Nation: The First

For Edward Brooke, 43, inauguration day was especially sweet. The only Republican among four Massachusetts state officers sworn in last week, he was also the first Negro to be elected attorney general in the U.S.

The son of a Veterans Administration attorney in Washington, D.C., Brooke served five years as an infantry officer in Europe during World War II, then entered Boston University Law School. Soon after graduation in 1949 he made his first try for public office as a candidate for the state house of representatives. He lost the election. But, he says, "I never lost the bug." Twice more, Lawyer...

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