Albert Sidney BURLESON, Congress, TX (1863-1937)

BURLESON, Albert Sidney, a Representative from Texas; born in San Marcos, Hays County, Tex., June 7, 1863; attended the public schools and Coronal Institute, San Marcos, Tex., and the Agricultural and Mechanical College, College Station, Tex.; was graduated from Baylor University, Waco, Tex., in 1881 and from the law department of the University of Texas at Austin in 1884; was admitted to the bar in 1884 and commenced practice in Austin, Travis County, Tex., in 1885; assistant city attorney of Austin 1885-1890; served as district attorney of the twenty-sixth judicial district 1891-1898; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-sixth and to the seven succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1899, until March 6, 1913, when he resigned to become Postmaster General in the Cabinet of President Wilson; served from March 7, 1913, to March 4, 1921, when he retired from public life; chairman of the United States Telegraph and Telephone Administration in 1918; chairman of the United States Commission to the International Wire Communication Conference in 1920; returned to Austin, Tex., and engaged in banking; also interested in agricultural pursuits and the raising of livestock; died in Austin, Tex., November 24, 1937; interment in Oakwood Cemetery.

Bibliography

Anderson, Adrian N. “Albert Sidney Burleson: A Southern Politician in the Progressive Era.” Ph.D. diss., Texas Tech University, 1967; Anderson, Adrian N. “President Wilson’s Politician: Albert Sidney Burleson of Texas.” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 77 (January 1974): 339-54.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present