Roland Burris

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Roland Burris

American politician

Also known as: Roland Wallace Burris

Written by Michael Ray

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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In full:: Roland Wallace Burris

Born:: Aug. 3, 1937, Centralia, Ill., U.S. (age 87)

Title / Office:: United States Senate (2009-2010), United States

Political Affiliation:: Democratic Party

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Roland Burris (born Aug. 3, 1937, Centralia, Ill., U.S.) is an American Democratic politician who was the first African American elected to statewide office in Illinois. His appointment as U.S. senator (2009–10) to fill the seat vacated by Pres. Barack Obama made him the fourth African American to serve in the Senate since Reconstruction. Burris grew up in downstate Illinois, and he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Southern Illinois University in 1959. He received a law degree from Howard University in 1963, and, after moving to Chicago, became a bank examiner for the U.S. Department of the ...(100 of 731 words)

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