Only five African-Americans have served as U.S. senators—two in the Reconstruction era of the 1870s, three since 1966. Given America's tangled history with slavery and race, that even five black Americans broke the barrier is notable. Indeed, another Reconstruction-era black politician, P.B.S. Pinchback of Louisiana, was elected senator—only to have his credentials denied and be refused admission to the most exclusive club on Capitol Hill.

With the 2004 election of Sen. Barack Obama and his emerging bid for the White House, hopes for a political landscape that transcends race are running high. "The country is expanding its ability to make this democratic system work and respond to all constituencies," says former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, who also ran for the Democratic presidential nomination. To see how American government has evolved, one need only look at the political careers of each of these five black senators.