John Burton

American politician, a U.S. Congressman from San Francisco, elected 6/04/1974. Burton earned his law degree in 1960. A fiery, profane idealist and far-out liberal, he was an early opponent of the war in Vietnam. He clashed with the FAA over air traffic safety as well as many other establishment areas. An obsessive-compulsive personality, he was often in trouble over his colorful language. Burton's older brother, Phil, was also a politician, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and also an outspoken liberal. In November 1983, Burton revealed his addiction to cocaine, marijuana, alcohol, tranquilizers and nitrous oxide, ongoing from 1976 to 1982, when he went into rehab. In 2008, Burton settled a $10 million sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Kathleen Driscoll, then the executive director of his charitable foundation for homeless children. Driscoll claimed Burton repeatedly swore at her and directed lewd and suggestive comments at her, on nearly a daily basis. She also claimed he routinely made lewd comments about her underwear and body parts. According to Driscoll’s lawsuit, Burton suggested she was “probably wild sexually like all Catholic girls,” and introduced her to business associates as a “thong model.” He also allegedly made “hand gestures mimicking masturbation” while in her presence on approximately ten different occasions. Link to Wikipedia biography