MLK Library

BURKE, Thomas A., a Senator from Ohio; born in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, October 30, 1898; attended parochial schools; graduated from Holy Cross College, Worcester, Mass., in 1920, and Western Reserve University Law School, Cleveland, Ohio, in 1923; during the First World War served in the United States Army; admitted to the bar in 1923 and commenced practice in Cleveland, Ohio; assistant prosecutor of Cuyahoga County 1930-1936; special counsel to the Ohio attorney general in 1937; director of law for the city of Cleveland 1942-1945; mayor of Cleveland 1945-1953; president of the National Conference of Mayors in 1953; appointed on October 13, 1953, as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Robert A. Taft and served from November 10, 1953, to December 2, 1954; unsuccessful candidate for election to the vacancy in 1954; resumed the practice of law; died in Cleveland, Ohio, December 5, 1971; interment in Calvary Cemetery.