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 Brooke ran for office, once for secretary of state. Twice more he lost.

But his easy manner and quick intelligence were winning friends all across the state. In his campaign for attorney general, Brooke ran hard--"like a Democrat," state politicians admiringly admitted--was often up to handshake at factory gates by 5:30 a.m., won support from Boston bankers and Beacon Hill matrons.

Even in the 1962 Democratic landslide in Massachusetts, Brooke won handily. "Now," he grins, "I'll have to prove that I can do the job."

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