NEW YORK (AP) — After three decades of keeping mum, Barbara Walters
is disclosing a past affair with married U.S. Senator Edward Brooke,
whom she remembers as "exciting" and "brilliant."
Appearing on
"The Oprah Winfrey Show" scheduled to air Tuesday, Walters shares
details of her relationship with Brooke that lasted several years in
the 1970s, according to a transcript of the show provided to The
Associated Press.
A moderate Republican from Massachusetts who
took office in 1967, Brooke was the first African-American to be
popularly elected to the Senate. Both he and Walters knew that public
knowledge of their affair could have ruined his career as well as hers,
Walters says.