Burton M. Cross

Who was Burton M. Cross?

Burton Melvin Cross was a Maine Republican politician. Cross was Maine's 61st and 63rd Governor.

In 1933 Cross won a seat on the Augusta Common Council and four years later in 1937 moved up to the Board of Aldermen, presiding over both bodies. Elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 1941 he served two terms before moving up to the Maine Senate in 1945. He became majority floor leader in 1947 and President of the Senate in 1949 until 1952.

In 1952 Cross won the Republican nomination for Governor and went on to defeat Democrat James Oliver in the general election by a substantial margin. Cross actually became Governor about two weeks prior to the start of his elected term of office. The outgoing Governor, Frederick G. Payne resigned on December 25, 1952 to prepare for his term in the United States Senate; Cross, as President of the Senate became Governor through constitutional succession. Cross himself resigned as Senate President at 10:00am January 6, 1953 and was replaced for the next 25 hours by Nathaniel Haskell. At 11:00am on January 7, 1953, Cross' official elected term of office began.