Albert Sidney Burleson (June 7, 1863 – November 24, 1937) was a

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

Democrat who served as United States Postmaster General and Representative in Congress. He was a strong supporter of

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...

and

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

, so Wilson appointed him to the cabinet role heading the US Post Office. He expanded parcel post, rural free delivery and air mail service. After American entry into the world war in 1917, he stopped the mail delivery of anti-war publications, and clamped down on free speech--actions heavily criticized ever since.

Early life

Born in

San Marcos, Texas San Marcos ( ) is a city and the county seat of Hays County, Texas, United States. The city's limits extend into Caldwell and Guadalupe Counties, as well. San Marcos is within the Austin–Round Rock metropolitan area and on the Interstate 35 ...

, Burleson came from a wealthy

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planter family. His father, Edward Burleson, Jr., was a Confederate officer. His grandfather, Edward Burleson, was a soldier and statesman in the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

and the early State of Texas. In his early political career, Burleson represented Texas in the House of Representatives, where he was active in promoting the development of agriculture. According to his biographer Adrian Anderson, his 1898 platform showed:

evidences of agrarian liberalism. He called for a reduction in the tariff, prison terms for violators of antitrust laws, restriction of immigration, limitations on the use of injunctions against labor unions, and a national amendment allowing the enactment of an income tax. He denounced national banks and repeated his plea for free coinage of silver.

Postmaster General

Burleson played a major role in securing the Texas delegation for

in 1912, and he became one of the President's most trusted advisors. In 1913, he was appointed Postmaster General. To his credit, he initiated the parcel post and

air mail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be the ...

services, increasing mail service to rural areas.Adam Hochschild, "The Censor". ''Mother Jones'' (sept-Oct 2022) 47#5: 55–59, 69
online
/ref> Samuel Walker states, "Burleson holds the dubious distinction of being the worst member of the entire Wilson administration on civil liberties." According to historian

G. J. Meyer Gerald J. Meyer (born 1940), author and journalist, is a writer of historical non-fiction, a former Woodrow Wilson Fellow with an M.A. in English literature from the University of Minnesota. He holds a Harvard University's Nieman Fellowship in ...

, Burleson "has been called the worst postmaster general in American history, but that is unfair; he introduced parcel post and airmail and improved rural service. It is fair to say, however, that he may have been the worst human being ever to serve as postmaster general". In 1913 Burleson began segregating the postal employees by race. Burleson also fired black postal workers in the South. He drew criticism from labor unions by forbidding postal employees to strike. 1509 16th Street

In 1913, Burleson aroused a storm of protest, especially on the part of the large daily newspapers, by declaring that he would enforce the law requiring publications to print, among other things, a sworn statement of paid circulation, which had been held in abeyance by his predecessor until its constitutionality might be confirmed. The Supreme Court enjoined him from doing so. After the United States entered the World War in 1917, Burleson vigorously enforced the Espionage Act, ordering local postmasters to send to him any illegal or suspicious material that they found. The distribution by mail of major antiwar magazines, such as

Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the ...

's ''

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'' and Max Eastman's ''

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,'' was slowed drastically, and often, were never delivered. Burleson banned antiwar material from being delivered by Post Office personnel. It was impossible to draw an ideal line, and the result was a general alienation of the press. From June 1918 to July 1919, the Post Office Department operated the nation's telephone and telegraph services, an arrangement Burleson had advocated at least as early as 1913. Following the war, he continued to advocate permanent nationalization of telephone, telegraph, and cable services. He acknowledged that Congress would be hostile to the idea and oversaw the return of the communications infrastructure to its various corporate owners. He introduced the "zone system" in which postage on second-class mail was charged according to distance.

Later life

In 1919, he was appointed as chairman of the United States Telegraph and Telephone Administration and in 1920, he became the chairman of the United States Commission to the International Wire Communication Conference, retiring in 1921. In the 1930s he opposed the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

and supported

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a C ...

for president.Anderson, 1974. Burleson died of a heart attack and is buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

References

External links

*
Albert S. Burleson at American Presidents
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burleson, Albert S. 1863 births 1937 deaths United States Postmasters General Burials at Oakwood Cemetery (Austin, Texas) Woodrow Wilson administration cabinet members 20th-century American politicians Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas Politicians from San Marcos, Texas People born in the Confederate States

Early life

Postmaster General

Later life

References

Further reading

External links