“Silent, judicial minded and...eminently sound in his decisions. His colleagues do not always agree with him, but they feel that he weighs evidence like a country judge, makes a decision according to his lights and sticks to it."

These traits, alongside his devotion to non-partisan governmental roles, earned Ann Arbor's George Burke the title “Father of State Civil Service.” Throughout his life he rose in rank, serving his community, state, nation, and even the international community as a judge at the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials. 

Early Life

George was born in Northfield Township in 1885 to Irish Catholic parents Anthony and Ellen Burke. Their family eventually grew to include seven children, with George as the second youngest. He graduated from Ypsilanti Central High in 1903 and went on to obtain his law degree from the University of Michigan in 1907. He immediately joined the law offices of Cavanaugh & Wedemeyer, and by 1913 his name was added to the firm, making it Cavanaugh, Wedemeyer & Burke. With an established law career he married Edna Fritts in 1910.

Politics & Civil Service

George’s first political position came in 1911 when he served a four year term as prosecutor for Washtenaw County. Afterwards, he returned to private practice, but he filtered in and out of civic roles. He was police commissioner in 1923 and later held positions on the State Crime Commission and State Corrections Commission. 

A longtime Democrat, he served as the temporary chairman for the state Democratic party in 1928. During his tenure he gave a speech promoting a government that serves the people above all else, declaring, “a party badge is not as important as efficiency and honesty in government.”

All of George’s early success in government and the support of his party would seem to indicate he was bound for elected office. Instead, Democratic Governor Frank Murphy changed George’s trajectory when he selected him as chairman of Michigan's first state civil service commission. 

When Republican Frank D. Fitzgerald was elected governor for his second term in 1939, George resigned from the commission, believing that each administration should have the right to select their own committee members. Fitzgerald refused to accept his resignation, saying “If there is such a thing as drafting him for the job he is now drafted. I want him to stay.” Despite their political differences, Fitzgerald called him “an outstanding Democrat.” George had earned respect as an advocate for the non-political merit system and by rejecting any suggestions of special treatment for his own party. 

His reputation as a man of morals led to George’s name being offered as a consensus candidate for various positions soon after. Around the time of his reappointment to the civil service commission, an attempt was made to promote him as chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee. Despite his own and his friends' rejection of the nomination due to his already busy schedule, efforts were made “to disregard his wishes and elect him anyway.” 

A year later, in 1940, he was put forth as a potential candidate for the U.S. Senate. A “fact finding” survey conducted throughout the state showed him “to be strongly favored as a senatorial candidate by Democratic organizations of the congressional districts,” but George himself had no intention of running. After a two-hour conference which ended at 2 in the morning, the party accepted his refusal.

By 1943 he had firmly established himself as a public servant. He was described as “one of Michigan’s outstanding lawyers with a long record of public service,” who had now “consistently declined to run for public office.” His next role would continue his career in public service, but on a grander scale.

Office of Price Administration

The Office of Price Administration was established in August 1941 to stabilize prices for goods, services, and rents after the start of World War II. The office’s goal was to limit inflation by using its authority to set price ceilings and ration supplies that were needed for the war effort. At its heart, the OPA sought to protect consumers and aid production of war supplies, but their mandates made them one of the most unpopular wartime agencies.

In April of 1943, George was appointed as General Council for the OPA. He would serve under administrator and fellow Michigan-native Prentiss M. Brown. Both men envisioned an office that operated on a voluntary basis rather than the “coercive methods” used by the previous administration. In the announcement for his new position, George is described as “having a deep-seated faith in democratic processes" and believing that “the government can trust the people to live up to regulations if they are reasonable and sufficiently elucidated.” 

Underscoring his faith in the common man, George described the current model of price fixing and rationing as a pyramid with too much power located at the top in Washington. He declared his intention to reverse this structure, transferring more enforcement to local communities who have a better knowledge of their conditions. An editorial in the Ann Arbor News stated, “Because Mr. Burke is the kind of citizen he is, and because his attitude on OPA policies is well known, his appointment might be considered as, in effect, an announcement that OPA will soon be conducting itself as a servant of the people.”

His service in the Price Administration did not last long. Just six months after joining he resigned in response to Prentiss Brown’s own resignation.

After Washington

Following his short stint in Washington, George returned to the state civil service commission. Never one to compromise his ideals, he made another principled choice to resign in August of 1946 after the state Democratic party used his name in connection with fundraising without his approval. State employees were not authorized to engage in political activities, and his quick decision to resign was made to prevent any attack of inconsistency or rule breaking. 

His choice was met "with hundreds of pleas urging him to reconsider." One such appeal came from fellow Ann Arbor attorney James A. Kennedy, who had been involved in the creation of the civil service amendment that established the commission. In an open letter he wrote to George:

“You have worked without compensation – in one instance during a solid three-week period. You have never presented a request for even a penny of reimbursement for your own out-of-pocket expenses, although clearly entitled to do so. All this has been done with quiet modesty which is singularly refreshing in the field of government. No wonder the people of Michigan feel that in you they have found a perfect public servant.”

Within a week, George agreed to stay on the board, but “without any delusion on my part that I am ‘an indispensable man.’”

Nuremberg

The next year he was called on to serve the international community. Between November 20, 1945 and October 1, 1946, the International Military Tribunal composed of the allied powers tried Nazi leaders in Nuremberg, Germany. Following these was a second series of 12 trials conducted solely by the United States and commonly referred to as the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials. 

George was selected as a judge for case #7, known as the Hostage Case. He served alongside Edward F. Carter, a Nebraska Supreme Court Justice, and Charles F. Wennerstrum, an Iowa Supreme Court Justice. The trial lasted for almost 8 months starting in July of 1947 and charged 12 defendants with war crimes and crimes against humanity. These included their participation in the murder of hundreds of thousands of civilians, the plundering and looting of property, destruction of cities, secret orders denying enemy troops the rights of prisoners of war, commanding surrendered troops to be executed, and the murder, torture and imprisonment of civilians in concentration camps, amongst other heinous actions. 

Between the indictment and arraignment, one defendant, Franz Boehme, committed suicide and another was not tried due to illness. The tribunal found eight of the defendants guilty of at least one count. Two of the guilty defendants were sent to prison for life, and the other six’s terms ranged from seven to twenty years. 

Crimes against humanity did not have long running precedents and many of the judges who served in the subsequent trials came from state courts, not federal, with no experience in international law. Often these judges were conservative in their rulings, wary of international statues surpassing national sovereignty.

Upon his return from Germany, George centered his experience not on the trial itself or any pronouncement of justice, but instead on the experience of European citizens over two years after the war’s end. In an interview in February 1948 he proclaimed, “What Europe needs today is less conversation and more calories,” describing the lack of basic necessities available. He critiqued America’s insufficient speed at acting, “We have had religious, education, professional, political and Congressional groups in Germany studying what should be done. They all come back fully equipped to write at least part of a book. Yet they actually propose very little in the way of definite solutions.” He goes on to compare Russia’s own work in Europe, warning that they have “been dinning into the ears of all of Europe the query ‘what has the United States actually done for you.’”

A few months later he cemented and condensed his view by stating, “the rehabilitation and restoration of faith among the common people of Germany is far more important than the trial and punishment of their leaders.”

Argus & Others

Alongside his governmental roles, George remained a Senior partner of what was now Burke, Burke & Smith, serving as an attorney for the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Trust Co., and Ann Arbor Bank, amongst others. Additionally, he was a chairman of the board of the Detroit Edison Co. and the President of the Citizens Mutual Insurance Co. of Howell. 

The year following his return from Europe, George was elected president of the board of Argus Co. in a tumultuous election at a turbulent time in the company’s history. Argus’ prior year had included a vice-president perishing in a plane crash, a board chairman fatally burned in a fire, and the president of the company resigning, reportedly at the request of the board of directors. Additionally, the company and eight of its current and former officers were defendants in a million dollar stockholder’s lawsuit which was pending at the time of George’s arrival. Preceding his tenure, sales had dropped by close to $3 million in the span of a year.

George owned no Argus stock, allowing him to declare that his role as president was centered on civic-mindedness. At its peak Argus was as much a part of Ann Arbor as a company could be and employed over 1,000 people whose jobs would be at risk if the company wasn’t stabilized. George looked to provide leadership for the floundering company, announcing, “We will not discuss the alleged failures of the past but are interested primarily in the future of this company of which we are all so inordinately proud.”

Sadly, his service to Argus would be one of his last. In July of 1950 he suffered a heart attack. In October 1950, while taking a nap in his office in the Ann Arbor Trust Building (now, the Glazier Building) he suffered another heart attack which he did not survive. A devoted member of St. Thomas Catholic Church, he rests in the St. Thomas Catholic Cemetery. Memorialized as an “eminent public servant”, George’s life was defined not only by the jobs he held, but by those he refused or resigned from, demonstrating his morals through his actions.