Richard Russell, Jr.

Richard Brevard Russell, Jr. (2 November 1897–21 January 1971) was an American Democratic Party politician who was a long-time U.S. Senator from the state of Georgia, serving from 1933 until his death.

Related Topics:
2 November - 1897 - 21 January - 1971 - American - Democratic Party - U.S. Senator - Georgia - 1933

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Russell was born in Winder, Georgia. He graduated from from the Seventh District Agricultural and Mechanical School, Powder Springs, Ga., in 1914 and from the Gordon Institute in Barnesville, Georgia, in 1915 He also received a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Georgia in 1918. In 1957, he would received an LL.D. from Mercer University. Russell served in the enlisted ranks of the United States Naval Reserve Forces in 1918 and, in 1919, set up law practice in Winder. He became county attorney for Barrow County, Georgia, served as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, as its Speaker, and then as the Governor of Georgia from 1931 to 1933. In 1952 he ran in the Democratic primaries for President, only to lose because he refused to renounce racial segregation.

Related Topics:
Winder, Georgia - Gordon Institute - Barnesville, Georgia - 1915 - University of Georgia - 1918 - Mercer University - United States Naval Reserve - 1919 - Barrow County, Georgia - Georgia House of Representatives - Governor of Georgia - 1931 - 1933 - Racial segregation

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Following the death of U.S. Senator William J. Harris in 1932, Russell was elected to serve the remainder of Harris' term; he was elected on his own to serve a full term in 1936 and was subsequently reelected in 1942, 1948, 1954, 1960 and 1966. During his long tenure in the Senate, Russell served as chairman on Committee on Immigration (Seventy-fifth through Seventy-ninth Congresses), Committee on Manufactures (Seventy-ninth Congress), Committee on Armed Services (Eighty-second and Eighty-fourth through Ninetieth Congresses), Committee on Appropriations (Ninety-first Congress). He also served as President pro tempore of the Senate during the Ninety-first and Ninety-second Congresses.

Related Topics:
William J. Harris - 1932 - 1936 - President pro tempore of the Senate

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He was also a member of the Warren Commission, the commission which investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Related Topics:
Warren Commission - President - John F. Kennedy

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A mentor and personal friend of Lyndon B. Johnson, the two came into conflict over civil rights. Russell, as the south's leader in the senate, had repeatedly blocked and defeated civil rights legislation and had co-authored The Southern Manifesto in opposition to civil rights. Johnson, after his failed 1956 bid to win the Democratic presidential nomination, maneuvered to pass civil rights legislation—first as Senate Majority Leader in 1957 and 1960, and later as President in 1964. While still in office, Senator Russell died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC.

Related Topics:
Lyndon B. Johnson - Civil rights - The Southern Manifesto - Legislation - 1957 - 1960 - 1964 - Walter Reed Army Medical Center - Washington, DC

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Russell was regarded as a warm and friendly man, although he was very shy and never married. He was passionately interested in the history of classical Greece and Rome, as well as the history of the American Civil War.

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The Russell Senate Office Building, the oldest of the three Senate office buildings, is named for Russell, as well as the Richard B. Russell Federal Building in Atlanta and Russell Hall Dormitory at the University of Georgia in Athens.

Related Topics:
Russell Senate Office Building - Richard B. Russell Federal Building - Atlanta - University of Georgia

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