Elmer J. Burkett (December 1, 1867 - May 23, 1935) was a Representative and a Senator from Nebraska. Burkett was born on a farm near Glenwood, Iowa. He attended the public schools and graduated from Tabor College in 1890 and from the law department of the University of Nebraska in 1893. He served as principal of the Leigh, Nebraska, public schools from 1890-1892; he was admitted to the bar in 1893 and commenced practice in Lincoln, Nebraska. Burkett was a trustee of Tabor College from 1895-1905. He was a member of the Nebraska House of Representatives 1896-1898.
Burkett was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-sixth, Fifty-seventh, and Fifty-eighth Congresses (March 4, 1899-March 3, 1905); he was reelected to the Fifty-ninth Congress, but resigned, effective March 4, 1905, to become a Senator. He was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1905, to March 3, 1911. During his term, he served as the chairman of the Committee on Indian Depredations (Fifty-ninth Congress) and on the Committee on Pacific Railroads (Fifty-ninth through Sixty-first Congresses). Burkett was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1910. He then resumed the practice of law in Lincoln; he declined the candidacy for Governor of Nebraska in 1912, and was also an unsuccessful candidate for the Vice Presidential nomination in 1912. He died in Lincoln on May 23, 1935, and was interred in Wyuka Cemetery.
Preceded by: Jesse Burr Strode (R) Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Nebraska's 1st congressional district 1899 - 1905 Succeeded by: Ernest M. Pollard (R) Preceded by: Charles H. Dietrich (R) United States Senator from Nebraska (Class 1) 1905-1911 Succeeded by: Gilbert M. Hitchcock (D) This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
