(b. Winder, Georgia, 2 Nov. 1897; d. 21 Jan. 1971) US; Governor of Georgia 1931 – 3, US Senator 1933 – 71 Born into an established southern family, Russell was educated at the University of Georgia Law School, following a period at Gordon Military Institute and the Agricultural and Mechanical School in Powder Springs. After a brief stint in the navy, Russell began legal practice in Georgia and also started a political career. In 1920 he was elected to the Georgia State Assembly where he spent ten years, the last four as Speaker. From 1931 to 1933 Russell was Governor of Georgia and instituted a set of financially prudent policies which allowed Georgia to balance its budget. He also reformed the governmental structure and made major contribution to Georgia's agricultural sector. In 1932 Russell was elected to fill the Senate vacancy caused by the death of William Harris.

Russell's long tenure in the Senate was marked by steadfast adherence to the doctrine of states rights and a strong opposition to racial integration. It was also marked by devotion to the Senate as an institution (he became its president pro tem in 1969) and to the interests of Georgia, especially its farming and military businesses.

Although Russell started his career a supporter of F. D. Roosevelt's New Deal (and was enthusiastic about many forms of federal support for agriculture and for rural electrification) like other southern Democrats he opposed the increasingly strong civil rights planks of Presidents Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson. In 1935 Russell had opposed an anti-lynching bill and, although he did not join the Dixiecrat revolt of 1948, he was a key leader of the southern Democrats opposed to integration.

Russell was chair of the Armed Forces Committee from 1951 to 1969 and developed an expertise in the area of defence and national security policy which made him a significant participant in Democratic debates on these issues. Although anxious to maintain a strong American defence, he was not an uncritical "hawk" and expressed his reservations about American involvement in Vietnam at an early stage of the conflict. He also won praise for his impartial chairing of the committee which investigated Eisenhower's sacking of General MacArthur in the Korean War.

Russell made a bid for the presidential nomination in 1952 but it failed. Despite his ability as a legislator and administrator, his identification with the south and the cause of segregation proved a barrier to advance in national Democratic politics.

(1897–1971), governor of Georgia and U.S. senator

A widely respected political figure, Russell, a Democrat, served in the U.S. Senate from 1933 to 1971. As chairman of the Armed Services Committee from 1951 to 1968, he greatly influenced American military and foreign policy in the post–World War II era.

A leader of southern senators against civil rights, Russell unsuccessfully opposed President Harry S. Truman's 1948 integration of the military. In 1951, his deft leadership helped assuage the outcry over Truman's dismissal of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, commander of United Nations forces in the Korean War. As chairman of a Senate inquiry into MacArthur's dismissal, Russell provided Truman's congressional opponents an outlet for their anger and prevented expansion of the war and cancellation of armistice negotiations.

Although a strong supporter of Truman's Korean policy, Russell opposed America's initial involvement in Southeast Asia in 1954. By the mid‐1960s, he became a reluctant supporter of Presidents Johnson and Nixon's escalation of the Vietnam War, although he expressed strong concerns that neither man was willing to pursue a decisive victory over North Vietnam. In 1968, Russell relinquished his Armed Services chairmanship in order to head the Appropriations Committee, where he secured continued funding for the war.

[See also Vinson, Carl.]

Bibliography

• Gilbert C. Fite, Richard B. Russell, Jr., Senator from Georgia, 1991.
• John A. Goldsmith, Colleagues: Richard B. Russell and His Apprentice, Lyndon B. Johnson, 1993

• Born: Nov. 2, 1897, Winder, Ga.
• Political party: Democrat
• Education: Gordon Institute, graduated, 1915; law department of the University of Georgia at Athens, graduated, 1918
• Senator from Georgia: 1933–71
• Died: Jan. 21, 1971, Washington, D.C.

A “senator's senator,” Richard Russell, through seniority, chaired such powerful committees as Armed Services and Appropriations, and through personal integrity he earned a deep respect from his colleagues. Senator Norris Cotton (Republican-North Carolina) noted that Russell “engaged in debate only on rare occasions.When he did so, he spoke quietly, but a silence fell upon the Senate and every member listened attentively, which is about the highest tribute a senator can receive.” Russell became an authority on a range of issues from agriculture to military policy. But he also led the Southern caucus in the Senate and devoted his great parliamentary skills to defending racial segregation and opposing civil rights legislation. Some called him the last general of the Confederacy. Russell paid dearly for this stand. Despite the prestige he earned in the Senate, his unbending defense of segregation prevented him from becoming a national leader and achieving the Democratic nomination for President that he sought. After Russell's death, the Senate named its first office building in his honor.

See also Civil rights

Sources

• Gilbert C. Fite, Richard B. Russell, Jr., Senator from Georgia (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991)

1897–1971, American political leader, b. Winder, Ga. The son of a justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, he began his political career as a state representative (1921–31) and then governor (1931–32). From 1932 to 1971, he was a Democratic member of the U.S. Senate. A supporter of the New Deal, he was chairman of the Armed Services Committee (1951–53, 1955–69) and widely regarded as one of the most powerful members of the Senate. In his last decades he was a leading opponent of civil-rights legislation, and broke with his former protégé, President Lyndon Johnson, over the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

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