Charles Wainman Burson (born August 28, 1944) is a former legal counsel and Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States under Al Gore.
Burson was a friend of Gore for over three decades at the time of his appointment as Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States.
Burson's parents were active in Tennessee Democratic politics, and his mother had held a position in Albert Gore Sr.'s senatorial campaign in 1958.
He was elected a delegate to the Tennessee Constitutional Convention of 1977, and in 1978 he lost a race for Shelby County Commissioner to Republican Ed Williams (politician).
One notable case he argued was Burson v. Freeman, which established a state's ability to regulate electioneering at polling sites on election day.
[4] After his time in the White House, Burson served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel to the global agribusiness corporation Monsanto.