who supported civil rights, women's rights, and civil liberties such as gay rights. On economic issues he was fiscally conservative, but was pragmatic about it; he still allowed that "There are things that people can't do for themselves and therefore government must do it for them". He was against huge government or bureaucracy. Awards and honors Presidential Medal of Freedom Congressional Gold Medal. At his 2009 Congressional Gold Medal Acceptance speech, Brooke scolded policymakers for excessive partisan bickering. Bronze Star Medal See also List of African-American firsts List of African-American Republicans List of African-American United States senators Footnotes References Citations General and cited sources Judson L. Jeffries, U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke and Governor L. Douglas Wilder Tell Political Scientists How Blacks Can Win High-Profile Statewide Office, American Political Science Association, 1999. Timothy N. Thurber, Virginia Commonwealth University, "Goldwaterism Triumphant?: Race and the Debate Among Republicans over the Direction of the GOP, 1964–1968." Paper presented at the 2006 Conference of the Historical Society, Chapel Hill, NC. Barbara Walters (2008), Audition: A Memoir. Random House. . Edward Brooke (1966), The Challenge of Change: Crisis in our Two-Party System. Little, Brown, Boston. External links Edward Brooke's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project |- |- |- 1919 births 2015 deaths African-American people in Massachusetts politics African-American United States senators African-American Episcopalians United States Army personnel of World War II Boston University School of Law alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Congressional Gold Medal recipients Howard University alumni Massachusetts Attorneys General Massachusetts Republicans Military personnel from Washington, D.C. Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Republican Party United States senators from Massachusetts Spingarn Medal winners United States Army officers Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.) alumni 20th-century American Episcopalians 21st-century African-American people African Americans in World War II African-American United States Army personnel Boston Finance Commission members