He is the Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies at the University of Illinois Springfield.
[4] He studied at Princeton University (BA 1964) where he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and a Fulbright Scholar.
In 2000, Burlingame submitted a review to The Journal of American History alleging plagiarism in John C. Waugh's book, Reelecting Lincoln: The Battle for the 1864 Presidency.
In the same review, Burlingame also highlighted errors in citation and transcription in Harold Holzer's book, The Lincoln Mailbag: America Writes to the President, 1861-1896.
Holzer responded by charging that Burlingame had "riven the Lincoln field, and made it unpleasant to contribute scholarship.