President's Day: A Black President in the Making
During Black History Month we examine influential African-Americans in politics
Significant African-American Politicians Break Down Racial Barriers
Democrat Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois in 1992 became the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Senate. "I cannot escape the fact that I come to the Senate as a symbol of hope and change," Moseley-Braun said shortly after she was sworn in in 1993. Pictured here, Braun declares her victory Nov. 3, 1992, in Chicago. She was not re-elected in 1998. While Braun was the first black woman elected to the Senate, in 1966 Republican Edward Brooke of Massachusetts became the first African-American to be elected to the Senate by popular vote. (Brian Bahr/AFP/Getty Images)
