RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
This country's first popularly elected African-American senator has died. Edward Brooke was 95.
Brooke led an impressive life. After graduating from college, he became a soldier in World War II. And like most black service members, he faced open discrimination. He described his time on a segregated base in Massachusetts as, quote, "filled with frustration and bitterness." Still, he went on to earn a Bronze Star and a Distinguished Service Award.
After the war, Brooke earned two law degrees and got involved in Massachusetts state government as a liberal Republican. In 1966, while many blacks were still struggling for the right to vote, Ed Brooke was elected to the U.S. Senate.
He described himself as a moderate when it came to civil rights and famously said he was not a civil rights leader. History will likely see it differently. President Obama said Edward Brooke, quote, "stood at the forefront of the battle for civil rights." Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.