Donald Stuart Russell (February, 22, 1906 - February, 22, 1998) was a 20th-Century American from South Carolina who served as Assistant Secretary of State for Administration (1945-1947), president of the University of South Carolina (1952-1957)Governor (1963-1965), and U.S. Senator (1965- 1966).
Video Donald S. Russell
Background
Donald Stuart Russell was born on February 22, 1906, in Lafayette Springs, Lafayette County, Mississippi. In 1906, his father died. In 1914, his mother Lula Russell Moore McGuinn moved the family to Chester, South Carolina. In 1925, he obtained a BA and in 1928 a LLB law degree from the University of South Carolina at Columbia. In 1928, he also passed the bar in South Carolina. In 1929, he studied law at the graduate level at the University of Michigan.
Maps Donald S. Russell
Career
In 1930, Russell began his career by practicing law, first in Union, South Carolina to 1930, and then in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where he continued through 1942 in the firm of Nichols, Wyche and Byrnes.
In 1942, he joined the U.S. Department of War. In 1942, he served for a year as assistant to the Director of Economic Stabilization. In 1944, he served as a major in the United States Army. In 1945, he became deputy director in the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion.
In 1947, Russell began service as Assistant Secretary of State for Administration. He was a protégé of former Secretary of State James F. Byrnes. During that time, he became involved in the case of "Mr. Blank" and nine other State Department officials, dismissed for unspecified charges related to loyalty. The case became a sensation when journalist Bert Andrews obtained a secret transcript of Mr. Blank's case and published a series of articles in the New York Herald-Tribune starting on November 2, 1947.
In 1947-1948, Russell returned to private law practice in Spartanburg through to 1951.
In 1951-1952, Russell served as president of the University of South Carolina through to 1957.
In 1957, he returned to private practice through 1963.
In 1958, he ran unsuccessfully for governor of South Carolina. He lost the Democratic primary to Ernest F."Fritz" Hollings.
In 1963, Russell served as the 107th Governor of South Carolina until 1965. Major events during his governorship include:
- January 28, 1963 - Clemson University enrolled first-ever African-American student, Harvey Gantt
- September 1963 - Former Governor Strom Thurmond announced move to the Republican Party
- October 29,1964 - Greenville native Charles Townes won Nobel Prize in Physics
- November 3, 1964 - Majority of South Carolina voters supported Barry Goldwater (first Republican presidential candidate to carry the state since Reconstruction)
On April 22, 1965, Russell resigned as governor, after which new governor Robert E. McNair appointed him to fill the seat vacated by the death of Olin D. Johnston as Democratic Senator, through 1966. In the Democratic primary for the special election in 1966 to fill the remainder of Johnston's term, Russell again lost to Fritz Hollings. McNair, however, won a gubernatorial term of his own in 1966 by defeating the Republican Joseph O. Rogers, Jr., while Hollings won election to the rest of Johnston's Senate term by defeating Republican Marshall Parker.
On October 11, 1966, after his short Senate tenure ended, Russell was appointed U.S. District Judge for the District of South Carolina by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson to fill the vacancy created by the death of Russell's former law partner, Charles Cecil Wyche. On October 20, 1966, he received confirmation from the U.S. Senate. On November 3, 1971, he ended his service due to appointment as on May 1, 1971, by U.S. President Richard Nixon as judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, where he served until his death, on his 92nd birthday in 1998.
Personal and death
Russell was a Methodist.
Russell married Virginia Utsey; they had four children.
Russell's most notable political/professional relationship was with Byrnes:
Russell's relationship with Byrnes became very important over the following years, particularly as Byrnes took on increasingly prominent positions in the Roosevelt administration. Russell went to Washington as Byrnes' assistant when Byrnes was appointed director of the Office of Economic Stabilization in October 1942. In May 1943, Russell followed Byrnes to the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion, which Byrnes had been appointed to direct. In October 1944 Russell went on active duty serving at the Army's Supreme Allied Headquarters in Europe. Major Russell was discharged later that year. In early 1945, Russell served as Deputy Director of the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion, then as Assistant Secretary of State for Administration, under Byrnes, from August 1945 to January 1947. Russell implemented plans for the reorganization of the Foreign Service and developed the first series of continual regional foreign policy statements, which was later to become standard practice. Russell's interest in the foreign service later led to his involvement on several federal committees. As the assistant to Byrnes, Russell was at Potsdam with President Harry Truman and Byrnes and took part in the decision to drop the first atomic bomb. Byrnes and Russell left the administration shortly after the war ended and joined Hogan & Hartson, a Washington, D.C., law firm.
Russell died on his 92nd birthday, February 22, 1998.
Legacy
His Spartanburg home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
References
Sources
- "Donald Stuart Russell". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Donald Stuart Russell at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
External links
- Donald S. Russell - South Carolina Political Collections. University of South Carolina Archives. Article retrieved March 10, 2006.
- SCIway Biography of Donald Stuart Russell
- NGA Biography of Donald Stuart Russell
- Donald S. Russell at Find a Grave
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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