Nation: The Senate: An Individual Who Happens To Be a Negro

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Says Brooke: "I do not intend to be a national leader of the Negro people. I intend to do my job as a Senator from Massachusetts." Unlike most Negro politicians, whose manner of campaigning and representation are necessarily molded by the exigencies of ghetto living, Ed Brooke has had the great good fortune to rise in a political atmosphere in which his race is beside the point.

No Fanfare. To the enduring credit of his constituents, Ed Brooke was elected last November on his record—as a tough attorney general, as an exciting campaigner, as a Republican running in a year when millions of voters across the country felt a degree of disenchantment with the Johnson Administration.

Brooke's color had no measurable bearing on his victory, either statistically, since Massachusetts' Negro population is under 3%, or philosophically, since his opponent, former Democratic Governor Endicott Peabody, is as ardent a champion of civil rights as Brooke.

When Brooke arrived on Capitol Hill, his credentials were not essentially different from those of the other members of a promising G.O.P. Senate freshman class—Illinois' Charles Percy, Oregon's Mark Hatfield, Tennessee's Howard Baker and Wyoming's Clifford Hansen. "There was no special fanfare for me," mused Brooke after taking the senatorial oath on Jan. 10. "I felt like a member of the club. They didn't overdo it. They didn't underdo it." He and the other Republican tyros have seats in the same section of the Senate chamber—an area that is called "Boy's Town."

Toss-Up. Like those of other newcomers to the citadel, Brooke's committee assignments were scarcely sensational. Speculation was that he would get a seat on Judiciary, which handles civil rights proposals, but the Republican leadership placed him on Banking and Currency, and Aeronautical and Space Sciences—both of which have strategic value. Banking and Currency acts on much legislation involving urban problems; the other assignment is useful because of Massachusetts' heavy concentration of aerospace-related industries. Charles Percy was named to the same two committees, and when the question arose as to which freshman should have senior ranking, they flipped coins to decide. Brooke won both tosses.

Despite the Senate's casual acceptance of his presence, Brooke has already become a Capitol Hill tourist attraction. Gallery-sitters crane their necks, gawk and buzz excitedly whenever he comes into view. In airport terminals and Capitol corridors, strangers grab his hand and wish him well. Letters come into Brooke's office at the rate of 350 a day. He has received nearly 1,400 speaking invitations in the past couple of months, has rejected all of them until last week's engagement.