Richard Russell Jr.

Richard B. Russell Jr. was born in 1897 as the first son of Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard B. Russell Sr. and Ina Dillard Russell.{{Cite web |title=Richard B. Russell Jr. |url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/richard-b-russell-jr-1897-1971/ |access-date=April 24, 2023 |website=New Georgia Encyclopedia |language=en-US}} He eventually had a total of twelve adult siblings, as well as two who died before adolescence.{{Cite book |last=Caro |first=Robert |title=Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson |title-link=Master of the Senate|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=2002 |isbn=0-394-52836-0 |location=New York |pages=164–169}}

Russell's father was a well-liked state representative for Clarke County and a successful solicitor general for a seven-county circuit. However, he fared poorly in multiple attempts to become U.S. Senator for Georgia and Governor of Georgia. Due to his political failures, the Russell family lived below their financial means at times.

From an early age, the elder Russell trained his son to exceed his father's legacy in the state. As a result of the family's loss of their ancestral plantation and mill during Sherman's March, Russell spent much time studying Civil War history.

Russell enrolled in the University of Georgia School of Law in 1915 and earned a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree in 1918.{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000536|title=Russell, Richard Brevard Jr. – Biographical Information|website=bioguide.congress.gov|access-date=March 18, 2018}} While at UGA, he was a member of the Phi Kappa Literary Society.

Dominated by white conservatives, Democrats controlled state government and the Congressional delegation. The Republican Party was no longer competitive, hollowed out in the state following the effective disenfranchisement of most blacks by Georgia's approval of a constitutional amendment, effective in 1908, requiring a literacy test, but providing a "grandfather clause" to create exceptions for whites.{{cite web|url=https://www.todayingeorgiahistory.org/content/georgias-literacy-test|title=August 21: Georgia's Literacy Test|work=Today in Georgia History |publisher= Georgia Historical Society & Georgia Public Broadcasting|date=2011–2013 |access-date=June 6, 2021}}

Following his time at college, Russell briefly worked at a law firm with his father before successfully running for the Georgia House of Representatives at the earliest opportunity.{{Cite book |last=Caro |first=Robert |title=Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson |title-link=Master of the Senate|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=2002 |isbn=0-394-52836-0 |edition= |pages=169–172}} Six years into his tenure, Russell ran unopposed for the Speakership at the age of 29. His popularity among his legislator colleagues came from his perceived integrity and willingness to build coalitions.

File:Richard Russell Jr. (GA).png

Russell's campaign for Governor was an untraditional one, it was not based in Atlanta and Russell at 33 would be the youngest Georgian Governor to that point if he was elected, but he did have the support of 90% of the state legislators. He won the election.{{Cite book |last=Caro |first=Robert |title=Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson |title-link=Master of the Senate|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=2002 |isbn=0-394-52836-0 |location=New York |chapter=7. A Russell of the Russells of Georgia}}

As governor, Russell reorganized the bureaucracy, reducing the number of state agencies from 102 to 18, promoted economic development in the midst of the Great Depression, and balanced the state budget.{{cite web |title=Richard B. Russell Jr. Collection, Subgroup A: Georgia Legislative/Speaker of the House Papers |url=http://russelldoc.galib.uga.edu/russell/view?docId%3Dead%2Frussell_subgroupA.xml |access-date=December 5, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611205935/http://russelldoc.galib.uga.edu/russell/view?docId=ead%2Frussell_subgroupA.xml |archive-date=June 11, 2010}}

During Russell's governorship, World War I veteran Robert Elliot Burns released the autobiography I Am A Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang!, which had previously been serialized in True Detective magazine and later formed the basis for a popular Paul Muni film in November 1932.{{Cite book |last=Caro |first=Robert |title=Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson |title-link=Master of the Senate|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=2002 |isbn=0-394-52836-0 |location=New York |pages=188–189}} The book details the multiple stints Burns served in the Georgian penal system and his attempts to escape.

Following the release of the book and the film adaptation, Russell attempted to extradite Burns from the state of New Jersey so Burns could continue to serve his sentence in Georgia. Russell denounced Burns' depictions of the horrific hard labor in his state, calling New Jersey Governor A. Harry Moore's refusal to return Burns to Georgia "a slander on the state of Georgia and its institutions."

Russell's first campaign for the Senate was as a result of a special election in September 1932 after the death of William J. Harris. His opponent in the primary was Representative Charles Crisp, who was nicknamed "Kilowatt Charlie" due to his links to the unpopular Georgia Power Company.

In 1936, Russell defeated the former Democratic Governor Eugene Talmadge for the US Senate seat by defending the New Deal as good for Georgia.{{cite book|last1=Boyd|first1=Tim S. R.|title=Georgia Democrats, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Shaping of the New South|date=2012|publisher=University Press of Florida|location=Gainesville|isbn=9780813061474 |pages=35}}

In 1933, when Russell came into the Senate, the Democrats had just ousted the Republicans as the majority party and there were a number of important committees with vacancies. The vacancies and Russell's populist reputation from his time as Governor and his primary campaign meant that he got his first choice, Appropriations, in order to stop him becoming a second Huey Long. Due to a feud between Carter Glass, the chairman of the Appropriations committee, and the senior Democrat on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Ellison D. Smith, Russell became the chairman of that subcommittee. This gave Russell a lot of power over the funding of aid to farmers.

Russell supported the New Deal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression.{{Cite web|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CDOC-105sdoc8/pdf/CDOC-105sdoc8.pdf|title=Dedication and Unveiling of the Statue of Richard Brevard Russell, Jr., P.31}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zMI1O290OtQC&dq=Richard+B.+Russell,+Jr.,+Senator+from+Georgia+fair+labor+standards+act&pg=PA134|title=Richard B. Russell, Jr., Senator from Georgia|first=Gilbert C.|last=Fite|date=September 3, 1991|page=134|publisher=UNC Press Books|isbn=978-0-8078-5465-5 |via=Google Books}} Russell was elected on a moderately progressive platform, and supported bailout and aid programs for local governments.{{cite journal|last1=Mead|first1=Howard N.|title=Russell vs. Talmadge: Southern Politics and the New Deal|date=1981|publisher=Georgia Historical Society|journal=The Georgia Historical Quarterly|volume=65|issue=1|pages=28–45}} Once in the Senate, he became an ardent supporter of the Roosevelt administration and New Deal programs, and expressed his support for "the fullest measure of relief that the combined resources of this commonwealth will afford." Russell endorsed almost every New Deal act during the "Hundred Days" Congress session; once a rift in the Democratic Party emerged in 1935, resulting in filibusters and deadlocks, Russell continued to support the President and the New Deal. Howard N. Mead observes that even "when many other Southern politicians began to express some measure of discontent with the administration and its proposals, Russell remained firm in his support". When competing with conservative Talmadge for the Georgia Senate seat, Russell expressed his fervent support for income tax and social welfare, consistently praised the New Deal in his speeches, and attacked Talmadge for his fiscal conservatism.

Once describing himself as "a liberal and progressive Democrat,"[https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Richard_B_Russell_Jr_Senator_from_Georgi/zMI1O290OtQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Whatever+others+may+have+thought+of+Russell+s+political+philosophy,+he+considered+himself+a+liberal+and+progressive+Democrat&pg=PA160&printsec=frontcover Richard B. Russell, Jr., Senator from Georgia By Gilbert C. Fite, 1991, P.160] Russell continued to be an outspoken economic progressive even after World War II, and was the main sponsor of the 1946 National School Lunch Act, which was named after him. He expanded and carried out projects to distribute surplus food of Georgia to poor families through food stamps and school lunch programs, and wished to tackle rural poverty. After the establishment of a national school lunch program, Russell continuously pushed for funding it further throughout 1950s and 1960s, and sought active promotion and implementation of Georgian foods such as peanuts in the program, and saw it as a way to promote the interests of Georgian farmers. During the Johnson presidency however, Russell voted against the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, despite sympathizing with its objectives, believing (as noted by one study) “that the legislation as too loosely drawn and would result in huge amounts of waste.”[https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Richard_B_Russell_Jr_Senator_from_Georgi/zMI1O290OtQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Richard+Russell+Job+corps&pg=PA424&printsec=frontcover Richard B. Russell, Jr., Senator from Georgia By Gilbert C. Fite, 1991, P.424]

Image:Lyndon Johnson and Richard Russell.jpg in 1963]]

During World War II, Russell was known for his uncompromising position toward Japan and its civilian casualties. In the late months of the war, he held that the US should not treat Japan with more leniency than Germany, and that the United States should not encourage Japan to sue for peace."Correspondence between Richard Russell and Harry S. Truman, August 7 and 9, 1945, regarding the situation with Japan." Papers of Harry S. Truman: Official File. [http://www.trumanlibrary.org Truman Library]

Russell was a prominent supporter of a strong national defense.Gilbert C. Fite, Richard B. Russell Jr., Senator From Georgia (1991) pp. 349–70. 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 gain defense installations and jobs for Georgia. He was dubious about the Vietnam War, privately warning President Johnson repeatedly against deeper involvement.{{cite news|url=https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/educational-resources/lbj-and-richard-russell-on-vietnam|title=LBJ AND RICHARD RUSSELL ON VIETNAM|date=May 27, 1964|work=UVA Miller Center}}

Unlike Theodore Bilbo, "Cotton Ed" Smith, and James Eastland, who had reputations as ruthless, tough-talking, heavy-handed race baiters, Russell never justified hatred or acts of violence to defend segregation. But he strongly defended white supremacy and apparently did not question it or ever apologize for his segregationist views, votes and speeches. For decades Russell was a key figure in the Southern Caucus within the Senate that blocked or watered down meaningful civil rights legislation intended to protect African Americans from lynching, disenfranchisement, and disparate treatment under the law.

Russell strongly condemned President Truman's pro-desegregation stance and wrote that he was "sick at heart" over it. However, unlike many other Southern Democrats such as Strom Thurmond, he did not walk out of the convention and support the Dixiecrats.{{cite journal|last1=Stern|first1=Mark|title=Lyndon Johnson and Richard Russell: Institutions, Ambitions and Civil Rights|date=1991|publisher=Wiley on behalf of the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress|journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly|volume=21|issue=4|pages=687–704}}

In 1952, Russell was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination; while he did not discuss civil rights while campaigning, his platform named "local self-government" one of the major "Jeffersonian Principles". Russell claimed that the goal of his candidacy was to showcase the principles of "Southern Democracy" and to allow Southern Democrats to form a united front against the North. While he decisively defeated Estes Kefauver in the Florida primary, Russell was opposed by most of Democrats as he refused to support the civil rights plank of the party. Jim Rowe claimed that the sectional nature of the defeat shocked Russell and made him into a more parochial politician.

In early 1956, Russell's office was continually used as a meeting place by the Southern Caucus, and he was through most of the caucus's life the acknowledged leader of the group, sending out invitations to what he called "Constitutional Democrats".{{Cite book |last=Caro |first=Robert |title=Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson |title-link=Master of the Senate|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=2002 |isbn=0-394-52836-0 |location=New York |chapter=8. We of the South}} The caucus included fellow senators such as Strom Thurmond, James Eastland, Allen Ellender, and John Stennis, the four having a commonality of being dispirited with Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 ruling by the US Supreme Court that said that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.{{cite book|title=LBJ: Architect of American Ambition|first=Randall|last=Woods|page=[https://archive.org/details/lbj00rand/page/303 303]|year=2006|publisher=Free Press|isbn=978-0684834580|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/lbj00rand/page/303}}

Russell was one of the strongest opponents of every desegregation measure in the Senate, but he remained loyal to the party. Although he called the 1960 Democratic Party platform a "complete surrender to the NAACP and the other extreme radicals at Los Angeles", he did agree to campaign for the Kennedy-Johnson ticket for the 1960 United States presidential election.

In January 1964, President Johnson delivered the 1964 State of the Union Address, calling for Congress to "lift by legislation the bars of discrimination against those who seek entry into our country, particularly those who have much needed skills and those joining their families."{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=26787|title=91 – Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union.|date=January 8, 1964|first=Lyndon B.|last=Johnson|author-link=Lyndon B. Johnson|publisher=American Presidency Project}} Russell issued a statement afterward stating the commitment by Southern senators to oppose such a measure, which he called "shortsighted and disastrous," while admitting the high probability of it passing. He added that the civil rights bill's true intended effect was to intermingle races, eliminate states' rights, and abolish the checks and balances system.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=A7-hzOuI2KQC&dat=19640109&printsec=frontpage&hl=en|title=South's Senators To Fight 'Rights'|date=January 9, 1964|newspaper=Sarasota Herald-Tribune}}

File:Sen. Russell letter opposing civil rights act.pdf

After Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Russell (along with more than a dozen other southern Senators, including Herman Talmadge and Russell Long) boycotted the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City.Kornacki, Steve (February 3, 2011) [http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/02/03/reagan_southern_strategy/index.html The "Southern Strategy," fulfilled], Salon.com

Although he had served as a prime mentor of Johnson, Russell and Johnson disagreed over civil rights. Johnson supported this as President. Russell, a segregationist, had repeatedly blocked and defeated federal civil rights legislation via use of the filibuster.{{cite magazine|last1=Oberdorfer|first1=Don|title=The Filibuster's Best Friend|magazine=The Saturday Evening Post|date=March 13, 1965|volume=238|issue=5|page=90|url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=17065279&site=eds-live|access-date=June 21, 2016}}

Russell was considered to be moderate in his support for segregation; in 1936, he often attacked race-baiting, such as the claim that New Deal legislation would mostly benefit black people. W. J. Cash considered Russell "the better sort of Southerner," as he was ready to call out "ruffian appeals to race hatred" made by others. James Thomas Gay claimed that Russell "wished blacks no ill;"{{cite journal|last1=Gay|first1=James Thomas|title=Richard B. Russell and the National School Lunch Program|date=1996|publisher=Georgia Historical Society|journal=The Georgia Historical Quarterly|volume=80|issue=4|pages=859–872}} in the 1950s, Russell corresponded with a black voter from Dublin, Georgia, Hercules Moore, who raised concerns that African-American children were being treated unfairly in the school lunch program, which was funded federally. Russell took the matter seriously and "later gave Moore satisfactory evidence that the program was being properly administered for children of both races.".

Russell's support for first-term senator Lyndon B. Johnson paved the way for Johnson to become Senate Majority Leader. Russell often dined at Johnson's house during their Senate days. But, their 20-year friendship came to an end during Johnson's presidency, in a fight over the 1968 nomination as Chief Justice of Abe Fortas, Johnson's friend and Supreme Court justice.{{cite book

| title = Abe Fortas

| author = Laura Kalman

| publisher = Yale University Press

| year = 1990

| isbn = 9780300046694

| url = https://archive.org/details/abefortasbiograp00kalm

| url-access = registration

| access-date = October 20, 2008}}{{Page needed|date=June 2015}}

In June 1968, Chief Justice Earl Warren announced his decision to retire. President Johnson afterward announced the nomination of Associate Justice Abe Fortas for the position. David Greenburg wrote that when Russell "decided in early July to oppose Fortas, he brought most of his fellow Dixiecrats with him."{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-may-03-oe-greenberg3-story.html|title=The Republicans' Filibuster Lie|date=May 3, 2005|work=Los Angeles Times}}

In May 1961, President John F. Kennedy requested Russell place the Presidential wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns during an appearance at Arlington National Cemetery for a Memorial Day ceremony.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/05/24/archives/russell-to-honor-dead-georgia-senator-to-put-wreath-at-tomb-of.html|title=Russell to Honor Dead; Georgia Senator to Put Wreath at Tomb of Unknowns |date=May 24, 1961|work=The New York Times}}

Russell scheduled a closed door meeting for the Senate Armed Services Committee for August 31, 1961, at the time of Senator Strom Thurmond requesting the committee vote on whether to vote to investigate "a conspiracy to muzzle military anti-Communist drives."{{cite news|title=Sen. Thurmond Ask Probe of Plot to Muzzle| publisher=Yuma Sun Newspaper|date=August 30, 1961}}

In late February 1963, the Senate Armed Services Committee was briefed by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara on policy in the Caribbean. Russell said afterward that he believed that American airmen would strike down foreign jets in international waters and only inquire on the aircraft's purpose there afterward.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=A7-hzOuI2KQC&dat=19630223&printsec=frontpage&hl=en|title=U.S. Maps Tougher Policy In Caribbean|publisher=Sarasota Herald Tribune}}

Image:Russell statue.jpg is in the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building.]]

From 1963 to 1964, Russell was one of the members of the Warren Commission, which was charged to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963. Originally Russell did not want to serve on the Warren Commission, telling President Lyndon B. Johnson that he didn't like or have confidence in Earl Warren who was to head the commission.{{cite web |title=Telephone conversation between President Johnson and Senator Richard Russell. |url=https://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/prestapes/lbj_rr_092963.html |publisher=American Public Media}}

Russell's personal papers indicated that he was troubled by the Commission's single-bullet theory, the Soviet Union's failure to provide greater detail regarding Lee Harvey Oswald's period in Russia, and the lack of information regarding Oswald's Cuba-related activities.{{cite news |author= |title=Senator Russell's papers show he disagreed with Warren report |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bhMwAAAAIBAJ&pg=3085%2C4917493 |newspaper=Rome News-Tribune |volume=150 |issue=246 |location=Rome, Georgia |agency=AP |page=6–A |date=October 17, 1993}}{{cite web|title=HSCA Report, Vol. 11|page=14|url=http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol11/pdf/HSCA_Vol11_WC_1_Operations.pdf}}

In a January 1970 television interview, Russell stated that he accepted Oswald shot Kennedy but that he doubted he had acted alone, explaining that "too many things caused me to doubt that he planned it all by himself".{{cite book |title=Investigation of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy Hearings Before the Select Committee on Assassinations of the U.S. House of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, Second Session · Volumes 10-12 |date=1978 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=205}} Russell had written a dissenting opinion for the Warren Commission that "a number of suspicious circumstances" could not allow him to agree that there was no conspiracy to kill Kennedy and that citing a lack of evidence he believed this "preclude[d] the conclusive determination that Oswald and Oswald alone, without the knowledge, encouragement or assistance of any other person, planned and perpetrated the assassination". With Russell's agreement this statement was not included in the final report.{{cite journal |last1=Wilkes |first1=Donald E. Jr. |title=Sen. Richard Russell and the Great American Murder Mystery |journal=Popular Media |date=2003 |volume=133 |url=https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/fac_pm/133}}

Russell was seen as a hero by many of the pro Jim Crow South. While undoubtedly a skilled politician of immense influence, his lifelong support of white supremacy has marred his legacy.{{cite news

|title=Republicans can't even agree to take a segregationist's name off a building

|first=Jennifer

|last=Rubin

|date=August 29, 2018

|newspaper=The Washington Post

|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2018/08/29/republicans-cant-even-agree-to-take-a-segregationists-name-off-a-building/}} Russell publicly said that America was "a white man's country, yes, and we are going to keep it that way." He also said he was vehemently opposed to "political and social equality with the Negro." Russell also supported poll taxes across the South and called President Truman's support of civil rights for black Americans an "uncalled-for attack on our Southern civilization."{{Cite web|last=Zeitz|first=Joshua|title=Why It's Time to Rename the Russell Office Building|url=https://politi.co/2zFkJSX|access-date=January 5, 2022|website=POLITICO Magazine|date=September 30, 2018 |language=en}}

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. In 2018, Democratic Senate minority leader Charles Schumer called for the renaming of the building with the name of recently deceased Republican Senator John McCain.
• The Richard B. Russell Special Collections Building at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, which houses the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, the Walter J. Brown Media Archives, and the Peabody Awards Collection.{{Cite web |title=Richard B. Russell Building, Special Collections Libraries {{!}} UGA Libraries |url=https://www.libs.uga.edu/russell-library/foundation/russell-library/richard-b-russell-special-collections-libraries-building |access-date=November 9, 2022 |website=www.libs.uga.edu}}
• Russell Hall, a co-ed dormitory for first-year students at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.{{Cite web |title=Russell Hall – University Housing |url=https://housing.uga.edu/russell-hall/ |access-date=November 9, 2022 |language=en-US}}
• Russell Hall, a building at the University of Georgia College of Public Health that houses nineteen classrooms within the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.{{Cite web |title=HSC Russell Hall {{!}} University Architects |url=https://www.architects.uga.edu/home/historic-preservation/hpmp-galleries/hsc-russell-hall |access-date=November 9, 2022 |website=www.architects.uga.edu}}
• The Russell Auditorium at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, Georgia.{{Cite web|url=http://www.gcsu.edu/facilities|title=Facilities|date=September 10, 2015|access-date=September 11, 2016|archive-date=September 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160906022008/http://www.gcsu.edu/facilities|url-status=dead}}
• Richard B. Russell Dam and Lake, part of the Richard B. Russell Multiple Resource Area, 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.{{cite web|url=http://gastateparks.org/info/richbruss/|website=gastateparks.org|title=Georgia State Parks – Richard B. Russell State Park |access-date=March 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630233540/http://www.gastateparks.org/info/richbruss/|archive-date=June 30, 2017|url-status=dead}}
• The Richard B. Russell Airport in Rome, Georgia, the regional general aviation airport serving Floyd County, Georgia.{{cite web | url = http://www.floydcountyga.org/Airport/about_air.htm | title = Richard B Russell Airport | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090504203253/http://www.floydcountyga.org/Airport/about_air.htm |archive-date=May 4, 2009 | url-status = dead}}
• Senator Russell's Sweet Potatoes are a favorite southern dish around the holidays.{{cite web|url=https://www.myfoodandfamily.com/member-recipe/00131155/senator-russells-sweet-potato-casserole|title=Senator Russell's Sweet Potato Casserole|website=My Food and Family}}{{cite web|url=http://lostrecipesfound.com/senator-russells-sweet-potatoes/|title=Senator Russell's Sweet Potato Casserole – Lost Recipes Found|website=Lost Recipes Found}}
• USS Richard B. Russell (SSN-687), a Sturgeon-class attack submarine.
• Richard B. Russell Highway, a part of the Russell–Brasstown Scenic Byway
• Richard B. Russell Parkway in Fort Valley, Georgia
• Richard B. Russell Middle School in Winder, Georgia

In 2020, former Georgia Board of Regents Chairman Sachin Shailendra and then Chancellor Steve Wrigley of the University System of Georgia tasked an advisory group to review the names of buildings and colleges across all campuses within the USG. Members of the advisory group consisted of Marion Fedrick, the tenth and current president of Albany State University in Albany, Georgia, Michael Patrick of Chick-fil-A, retired judge Herbert Phipps of the Georgia Court of Appeals, current chairman of the University of Georgia Foundation, Neal J. Quirk Sr., and Dr. Sally Wallace, the current dean of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies of Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia.{{Cite web |title=Advisory Group To Review Names Used On University System of Georgia Campuses {{!}} Communications {{!}} University System of Georgia |url=https://www.usg.edu/news/release/advisory_group_to_review_names_used_on_university_system_of_georgia_campuse |access-date=November 9, 2022 |website=University System of Georgia}}

Despite recommendations from the advisory group to rename all buildings associated with Russell, the Georgia Board of Regents did not move forward with any of the final recommendations from the advisory group's report.{{Cite web |title=Naming Advisory Group {{!}} University System of Georgia |url=https://www.usg.edu/naming_advisory_group |access-date=November 9, 2022 |website=University System of Georgia}}

{{reflist}}

• Logue, Calvin McLeod and Freshley, Dwight L., eds. (1997). Voice of Georgia: Speeches of Richard B. Russell, 1928–1969
• {{cite web|last1=Nixon|first1=Richard|title=Remarks Honoring the Late Senator Richard Brevard Russell in Atlanta, Georgia. January 23, 1971|url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fth&AN=32359559&site=eds-live&scope=site|publisher=American Reference Library – Primary Source Documents|access-date=June 21, 2016}}

{{external media | width = 210px | float = right | headerimage= | video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?30441-1/richard-b-russell-jr Booknotes interview with Gilbert Fite on Richard B. Russell Jr., Senator From Georgia, August 2, 1992] C-SPAN}}

• Barrett, David M. [https://doi.org/10.2307/2150900 "The Mythology Surrounding Lyndon Johnson, His Advisers, and the 1965 Decision to Escalate the Vietnam War."] Political Science Quarterly 103, no. 4 (1988): 637–63.
• Campbell, Charles E. (2013). Senator Richard B. Russell and my Career as a Trial Lawyer. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press)
• Caro, Robert A. (2002). The Years of Lyndon Johnson, vol 3: Master of the Senate
• Fite, Gilbert (2002). [https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=51073646 Richard B. Russell Jr., Senator from Georgia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080223225404/http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=51073646 |date=February 23, 2008}}
• Finley, Keith M. (2008). Delaying the Dream: Southern Senators and the Fight Against Civil Rights, 1938–1965 Baton Rouge: LSU Press {{ISBN|0807133450}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Franklin|first1=Sekou|title=The elasticity of anti-civil rights discourse: Albert Gore Sr., Richard Russell, and constituent relations in the 1950s and 1960s|journal=Social Identities|date=2014|volume=20|issue=1|page=90|doi=10.1080/13504630.2013.840574|s2cid=144032586}}
• Gay, James Thomas. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/40583600 "Richard B. Russell and the National School Lunch Program."] The Georgia Historical Quarterly 80, no. 4 (1996): 859–72.
• Goldsmith, John A. (1993). Colleagues: Richard B. Russell and His Apprentice, Lyndon B. Johnson.
• Grant, Philip A. Jr. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40579514 "Editorial Reaction to the 1952 Presidential Candidacy of Richard B. Russell."] Georgia Historical Quarterly 1973 57(2): 167–178.
• Mann, Robert (1996). The Walls of Jericho: Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Russell and the Struggle for Civil Rights.
• Mead, Howard N. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40580744 "Russell vs. Talmadge: Southern Politics and the New Deal."] Georgia Historical Quarterly 1981 65(1): 28–45.
• Potenziani, David. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/40580793 "Striking Back: Richard B. Russell and Racial Relocation."] The Georgia Historical Quarterly 65, no. 3 (1981): 263–77.
• [https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=106092311 Shelley II, Mack C. (1983). The Permanent Majority: The Conservative Coalition in the United States Congress] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604174516/http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=106092311 |date=June 4, 2009}}
• Stern, Mark. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/27550807 "Lyndon Johnson and Richard Russell: Institutions, Ambitions and Civil Rights."] Presidential Studies Quarterly 21, no. 4 (1991): 687–704.
• Ziemke, Caroline F. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40581768 "Senator Richard B. Russell and the 'Lost Cause' in Vietnam, 1954–1968,"] Georgia Historical Quarterly 1988 72(1): 30–71.
• {{bioguide}}

{{Biographical Directory of Congress|R000536}}

{{Commons category}}{{Biographical Directory of Congress|R000536}}

• [http://ngeorgia.com/ang/Richard_Brevard_Russell,_Jr. Richard Brevard Russell Jr. biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126011813/http://ngeorgia.com/ang/Richard_Brevard_Russell,_Jr. |date=January 26, 2013}}
• [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/bomb/large/documents/pdfs/8.pdf#zoom=100 Letter from Senator Russell to President Truman 7 August 1945 after Bombing of Hiroshima] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308053137/https://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/bomb/large/documents/pdfs/8.pdf#zoom=100 |date=March 8, 2018}}
• [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1391 The New Georgia Encyclopedia entry for Richard B. Russell Jr.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916094835/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1391 |date=September 16, 2012}}
• [http://www.libs.uga.edu/russell/ Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100528055539/http://www.uga.edu/housing/tour/russell.html Russell Community and Hall at UGA]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160207093149/http://www.gastateparks.org/info/richbruss/ Richard B. Russell State Park]
• {{Internet Archive film clip|id=gov.archives.arc.95749|description="Longines Chronoscope with Richard B. Russell"}}
• [http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/CollectionsA-Z/bball_search.html Legends of the Dead-Ball Era, 1909–1913: Childhood baseball card collection of Richard B. Russell Jr.] from the Digital Library of Georgia
• [http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/historical_markers/county/barrow/russell-house Russell House] historical marker
• {{C-SPAN|9254335}}

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{{s-ppo}}

{{s-bef|before=Lamartine Griffin Hardman}}

{{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Governor of Georgia|years=1930}}

{{s-aft|after=Eugene Talmadge}}

{{s-bef|before=William J. Harris}}

{{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Georgia
(Class 2)|years=1932, 1936, 1942, 1948, 1954, 1960, 1966}}

{{s-aft|after=Sam Nunn}}

{{s-off|us}}

{{succession box

|before= Lamartine G. Hardman

|title= Governor of Georgia

|years= 1931–1933

|after= Eugene Talmadge}}

{{succession box

| before= Millard Tydings
Maryland

|title=Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee

|years= 1951–1953

|after= Leverett Saltonstall
Massachusetts}}

{{succession box

| before= Leverett Saltonstall
Massachusetts

|title=Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee

|years= 1955–1969

|after= John C. Stennis
Mississippi}}

{{s-bef| rows = 2 | before = Carl T. Hayden
Arizona}}

{{s-ttl| title = President pro tempore of the United States Senate

| years = 1969–1971}}

{{s-aft| rows = 2 | after = Allen J. Ellender
Louisiana}}

{{s-ttl| title = Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee

| years = 1969–1971}}

{{s-par|us-sen}}

{{US Senator succession box

|state=Georgia

|class=2

|before = John S. Cohen

|years= 1933–1971

|after= David H. Gambrell

|alongside=Walter F. George, Herman Talmadge}}

{{s-hon}}

{{succession box

|title=Dean of the United States Senate

|years = January 3, 1969 – January 21, 1971

|before = Carl T. Hayden
Arizona

|after = Allen J. Ellender
Louisiana}}

{{s-end}}

{{United States senators from Georgia}}

{{USSenPresProTemp}}

{{US Senate Deans}}

{{Governors of Georgia}}

{{SenArmedServiceCommitteeChairs}}

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{{WarrenCommission}}

{{Speakers of the Georgia House of Representatives}}

{{United States presidential election, 1948}}

{{United States presidential election, 1952}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Richard}}

Category:1897 births

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