Richard Russell, Jr. Totally Explained

Everything about Richard B Russell Jr totally explained

Richard Brevard Russell, Jr. (November 2, 1897 – January 21, 1971) was an American Democratic Party politician who was a long-time United States Senator from the state of Georgia. He represented Georgia in the Senate from 1933 until his death in 1971. He was a founder and leader of the Conservative coalition that dominated Congress from 1937 to 1963, and at his death was the most senior member of the Senate.

Biography

Russell was born in Winder, Georgia, the fourth of 13 children of Richard Brevard Russell, Sr., a prominent lawyer and later chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. The younger Russell graduated in 1914 from the Seventh District Agricultural and Mechanical School in Powder Springs, Georgia, and from Gordon Institute in Barnesville, Georgia the following year. Russell then enrolled in the University of Georgia School of Law in 1915 and earned a Bachelor of Laws (B.L.) degree in 1918. While at UGA, he was a member of the Phi Kappa Literary Society.
   Russell served in the enlisted ranks of the United States Naval Reserve Forces in 1918 and, in 1919, set up law practice with his father in Winder. He was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives (1921-31), serving as its speaker (1927-31). His meteoric rise was capped by election, at age 33, as Governor of Georgia, serving from 1931 to 1933. He was a progressive governor who reorganized the bureaucracy, promoted economic development in the midst of the Great Depression, and balanced the budget. In 1932 one Robert E. Burns, serving time on a Georgia chain gang, escaped to New Jersey and wrote a book entitled I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang, condemning the Georgia prison system as inhumane. It became a popular movie but Russell demanded extradition. New Jersey refused and Russell was attacked from all quarters.
   Following the death of U.S. Senator William J. Harris in 1932, Governor Russell defeated Congressman Charles R. Crisp 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 (75th through 79th Congresses), Committee on Manufactures (79th Congress), Committee on Armed Services (82nd and 84th through 90th Congresses), and Committee on Appropriations (91st Congress). As the senior Senator he became President pro tempore of the Senate during the 91st and 92nd Congresses.
   Russell at first supported the New Deal and in 1936 he defeated the demagogic Governor Eugene Talmadge by defending the New Deal as good for Georgia. By 1937, however, Russell became a leader of the Conservative coalition, which controlled the Congress from 1937 to 1964. He proclaimed his faith in the "family farm" and supported most New Deal programs for parity, rural electrification, and farm loans. He supported promoting agricultural research, providing school lunches, giving surplus commodities to the poor, and harshly treating Japan during and after the war. He was the chief sponsor of the National School Lunch Act of 1946 with the dual goals of providing proper nutrition for all children and of subsidizing agriculture. He ran as a regional candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1952, winning widespread newspaper acclaim but few delegates. He was a member of the Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Russell was a highly respected senatorial colleague and skilled legislator. Among the many services his legislative skills did for the nation was chairing the Senate investigation into the firing of General Douglas MacArthur. Conducted during a political firestorm over the firing, Russell's chairmanship prevented the national rancor and layered political motivations surrounding the firing from interfering in a dignified and insightful investigation into the incident. Military historians have printed transcripts of the hearings to instruct on the proper relationship of civilian and military officials in a democracy.
   Russell made a run at the 1952 Democratic Nomination for President, but was shut-out of serious consideration by northern Democratic leaders who saw his racism as deplorable and untenable outside of the Jim Crow South. When Lyndon Johnson arrived in the Senate he sought guidance from knowledgeable senate aide Bobby Baker, who advised that all senators were "equal" but Russell was the most "equal"--meaning the most powerful. Johnson assiduously cultivated Russell through all of their joint Senate years and beyond. Russell's support for first term senator Lyndon Johnson paved the way for Johnson to become Senate Majority Leader. A prominent supporter of a strong national defense, Russell became in the 1950s the most knowledgeable and powerful congressional leader in this area. He used his powers as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee from 1951 to 1969 and then as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee as an institutional base to add defense installations and jobs for Georgia. He was dubious about the Vietnam War, privately warning President Johnson repeatedly against deeper involvement. While a prime mentor of Johnson, Russell and the then president Johnson eventually disagreed over civil rights. Russell, as the South's leader in the Senate, had repeatedly blocked and defeated civil rights legislation via use of the filabuster and had co-authored the Southern Manifesto in opposition to civil rights. He hadn't supported the States Rights party of J. Strom Thurmond in 1948, but he opposed civil rights laws as unconstitutional and unwise. (Unlike Theodore Bilbo, "Cotton Ed" Smith and James O Eastland, who had reputations as ruthless, tough-talking, heavy-handed race baiters, he never justified hatred or acts of violence to defend segregation. But he strongly defended white supremacy and apparently didn't question it, nor ever apologize for his white supremacist views, votes and speeches.) Russell was key, for decades, in blocking meaningful civil rights legislation that might have protected African-Americans from lynching, disenfranchisement and disparate treatment under the law.
   Russell died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC due to complications from emphysema. He is buried in the Russell family cemetery behind the Russell home near Winder. This area was designated as the Russell Homeplace Historic District by the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
   Russell was the uncle of Betty Russell Vandiver, and his support aided the career of her husband, Ernest Vandiver, who was lieutenant governor of Georgia from 1955 to 1959 and governor from 1959 to 1963. After Russell's death in 1971, Ernest Vandiver was disappointed at not being named as an interim replacement. He ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 1972.

Legacy

Russell has been honored by having the following named for him:

The Russell Senate Office Building, oldest of the three U.S. Senate office buildings
The Richard B. Russell Federal Building in Atlanta
Russell Hall dormitory and the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies at the University of Georgia.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Southern Center in Athens, Georgia.
Richard B. Russell Dam and Lake, located on the upper Savannah River between Elberton, Georgia and Calhoun Falls, South Carolina. A Georgia state park on the shores of that lake also bears Russell's name.
The Richard B. Russell Airport in Rome, Georgia, the regional general aviation airport serving Floyd County, Georgia.
A submarine of the United States Navy.
Russell-Brasstown Scenic Byway, a national scenic byway in the Georgia mountains.
Richard B. Russell Parkway, the major commercial thoroughfare and commuter-connector to Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Georgia.
Russell Elementary School just off of Russell Pkwy (mentioned above) in Warner Robins.
Richard B. Russell Elementary School in Smyrna, Georgia.
Richard B. Russell Jr. Middle School in Winder, Georgia.

A bronze statue of Russell stands on the lawn of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta.

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