Albert Sidney Burleson (June 7, 1863 – November 24, 1937) was a progressive Democrat who served as

United States Postmaster General The United States postmaster general (PMG) is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The PMG is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the agency. The PMG is selected and appointed by ...

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. He was a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running three times as the party' ...

and

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

and so Wilson appointed him to the cabinet role heading the

U.S. Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

. He expanded parcel post, rural free delivery, and air mail service. After America entered

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1917, he stopped the mail delivery of anti-war publications and clamped down on free speech, actions that have been 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 is a part of the Greater Austin, Greater Austin Metropolitan Area. San Marcos's limits extend into Caldwell County, Texas, Caldwell and Guadalupe County, T ...

, Burleson came from a wealthy Southern planter family. His father, Edward Burleson, Jr., was a

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

officer. His grandfather, Edward Burleson, was a soldier and statesman in the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

and the early

State of Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. 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 anti-war magazines, such as

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

's '' Mother Earth'' and

Max Eastman Max Forrester Eastman (January 4, 1883 – March 25, 1969) was an American writer on literature, philosophy, and society, a poet, and a prominent political activist. Moving to New York City for graduate school, Eastman became involved with radica ...

's '' The Masses,'' was slowed drastically, and often, were never delivered. Burleson banned anti-war 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 Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

services. He acknowledged that Congress would be hostile to the idea, and he 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. In 1920, he became the chairman of the United States Commission to the International Wire Communication Conference and retired in 1921. In the 1930s, he opposed the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

and supported

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was the 42nd governor of New York, serving from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1923 to 1928. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's presidential nominee in the 1 ...

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

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

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 Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas Politicians from San Marcos, Texas 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Early life

Postmaster General

Later life

References

Further reading

External links