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Paving the Way - Since 1836, accomplished African-Americans have blazed a trail of political firsts. BET.com takes a look at their amazing accomplishments. — Joyce Jones   Loretta Lynch became the first African-American woman to serve as U.S. attorney general when she was confirmed by the Senate on April 23, 2015. She was sworn in on April 27. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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Alexander Twilight - Alexander Twilight was the first African-American to be elected to public office when he won a seat on the Vermont state legislature in 1836. A graduate of Middlebury College, he also is believed to be the first Black person to graduate from an American college or university. (Photo: Courtesy Wikicommons)

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John Willis Menard - John Willis Menard of Louisiana was the first African-American to be elected to the U.S. Congress. But after winning the seat in 1868, his election was contested by Rep. James A. Garfield, who claimed it was “too early to admit a Negro” to the chamber. (Photo: Courtesy Wikicommons)

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Joseph Rainey - Joseph Rainey, a Republican, was the first African-American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing South Carolina from 1870 to 1879.(Photo: Courtesy Wikicommons)

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Shirley Chisholm - Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing New York from 1960 to 1983. In 1972, she became the first African-American female and candidate to seek the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination and won 28 delegates.(Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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Hiram Rhodes Revels - Representing Mississippi, Hiram Rhodes Revels was the first African-American U.S. senator. He served from Feb. 23, 1870 to March 3, 1871.(Photo: Courtesy Wikicommons)

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Edward Brooke - Edward Brooke, a Republican, was the first African-American senator elected since Reconstruction when he represented Massachusetts from 1966 to 1979.(Photo: Courtesy Wikicommons)

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Carol Moseley Braun - Carol Moseley Braun became the first African-American female to serve in the U.S. Senate and represented Illinois from 1992 to 1998.(Photo: Chris Sweda-Pool/Getty Images)

Photo By Photo: Chris Sweda-Pool/Getty Images

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Robert B. Elliot - Robert B. Elliot, chairman of the South Carolina congressional delegation, Joseph H. Rainey, South Carolina delegate and congressman, and John R. Lynch, Mississippi delegate and congressman, in 1872 became the first African-Americans to address a major national political convention when they participated in the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia that year.(Photo: Courtesy Library of Congress)

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P.B.S. Pinchback  - P.B.S. Pinchback was the first African-American to be appointed governor of a state in the U.S. He served from Dec. 9, 1872 to Jan. 13, 1873, after Gov. Henry Clay Warmouth was impeached.(Photo: Courtesy Library of Congress)

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Carl Stokes - Carl Stokes was the first African-American to serve as mayor of a major U.S. city and served in Cleveland from 1967 to 1971.(Photo: Courtesy Wikicommons)

Photo By Photo: Courtesy Wikicommons

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Sharon Pratt Dixon Kelly - In 1991, Sharon Pratt Dixon Kelly became the first Black woman to serve as mayor of a major U.S. city and held the office in Washington, D.C., until 1995.(Photo: Stephen Crowley/New York Times Co./Getty Images)

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Patricia Harris - Patricia Harris in 1977 became the first African-American female cabinet member when she served as secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Jimmy Carter.(Photo: Courtesy Wikicommons)

Photo By Photo: Courtesy Wikicommons

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L. Douglas Wilder - L. Douglas Wilder became the first Black to be elected governor when he won the seat in Virginia, where he served from 1990 to 1994.(Photo: Courtesy Library of Congress)

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Colin Powell - Gen. Colin Powell was the nation’s first African-American U.S. Secretary of State, a position he held from 2001 to 2004 under President George W. Bush. He also was the first African-American National Security adviser and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.(Photo: Kristian Dowling/PictureGroup)

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Condoleezza Rice - Condoleezza Rice was the first African-American woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State and served in the administration of President George W. Bush.(Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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Jesse Jackson Sr. - Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. was the first African-American to run nationwide for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. During his first bid in 1984, he won 3.5 million votes, which he leveraged during the party’s national convention. (Photo: UPI Photo/Greg Whitesell) /Landov)

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Alan Keyes - Alan Keyes in 1995 was the first Black Republican to seek his party’s presidential nomination.(Photo: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)

Photo By Photo: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

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Thurgood Marshall - Thurgood Marshall in 1967 became the first African-American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.(Photo: Keystone/Getty Images)

Photo By Photo: Keystone/Getty Images

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Michael Steele - In 2009, Michael Steele was elected the first African-American to head a major national party when he became the chairman of the Republican National Committee.(Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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Barack Obama - Barack Obama in 2008 became the first African-American to be chosen as a major party nominee for U.S. president and the nation’s first African-American president.(Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Photo By Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images