Usher L. Burdick

Usher L. Burdick (1957)

Usher Lloyd Burdick (born February 21, 1879 in Owatonna , Minnesota , † August 19, 1960 in Washington DC ) was an American politician . Between 1935 and 1945 and between 1949 and 1959 he represented the second constituency of the state of North Dakota in the US House of Representatives .

Early years

In 1882, Usher Burdick moved with his parents to the Dakota Territory . He grew up with the Sioux Indians and attended State Normal School in Mayville . He then studied law until 1904 at the University of Minnesota and worked at the same time as a teacher. After his admission as a lawyer, he began to work in this profession in Munich in 1904 .

Political career

Burdick became a member of the Republican Party . Between 1907 and 1911 he was a member of the House of Representatives from North Dakota ; in 1909 he succeeded Treadwell Twichell as Speaker of the House. From 1910 he was based in Williston . Between 1911 and 1913 he was lieutenant governor of North Dakota and from 1913 to 1915 he was a district attorney in Williams County . In the following years he practiced as a lawyer again. But he also worked as a cattle breeder and farmer. From 1929 to 1932 he was the assistant federal attorney for the district of North Dakota. In 1932 he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the US House of Representatives.

In the 1934 election, Burdick was elected as a member of Congress . There he replaced James H. Sinclair on January 3, 1935 . After he was re-elected in the following years, he was able to exercise the mandate until January 3, 1945. In the 1944 elections he was no longer nominated by his party. For this he applied unsuccessfully for a seat in the US Senate . After the elections in 1948, he returned to the US House of Representatives. There he was able to complete five further legislative periods between January 3, 1949 and January 3, 1959. In 1958 Burdick declined to run again. He died in Washington in August 1960 and was buried on his ranch near Williston.

Usher Burdick was the father of Quentin N. Burdick , who represented North Dakota in both houses of Congress. He was also the father-in-law of Jocelyn Burdick , who succeeded her late husband Quentin as the US Senator in 1992. Another son-in-law was Robert W. Levering , who sat for Ohio in the US House of Representatives from 1959 to 1960 .

Web links

• Usher L. Burdick in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Usher L. Burdick in the database of Find a Grave (English)