Edward Michael Burke (born December 29, 1943) is an American politician found guilty of racketeering, bribery, and extortion[1] who served as the alderman of Chicago's 14th ward from 1969 to 2023.

[4] Despite gaining prominence in Chicago politics, Burke was known to clash with the "old guard" of Mayor Richard J. Daley and often aligned with fellow Councilman Ed Vrdolyak.

[16] While in law school in the late 1960s, an era of escalation in the Vietnam War, Burke received a draft deferment as a full-time student.

After his marriage and the death of his father, he applied for and was granted a hardship deferment (3-A), as the sole support of his wife, mother, and two younger brothers.

[18] Political rivals expressed concern that special consideration allowed Burke to join the Reserve unit ahead of others, but an Army investigation found no evidence of manipulation in his favor.

[13][15] At 24, Burke was the youngest person in Chicago's history to become a ward committeeman,[15][23] a position he held until being defeated by State Representative Aaron Ortiz on March 17, 2020.

[29] In 1972 and 1973, Burke joined Alderman Edward Vrdolyak in a dissident caucus of aldermen demanding a greater voice in city affairs from Mayor Daley and finance committee chairman Thomas Keane.

"[47] In the spring of 1987, in Chicago's municipal elections, Vrdolyak, rather than seeking re-election as alderman, was the Solidarity Party's candidate challenging Washington for mayor.

[61] Burke is also a member of the city council's committees on Aviation; Budget and Government Operation; Energy, Environmental Protection and Public Utilities; and Zoning.

[68] When Burke started his political career, the 14th Ward that he represents was centered in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, more than a mile and a half east of where it is now.

[69][70] In October 2006, Burke and O'Gorman published End of Watch, a book detailing the lives and tragedies of police officers who died in the line of duty.

[71] Under Burke's direction, the Finance Committee staff compiles historical exhibits in City Hall and drafts honorary resolutions for special visitors to Chicago or recently deceased prominent Americans and Chicagoans.

[79] In January 1995, the Operation Haunted Hall grand jury subpoenaed the personnel records of three City Council Committees: Finance, Budget and Traffic.

In April 1995, after the federal subpoena of Council committee personnel records, Martinez returned the $91,000, sending cash to City Hall in three installments.

[73][92] A federal grand jury subpoenaed Burke's and Huels' campaign finance records and ethics disclosures,[93] and Pedicone's billings.

[103][104][105] On January 8, 1998, federal prosecutors in Operation Haunted Hall indicted another Chicago attorney for collecting $9,223 in wages and benefits from the Finance Committee in 1991 and 1992 despite doing little or no work.

Burke hired the newly retired Molaro for $12,000 for one month to write a 19-page white paper about Chicago's perennially under-funded pensions.

[112][113] Burke has helped line up millions of dollars in public subsidies to companies that later hired his firm for property tax assessment appeals.

Burke blamed the recording of his "aye" votes on the late Alderman Thomas Cullerton, who chaired the City Council Committee on Aviation, which reviews airport leases.

[130][131][132] Burke argued in favor of passage of the resolution, In 1871, journalists, eager to sensationalize the events of the Great Fire, were quick to find in Mrs. Kate O'Leary an easy scapegoat for the calamitous inferno.

As a working-class immigrant and a woman, Kate O'Leary was an easy target for those publications who always found it comfortable to vilify Irish Catholics who had not yet assimilated into the dominant American middle-class culture.

[132] Other Burke legislative initiatives include protecting non-smokers from second-hand smoke, mandating pet-spaying, and regulating fatty restaurant food.

[142][143] In 1986, Mayor Washington's acting Chicago police commissioner Fred Rice tried to reduce the number of Burke's bodyguards from four to two, on the basis that the manpower was no longer necessary.

[151] It was noted that "Even mayors who despised Burke didn't dare to depose him as chairman of the council's Finance Committee, fearing the potential he had to stymie their legislative agendas.

[157] After polls showed declining support for his candidacy, he dropped out of the race in December 1988 and endorsed Richard M. Daley, who won the nomination in the February 1989 Democratic primary.

According to the Illinois Secretary of State's office, he filed to withdraw himself as lead partner in April, a month before his federal indictment for bribery, racketeering, and extortion so he could increase more business for his former law firm.

The Burkes reside in the southwestern Chicago neighborhood of Archer Heights, close to Curie Metropolitan High School and the Pulaski Station of the CTA Orange Line.

Jennifer is an attorney who worked in the City of Chicago Law Department under Mayor Richard M. Daley's corporation counsel and now is on the Illinois Pollution Control Board.

[171] Noted for his impeccable conservative suits and attention to accessorizing,[33][34][36] Burke was named "Best Dressed Alderman" in a 1981 review of aldermen by the Chicago Tribune's City Hall reporters.

[173] In February 1996, the Burkes became foster parents to an African American child, known in public by his court name "Baby T", born to a woman suffering drug addiction.