| Henry Burton | |
|---|---|
| |
| United States Senator from Georgia | |
| In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2009 | |
| Preceded by | TBD |
| Succeeded by | TBD |
| Governor of Georgia | |
| In office January 2, 1995 – January 3, 2003 | |
| Preceded by | TBD |
| Succeeded by | Barkley Perry |
| U.S. Diplomat to Ireland | |
| In office January 23, 2009 – January 20, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | TBD |
| Succeeded by | TBD |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 20, 1953 Savannah, Georgia, U.S. |
Henry Burton (b. August 20, 1953) as a retired American Politician and Actor who served as Governor of Georgia from 1995 until 2003, Senator from 2003 until 2009 and U.S. Diplomat to Ireland from 2009 until 2017. He was the first Governor who has won an Academy award and the Second Senator after George Murphy. He is most known for his work as King Duncan in the 1990 rendition of MacBeth which earned him an Academy award for best Supporting Actor. He is the father of current Georgia Governor Sean Burton.
Early Life[]
Henry Robert Burton was born in Savannah, Georgia on August 20th, 1953 to Patrick Burton (1930-2001), A first-generation Irish Immigrant and Bartender and Juliette Burton (1932-2010), a Stenographer for the Courthouse. At the age of 16 he went to the Georgia School of Drama and graduated in 1971. He then moved to Hollywood to start his acting career.
Acting Career[]
Early Career[]
In 1974 he started his career as a returning character as the Assistant District Attorney “Kent Hollbrooks” in L.A. Law, his character joined the fictional firm in the 3rd season in 1976 and he co-starred in the show until it’s finale in 1984 and was nominated for a daytime Emmy for best acting in a drama in 1979.
P.F.C. Jenkins[]
In 1984 H.B.O. offered Burton his own show as Private First Class Alfred Jenkins during World War One, in 1985 he won a Daytime Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama and in 1987 the show got a Primetime slot and in 1988 he won a Primetime Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama and after 4 years on the air the show ended.
Movies[]
Jack Reacher[]
In 1987 Universal Studios approached Burton on playing the Tom Clancy Character “Jack Reacher” and the studio greenlight the first movie which was released in May, 1988 which cost 12 million to make and made 200 million and he was set on another one which came out September 1990 on a 20 million dollar budget and made 150 Million. He took a 2 year break from the movie to make Macbeth but he finished the trilogy on March 1993 on a 25 Million dollar budget and with a 330 million dollar profit it ended the trilogy on a box office hit.
MacBeth[]
Henry was offered a part in the Warner Brothers Production of MacBeth, a play he had done in drama school. He accepted the party as King Duncan and the movie was released on the 19th of October 1990 and immediately got high praise. He received a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor and a Cèsar Awards. Burton was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in the 63rd Academy Awards, he won and along with Best Sound Editing he picked up the only Academy Awards out of the 10 nominations the movie got.
Political Career[]
Governor[]
Governor Burton (2000)
Burton had never been Politically active but he registered as an independent in 1988, in 1994 he ran for Governor of Georgia, early polls showed him at 30% but as the Democratic and Republican Primaries finished and showed Randolph Green, State House Representative for the Democrats and Gary Jensen, an accountant for the Republicans. By September he had 40%, 31% for Green and 29% for Jensen but on Election Day Burton got 52% of the votes, 38% for Jensen and 20% for Green. Immediately he supported the Fireman’s, Police and Medical Response Unions were supported as well as a tax on Automatic Assault Weapons to balance it out but the tax gave the state a surplus for was partially spent on road improvements and Pensions, this tax trifecta was made a state amendment in 2013. He was re-elected with 63% of the votes in 1998. He decided to run for the Georgia Senate seat in 2002, he left office with a 59% approval rating.
Senator[]
In 2001 the Incumbent Senator decided to retire so Burton announced his candidacy, he ran on a single term promise saying “I want 6 years to improve the Country who gave my family everything”. He got endorsed by the Republican but was still registered as an Independent and he would face Democratic Mayor of Atlanta Jeremy Mikens and won with 61.2% of the votes. He used his time on the Senate to improve the fiscal shape of the country and co-wrote the biggest Pensions bill since the Nixon Presidency with Massachusetts Senator Graham Puskás in 2008. He retired as promised in 2009 but accepted the appointment as Diplomat to Ireland as a last Political Post.
Committee Membership[]
- Chair of the Senate Union Committee.
- Member of the Senate Naval Budget Committee.
- Member of the Senate Committee on Aging.
Diplomat[]
Diplomat Burton (2016)
In December 2008 President TBD offered Burton the post of Secretary of State, Burton declined rather accepting the position as Diplomat to Ireland, he was confirmed on January 23rd, 2009. Upon his arrival in Dublin he was met with cheering crowds and was met with President Higgins. He started with a tour around the country meeting various mayors and City Councils and by 2011 Burton had the highest approval rating of any Diplomat from the U.S. but was also polling higher then some Cabinet members. He was the key speaker at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin in 2013 and in a 2014 interview President Higgins said “Henry Burton is Ireland’s Greatest Export”. In 2016 following President Whitman’s defeat President Calvin offered Burton the chance to keep his position as Diplomate but the 63 year old declined saying “I hope now to help my son give back to America, a task which Burton’s for generations to come I hope will try to do but will never be truly finished.”
Son’s Career[]
Burton returned to the States for 3 months to help on his son’s campaign for Governor, although a registered Republican he has been deemed a moderate by both major party. Sean Burton ended up winning the election with 53% of the votes and became the states first Republican governor since 1995, his sister has been approached to replace him in 2022 but she hasn’t expressed any interest in that offer and she currently resides in Baltimore making her an ineligible candidate for now.
Personal Life[]
He is a Catholic and goes to weekly masses in the Savannah Catholic Cathedral.
A lifelong playboy Burton never married but had 2 kids out of wedlock; Anne Burton-Ullman (1973) and Sean Burton (1974), the later has been serving as the Governor of Georgia since 2015.
In his retirement he moved into a large house just outside of Savannah.