The Daily Show w/Jon Stewart: Fright Club

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Former Senator Edward Brooke Receives the Congressional Gold Medal from President Obama

Brooke was the 1st African-American elected to US Senate

Former Senator Edward William Brooke shakes hands with President Barack Obama

AP—US President Barack Obama paid tribute on Wednesday to fellow political trailblazer Edward Brooke, who in 1966 became the first African-American elected to the Senate by popular vote.

In the US Capitol rotunda, Obama presented Brooke, 90, with the Congressional gold medal, the highest civilian award given by the government’s legislative branch.

“Today’s honor bears a unique significance: bestowed by this body of which he was an esteemed member; presented in this place where he moved the arc of history; surrounded by so many — myself included — who have followed the trail that he blazed,” said Obama as he stood next to the former senator from Massachusetts.

The Senator from Massachusetts

Brooke, who served as a Republican from 1967 to 1979, was the first of just three blacks popularly elected to the Senate in the modern era, including Carol Mosely Braun (1993 to 1999) and Obama himself (2005-2008).

Other African-Americans had previously served in the Senate before Brooke, but they were chosen by state legislatures.

Obama, a Democrat, hailed Brooke as someone who managed to navigate a fiercely segregated America and “spent his life breaking barriers and bridging divides.”

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Remarks by the President at Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony in Honor of Former Senator Edward William Brooke

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