Six Degrees of Separation

OK, so a Republican just won the late Ted Kennedy's senate seat. Is it old news already, since it happened a few days ago? Well, whatever the case, I have been reading about the last time that Massachusetts voters elected a Republican to serve in the US Senate. It occurred in November of 1972, when they re-elected Senator Edward Brooke - pictured above with President Lyndon Johnson.

There is something about this bit of history that reminds me of the game - Six Degrees of Separation - which is closely related to Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon - but I digress. Six Degrees of Separation refers to the idea that, if a person is one step away from each person they know and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people they know, then everyone is at most six steps away from any other person in the world.

OK - I know that Senator Edward Brooke does not exactly fit this scenario - but take a look at these interesting facts about the man:

• Senator Brooke was the first African American to be elected by popular vote to the United States Senate.
• Brooke served as a U.S. senator for two terms, from January 3, 1967, to January 3, 1979.
• He was a member of the liberal wing of the Republican Party and organized the Senate's "Wednesday Club" of progressive Republicans who met for Wednesday lunches and strategy discussions.
• In 1974, with Indiana senator Birch Bayh (father of Senator Evan Bayh), he led the fight to retain Title IX of the 1972 Education Act which guarantees equal educational opportunity to girls and women.
• Two days after his 90th birthday, Brooke was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal by President Obama on October 28, 2009.
• In 2008, Barbara Walters revealed in her memoir Audition that she'd had an affair lasting several years with Brooke during the 1970s, while Brooke was married to his first wife.

Maybe not Kevin Bacon material - but good stuff. Hey, the guy slept with Barbara. I am including a snippet of an interview of Senator Brooke below, in which he discusses why he ran on the Republican ticket: