WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Wednesday bestowed one of the nation's highest awards on former Sen. Edward Brooke Wednesday, calling Brooke -- the first African American elected to the Senate by popular vote -- a trailblazer whose path he followed.

Brooke, a Massachusetts Republican and part-time Miami resident, was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award Congress bestows on civilians.

Along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry Reid, Obama presented the award during a ceremony in the ornate Rotunda at the Capitol.

The president called Brooke ``a man who spent his life breaking barriers and bridging divides across this country.''

Obama said the award holds a ``unique significance: bestowed by this body of which he was an esteemed member, presented in this place where he moved the arc of history, surrounded by so many -- myself included -- who have followed the trail that he blazed.''

Brooke, who turned 90 on Monday, made a plea for bridging divides himself, calling on Congress to put aside partisan divisions and take action.

``We've got to get together,'' Brooke said, turning to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who sat near him on the stage. ``We have no alternative. It's time for politics to be put aside on the back burner.''

Brooke grew up in Washington and said he first encountered blatant racism in his mid-20s while serving as an officer in the U.S. Army: He and other African Americans serving in WWII had separate units and housing. They were banned from the PX and social clubs.

He lost his first three races for state office, but in 1962 was elected Massachusetts attorney general, becoming the first black person in the United States to lead a state's legal affairs division. In 1966, he went on to become the first African American elected by voters to the Senate and won reelection six years later.

Obama noted Brooke was unfazed by a reporter who pointed out he was ``black, Republican and Protestant, seeking office in a white, Democratic and Catholic state.

``That was Ed Brooke's way -- to ignore the naysayers, reject the conventional wisdom,'' Obama said. ``He ran for office, as he put it, `to bring people together who had never been together before.' And that he did.''

Pelosi noted that Brooke, who as a senator pushed for civil rights, affordable housing and an end to the Vietnam War, has said there were ``many who scolded his ambition and encouraged patience.

``Today we honor Sen. Brooke for his impatience,'' she said. ``We thank him for it. We acknowledge that it is through the impatience of Sen. Brooke that we have moved forward as a country.''

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