Edgar C. R. Burgess
Edgar C. R. Burgess | |
|---|---|
.png) Burgess in 1893 | |
| 15th Secretary of State for Azania | |
|
In office January 14, 1926 – November 20, 1927 | |
| President | Lucas Morrison |
| Deputy | John Armstrong |
| Preceded by | Joseph Dunbar |
| Succeeded by | Samuel Gaspard |
| Azanian Ambassador to the United Kingdom | |
|
In office August 2, 1906 – January 14, 1907 | |
| President | Henrietta Gallagher |
| Preceded by | TBD |
| Succeeded by | TBD |
|
In office January 14, 1897 – May 27, 1902 | |
| President |
Dominic Kane Natanaël Poincaré |
| Preceded by | TBD |
| Succeeded by | TBD |
| Azanian Ambassador to Germany | |
|
In office January 14, 1895 – January 14, 1897 | |
| President | Dominic Kane |
| Preceded by | TBD |
| Succeeded by | TBD |
| Senator from New Georgia | |
|
In office January 14, 1889 – January 14, 1895 | |
| Preceded by | TBD |
| Succeeded by | TBD |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Edgar Carter Reginald Burgess March 17, 1858 Sandersville, Georgia, United States |
| Died |
November 20, 1927 (aged 69) Pardee, New Georgia, Azania |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | TBD |
| Children | TBD |
| Alma mater | Arius University (B.A.) |
| Profession | Politician • lawyer • diplomat |
| Religion | Alithian |
Edgar Carter Reginald Burgess (March 17, 1858 – November 20, 1927) was an Azanian politician, lawyer, and diplomat who served as the Secretary of State from 1926 till his death in 1927. Born a slave in the {{w|United States|former United States]], at the age of six Burgess and his family were freed by federal troops in 1864, after-which he and his family migrated to Azania in 1867 two years following the collapse of the United States. Burgess would play a prominent role in developing the country's foreign policy while serving as an ambassador in Europe and North America from 1897 to 1907, as well as found the prestigious Lincoln Law School in 1911, which would later be renamed to the Burgess Law School in his honor in 1931.
A heavy practitioner of Realpolitik, Burgess was responsible for steering Azanian foreign policy for throughout much of the late-19th and early-20th centuries, even serving as an foreign affairs advisor to the Federalist administrations from 1907 to 1919. He pioneered Azania's policy of détente with the European colonial powers in Africa, working to secure an image for Azania as a mutual partner rather than a regional African state blocking their colonization attempts of the continent's interior. While he was an adamant opponent of Marxist-Leninism which was spreading rapidly throughout the world, Burgess orchestrated the opening of relations with the Soviet Union in 1920, encouraging the federal government in Azania to recognize the USSR which it would in 1926.
Burgess would be appointed and confirmed as Azania's 15th Secretary of State in 1926 after his predecessor Joseph Dunbar was removed from the office by president Lucas Morrison for gross incompetence. In this capacity, Burgess would serve as a close political ally of Morrison and his aggressive foreign and domestic policies until the former's death in 1927. Today, much of Azania's foreign policy during the mid-20th century has been described by academics as "Burgessism", which was defined by its pragmatic approach to foreign affairs and dealings with rival powers. Having encouraged a policy of cooperation with other powerful nations while alive, Burgess' philosophy on foreign affairs has been lauded as giving Azania the political backing it needed to surviving as a sovereign state during the turn of the 19th century.