Albert Burleson even today is known as one of the most despised postmaster generals. Born in San Marcos, Texas, in 1863, Burleson was raised there in a military family. His father and grandfather were Confederate officers during the Civil War, and Burleson would continue to display a lack of sympathy for the rights of black Americans. He attended Texas A&M and Baylor University, earning a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1884. After a brief stint practicing law, Burleson was elected as both the Austin assistant city attorney and the district attorney for the Twenty-sixth Texas Judicial District.

A wealthy man, Burleson won an election to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat and served from 1899 to 1913. He was on the House Agriculture, Census, and Foreign Affairs Committees and was a ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. Burleson advised the 1912 Democratic presidential candidate Woodrow Wilson as part of Wilson's "veranda cabinet."

Though wary of Burleson's conservatism, Wilson appointed Burleson postmaster general, the first native Texan ever to serve in the cabinet. While postmaster general, Burleson segregated Negro and White workers and downgraded or fired southern Negroes in the postal service; at the same time, he increased rural mail service and initiated airmail service. A staunch proponent of the Espionage Act, Burleson used his power to suppress certain kinds of expression. Following his time in government, Burleson returned to pursue agriculture in Austin, dying there in November 1937 at the age of 74.