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Born August 1, 1875 in Delphi, Indiana, Burton Lee French was the fourth of nine children born to Charles Albert (or David Scott) and Mina Philippena (Fisher) French. In 1880 the family moved to Kearney, Nebraska where David Scott changed his name to Charles Albert French. In 1882 the family continued the trek westward on the "Immigrant Train" Railway to San Francisco, then by ship to Portland, by riverboat and railway to Walla Walla where they paused for about a month while seeking a permanent location. They then crossed the prairie in a wagon and settled near Princeton, Idaho, but within a year the family moved to the town of Palouse, Washington. In 1891 French was a member of the first graduating class of the Palouse school, a school his father helped to build.

In January of 1893 Burton French entered the University of Idaho. He interrupted his education to teach in the public schools of Kendrick and Juliaetta, thus did not graduate from the University until 1901. From 1901 to 1903 he was a fellow in political science at the University of Chicago, graduating with a Ph.M. degree. He was admitted to the Idaho bar in 1903. In 1921 he received an honorary LL.D from the University of Idaho; Miami University awarded him the same degree in 1948.

In 1898, while still a student at the University of Idaho, Burton French was elected to the Idaho House of Representatives, and was re-elected in 1900, serving as Republican floor leader for his last two years. While in Boise he met Winifred Estel Hartley, a teacher originally from Nebraska. They were married in Norfolk, Nebraska, June 28, 1904. Their only child, a daughter, died in infancy.

In 1902 French was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served as Congressman from Idaho from 1903 to 1909, 1911 to 1915, and 1917 to 1933. He was a member of the House Appropriations Committee and served as chairman of the Sub-committee on Naval Appropriations. In 1930 and 1931 he was Congressional Representative to the Interparliamentary Union in London and Bucharest respectively.

Following his defeat by Compton I. White in the Democratic landslide of 1932, French returned to Moscow, where his wife died in February 1934. In September 1935 he accepted a teaching position at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. He continued teaching, eventually becoming head of the political science department, until 1946.

Although French was a life-long Republican, soon after his retirement Miami President Truman appointed him to the Loyalty Review Board of which he became vice chairman. He served on this board until it was reorganized in 1953.

Burton French died at the age of 79 of leukemia in Mercy Hospital, Hamilton, Ohio on September 12, 1954. He was buried in Moscow, Idaho on September 22.