BOSTON (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Edward W. Brooke, a liberal Republican who became the first black in U.S. history to win popular election to the Senate, died Saturday. He was 95. 
 
 Brooke died of natural causes at his Coral Gables, Florida, home, said Ralph Neas, a former Brooke aide. Brooke was surrounded by his family. 
 
 Brooke was elected to the Senate in 1966, becoming the first black to sit in that branch from any state since Reconstruction and one of nine blacks who have ever served there — including Barack Obama. 
 
 Brooke told The Associated Press he was "thankful to God" that he lived to see Obama's election. And the president was on hand in October 2009 when Brooke was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award Congress has to honor civilians. Obama hailed Brooke as "a man who's spent his life breaking barriers and bridging divides across this country." 
 
 A Republican in a largely Democratic state, Brooke was one of Massachusetts' most popular political figures during most of his 12 years in the Senate. 
 
 Brooke earned his reputation as a Senate liberal in part by becoming the first Republican senator to publicly urge President Richard Nixon to resign. He told ABC News that Nixon had "lost the confidence of the country and I don't know of anything he could do to turn it around." 
 
 He helped lead the forces in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment and was a defender of school busing to achieve racial integration, a bitterly divisive issue in Boston. 
 
 He also lent his name to the Brooke amendment to the federal housing act, passed in 1969, which limited to 25 percent the amount of income a family must pay for rent in public housing. 
 
 However, late in his second term, Brooke divorced his wife of 31 years, Remigia, in a stormy proceeding that attracted national attention. 
 
 Repercussions from the case spurred an investigation into his personal finances by the Senate Ethics Committee and a probe by the state welfare department and ultimately cost him the 1978 election. He was defeated by Democrat Rep. Paul E. Tsongas. 
 
 In a Boston Globe interview in 2000, he recalled the pain of losing his bid for a third term. 
 
 "It was just a divorce case. It was never about my work in the Senate. There was never a charge that I committed a crime, or even nearly committed a crime," Brooke said. "I would certainly not be truthful if I didn't say I was sorely hurt when the people of Massachusetts voted against me and didn't look beyond the allegations and didn't remember what I had tried to do for them." 
 
 In 2008, Barbara Walters said she had an affair with the then-married Brooke in the 1970s, but it ended before he lost the 1978 election. She called him "exciting" and "brilliant." 
 
 The first blacks served in the Senate in the 1870s, just after the Civil War, when senators were still selected by state legislatures rather than by popular election. Mississippi's postwar legislators sent two blacks to the Senate. Hiram R. Revels served about 14 months in 1870-71, and Blanche K. Bruce served a full six-year term from 1875 to 81. 
 
 Not long before Obama was sworn in as president, Brooke told the AP that he had been frequently asked if he thought Obama could be elected. 
 
 "And I'd say I'm the last person to say it couldn't happen. I've already shown that white voters are open to voting for black candidates, so it made sense to me," he said. 
 
 "Though I was pleased, I'm not that surprised that he was able to pull it off. But I am thankful to God to live to see this happen." 
 
 When Brooke received the congressional honor in Washington later in the year, he cited the issues facing Congress — health care, the economy and the wars overseas — and called on lawmakers to put their partisan differences aside. 
 
 "We've got to get together," Brooke said, turning his eyes to Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "We have no alternative. There's nothing left. It's time for politics to be put aside on the back burner." 
 
 As Brooke sought the Senate seat in 1966, profiles in the national media reminded readers that he had won office handily in a state where blacks made up just 2 percent of the population — the state that had also given the nation its only Roman Catholic president, John F. Kennedy. 
 
 Brooke had parlayed his probes of local corruption into a successful run for state attorney general in 1962 when he became the highest ranking black elected official in the nation. 
 
 Brooke said at the time that his election proved "people will elect a man on the basis of his programs." But, he added, "I don't presume that the election of one man will solve the racial problem." 
 
 He won re-election as attorney general in 1964 even though Democrats dominated other races, commenting later: "I won by 797,510 votes. I'll remember that figure as long as I live." 
 
 Somewhat aloof from the civil rights movement of the 1960s, especially the militant wing, he said blacks had to win allies, not fight adversaries. But he also said of civil rights leaders: "Thank God we have them. But everyone has to do it in the best way he can." 
 
 He had refused to endorse Sen. Barry Goldwater for president in 1964, commenting later, "You can't say the Negro left the Republican Party; the Negro feels he was evicted from the Republican Party." 
 
 "I want to be elected on my own ability. Only then do you have progress. ... People should not use race as a basis for labeling me," he told The Washington Post in early 1966. 
 
 He beat Democrat Endicott Peabody, a former governor who also supported civil rights, by a 3-to-2 margin despite predictions of a "white backlash" against him. 
 
 Commenting on Brooke's election and other developments that day, Martin Luther King Jr. commented that "despite appeals to bigotry of an intensity and vulgarity never before witnessed in the North, millions of white voters remained unshaken in their commitment to decency." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writer Mark Pratt in Boston contributed to this report. ||||| BOSTON (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Edward W. Brooke, a liberal Republican who became the first black in U.S. history to win popular election to the Senate, died Saturday. He was 95. 
 
 Brooke died of natural causes at his Coral Gables, Florida, home, said Ralph Neas, Brooke’s former chief counsel. Brooke was surrounded by his family. 
 
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 Brooke was elected to the Senate in 1966, becoming the first black to sit in that branch from any state since Reconstruction and one of nine blacks who have ever served there — including Barack Obama. 
 
 After Obama’s presidential election in 2008, Brooke told The Associated Press he was ‘‘thankful to God’’ that he had lived to witness the historic accomplishment. But it was the president who remembered Brooke with praise Saturday. 
 
 ‘‘Senator Brooke led an extraordinary life of public service,’’ Obama said in a statement. ‘‘As the first African-American elected as a state’s Attorney General and first African-American U.S. Senator elected after reconstruction, Ed Brooke stood at the forefront of the battle for civil rights and economic fairness.’’ 
 
 A Republican in a largely Democratic state, Brooke was one of Massachusetts’ most popular political figures during most of his 12 years in the Senate. 
 
 Brooke earned his reputation as a Senate liberal partly by becoming the first Republican senator to publicly urge President Richard Nixon to resign. He helped lead the forces in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment and was a defender of school busing to achieve racial integration, a bitterly divisive issue in Boston. 
 
 He also lent his name to the Brooke amendment to the federal housing act, passed in 1969, which limited to 25 percent the amount of income a family must pay for rent in public housing. 
 
 Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Saturday described Brooke as ‘‘a model of courage and honesty in office.’’ 
 
 Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, the state’s first black governor, said: ‘‘I have lost a friend and mentor.’’ Secretary of State John Kerry, a former U.S. senator from Massachusetts, said Brooke showed ‘‘remarkable political courage.’’ 
 
 Late in his second term, Brooke divorced his wife of 31 years, Remigia, in a stormy proceeding that attracted national attention. 
 
 Repercussions from the case spurred an investigation into his personal finances by the Senate Ethics Committee and a probe by the state welfare department and ultimately cost him the 1978 election. He was defeated by Democrat Rep. Paul E. Tsongas. 
 
 Tsongas’ widow, U.S. Rep. Nikki Tsongas, said Saturday that Brooke’s career was ‘‘as courageous as it was historic.’’ 
 
 In a Boston Globe interview in 2000, Brooke recalled the pain of losing his bid for a third term. 
 
 ‘‘It was just a divorce case. It was never about my work in the Senate. There was never a charge that I committed a crime, or even nearly committed a crime,’’ Brooke said. 
 
 In 2008, pioneering newswoman Barbara Walters said she had an affair with the then-married Brooke in the 1970s, but it ended before he lost the 1978 election. She called him ‘‘exciting’’ and ‘‘brilliant.’’ 
 
 Brooke received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a White House ceremony in 2004. Five years later, Brooke received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award Congress has to honor civilians. He cited then the issues facing Congress — health care, the economy and the wars overseas — and called on lawmakers to put their partisan differences aside. 
 
 ‘‘We've got to get together,’’ Brooke said, turning his eyes to Senate GOP Leader McConnell. ‘‘We have no alternative. There’s nothing left. It’s time for politics to be put aside on the back burner.’’ 
 
 As Brooke sought the Senate seat in 1966, profiles in the national media reminded readers that he had won office handily in a state where blacks made up just 2 percent of the population — the state that had also given the nation its only Roman Catholic president, John F. Kennedy. 
 
 He beat Democrat Endicott Peabody, a former governor who also supported civil rights, by a 3-to-2 margin despite predictions of a ‘‘white backlash’’ against him. 
 
 Commenting on Brooke’s election and other developments that day, Martin Luther King Jr. said that ‘‘despite appeals to bigotry of an intensity and vulgarity never before witnessed in the North, millions of white voters remained unshaken in their commitment to decency.’’ 
 
 Brooke had parlayed his probes of local corruption into a successful run for state attorney general in 1962 when he became the highest ranking black elected official in the nation. He won re-election as attorney general in 1964 even though Democrats dominated other races. 
 
 Somewhat aloof from the civil rights movement of the 1960s, especially the militant wing, he said blacks had to win allies, not fight adversaries. But he also said of civil rights leaders: ‘‘Thank God we have them. But everyone has to do it in the best way he can.’’ 
 
 He had refused to endorse Sen. Barry Goldwater for president in 1964, commenting later, ‘‘You can’t say the Negro left the Republican Party; the Negro feels he was evicted from the Republican Party.’’ 
 
 The son of a Veterans Administration lawyer, Brooke was raised in a middle-class black section of Washington, attending segregated schools through his graduation from Howard University in 1941. He served in an all-black combat unit in World War II, and later settled in Boston after graduating from Boston University Law School. 
 
 Brooke was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002 and went public the following year, saying he wanted to encourage men to perform self-examinations and advocating that insurance companies cover male mammograms. 
 
 Brooke is survived by his second wife, Anne Fleming Brooke; their son Edward Brooke IV; his daughters from his first marriage, Remi Goldstone and Edwina Petit; stepdaughter Melanie Laflamme, and four grandchildren.
– The first African American elected to the US Senate has died at age 95. Edward Brooke, a Massachusetts Republican, died of natural causes in Florida, the AP reports. He was elected in 1966 and served two terms as a highly popular politician. That came after he became the first African American attorney general of any state, the Boston Globe reports. As a senator, Brooke championed issues including the Equal Rights Amendment and a push for racial integration via busing in Boston, and he was the first GOP senator to call for Richard Nixon's resignation. In 2009, he received the Congressional Gold Medal and called for bipartisanship in Washington. When Brooke was elected, no African American had served in the Senate since Reconstruction, when senators were chosen by legislators—not elected by popular vote. His victory by nearly 500,000 votes came despite being a Republican in a Democratic state, the New York Times notes, describing him as a centrist. In a 1966 book, he wondered about Republicans: "Where are our plans for a New Deal or a Great Society?" His period in office was not without controversy, the AP notes; he faced a Senate Ethics Committee probe into his personal finances and lost the next election. More recently, describing President Obama's election victory, he said: "I'm not that surprised that he was able to pull it off. But I am thankful to God to live to see this happen."