive this honor.

Edward William Brooke III also published two books; The Challenge of Change: Crisis in Our Two-Party System and Bridging the Divide:My Life.

Edward Brooke had the hard luck to be a man who suffered from breast cancer. He did not take the disease quietly. He became a champion and fighter for the cause of educating men about the possibilities and issues with male breast cancer. He is credited for taking this cause to the public.

One of the things that Mr. Brooke has been stoically silent about is his affair with news person, Barbara Walters. She went very public with the information as she was promoting her book and on every occasion he took the opportunity to say "no comment". His children are eager to explain the silence is not because of Ms Walters, but because of his personal feelings about mistakes and infidelity.

Mr. Brooke was first married to Remigia Ferrar-Scacco in 1947. They had two daughters, Remi Cynthia Brooke and Edwina Helene Brooke. They divorced in 1979.

He married Anne Flemming in 1979 and they have one son, Eric Brooke.

Edward Brooke knew how to fight for a cause. As a US senator he fought for opportunities with low-income housing, more mass transit options and increasing of the minimum wage.

Persistent, soft spoken, and powerful are trademarks of this man in our history.

Sources:
www.foxnews.com
www.nndb.com

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