[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 22 (Friday, February 23, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1302-S1303]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CHARLES CAMPBELL'S SPEECH IN HONOR OF SENATOR RICHARD B. RUSSELL
Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, on January 24, 1996, I joined many of
our colleagues in honoring the late Senator Richard Brevard Russell of
Georgia. Almost 25 years after the death of Senator Russell, hundreds
of Russell family members, friends, and former colleagues dedicated a
7-foot marble statue of Senator Russell in the rotunda of the Senate
Office Building which bears his name.
In the near future, our distinguished colleague, the Honorable Robert
C. Byrd, will insert a transcript of the ceremony into the
Congressional Record. Today, I want to share with the Senate excerpts
from a speech delivered last fall at the Governor's Mansion in Atlanta
by Mr. Charles E. Campbell, president of the Richard B. Russell
Foundation in Atlanta. I am grateful to Mr. William Jordan, my friend
and a former senior staff assistant to Senator Russell, for making this
text available to me.
Mr. President, I ask that excerpts of Mr. Campbell's speech be
printed in the Record so that it may be part of the historical record
of Senator Russell's distinguished career in public service.
The material follows:
Remarks by Charles E. Campbell at the Russell Statue Luncheon, October
23, 1995
Thank you, Governor Miller. First, I would like to express
the appreciation of the Russell foundation to Governor Miller
and Senator Nunn for hosting this luncheon today. Zell Miller
and Sam Nunn have long been friends of Richard Russell and of
the Russell Foundation.
I had the privilege of working for the last 6 years of
Senator Russell's life as a member of his staff in
Washington. Today, I have the honor to serve as Chairman of
the Richard Russell Foundation. The Russell Foundation is a
non-profit corporation established by admirers of Senator
Russell in Georgia. It supports numerous activities related
to the preservation of the Senator's memory, his records and
discussion of public policy questions in which Senator
Russell had a particular interest.
Next January will mark the 25th anniversary of Richard
Russell's death. At that time, we will have an opportunity to
participate in an event that will not only bring great credit
to Senator Russell but to our State as well. I refer to the
dedication of the Richard B. Russell Statue. The Russell
Statue is a 7-foot marble statue that will be placed in the
Rotunda area of the Russell Senate Office Building. The
Russell Senate Office Building is the oldest and most
prestigious of the three senate office buildings in
Washington. In 1972--the year after Senator Russell died--the
Congress, through joint resolution, renamed what had been
known as the ``Old Senate Office Building'' as the ``Richard
B. Russell Senate Office Building.'' The Russell Senate
Office Building is one of the most important buildings in our
Nation's Capitol. It was there that such momentous events in
the history of our country took place as the hearings to
inquire into President Truman's dismissal of General Douglas
McArthur during the Korean War (hearings which Senator
Russell chaired incidentally), the announcement of John F.
Kennedy's presidential campaign, the Senate Watergate
hearings (of which Senator Talmadge was such an important
part), and, more recently, the Clarence Thomas confirmation
hearings.
The dedication of the Russell Statue at 4 p.m. on January
24, 1996 will focus on three distinct aspects of Senator
Russell's Senate career: (1) Richard B. Russell--A
President's Senator; (2) Richard B. Russell--A Senator's
Senator and (3) Richard B. Russell--Georgia's Senator.
The President of the United States has been invited to
speak on the first topic and, while he has made no final
commitment, the initial indications are positive for his
participation. Senator Robert Byrd, the former Majority
Leader of the Senate, and Senator Robert Dole, the present
Majority Leader of the Senate, have both agreed to speak on
Richard B. Russell--a Senator's Senator. Our Governor will
speak on the topic of ``Richard B. Russell--Georgia's
Senator.'' Senator Sam Nunn will serve as Master of
Ceremonies.
Many of you in this room knew Richard Russell personally
and many others of you know him by reputation. His career was
one of the most outstanding in our Nation's history. He
served 50 continuous years in public office. he served 10
years in the Georgia House of Representatives, including the
last 4 as Speaker. He became Speaker of the Georgia House in
1926 before he was even 30 years of age. He became Georgia's
youngest Governor in 1930 at age 32 during the depths of the
great depression. The administration of Governor Russell was
one of decisive change in our State--he cut the number of
State agencies from 102 to 17 and cut the cost of Government
by 20 percent. At the same time, there were numerous
progressive achievements of the Russell administration
including the creation of a unified system of higher
education under a Board of Regents insulated from politics.
That system survives today.
When a Senate seat became vacant in 1932, Governor Russell
ran successfully and took office at the age of 34 on January
12, 1933. He was the Nation's youngest Senator.
Richard Russell served 38 years in the U.S. Senate,
becoming the first person in the history of the United States
to serve over half their life in the Senate. During this
time, from 1933 through 1970--he never missed a single
opening session of Congress. You might call him the Cal
Ripken of the Senate.
Senator Russell's Senate career was perhaps unique in the
history of our Country. No Senator, at least in modern times,
has amassed the power and influence that Richard Russell
enjoyed both in the Senate itself and at the White House.
When we refer to Richard Russell as a ``President's
Senator'' we are referring to the fact that he enjoyed an
extremely close relationship with every American President
from Franklin Roosevelt through Richard Nixon and was a
confidential advisor of every one of them.
Four of the Presidents with whom Senator Russell served--
Harry Truman, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard
Nixon--had previously served in the Senate where Richard
Russell was the preeminent Senator. He knew them all well and
they all knew before they arrived at the White House that
Richard Russell was the foremost congressional authority on
national security and a Senator who was good to his word in
all matters. The other two Presidents--Franklin Roosevelt and
Dwight Eisenhower--also had extensive prior relationships
with Senator Russell. Franklin Roosevelt and Richard Russell
became friends as young men when they were both serving as
Governor of their States--Franklin Roosevelt in New York and
Richard Russell here in Georgia.
In fact, at the 1932 Democratic National Convention,
Richard Russell made a nominating speech for Franklin
Roosevelt in the first of Roosevelt's four successful
campaigns for the White House. Even though he was a new
Senator at the time, Richard Russell had a significant
leadership role in the Senate in passing New Deal farm
legislation that created the Farmer's Home Administration,
established farm price supports and soil conservation
protection measures. During this time, he authored the
National School Lunch Program.
Senator Russell, as a result of his position of influence
on the Senate Armed Services Committee, dealt extensively
with Dwight Eisenhower when General Eisenhower was the
Supreme Allied Commander in World War II. They had become
close friends before 1952 when General Eisenhower was elected
President. Their friendship continued and grew during the
Eisenhower Presidency.
One characteristic that was dominant in Senator Russell's
relationship not only with Presidents but with everyone else
was his staunch independence. No matter how close a friend he
was of a President nor how much political pressure was
brought to bear on him, he steadfastly refused to support any
measure in which he did not personally believe. Probably the
two Presidents who were the closest personally to Richard
Russell were Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. However,
in both instances, Richard
[[Page S1303]]
Russell could not support important legislative matters pursued by
them. He was one of four Senators to provide the decisive
votes against President Roosevelt's efforts to pack the
Supreme Court after it declared several of the New Deal
programs unconstitutional. His independence also caused
strains in his relationship with Lyndon Johnson 30 years
later when he opposed certain provisions in the President's
civil rights legislation, the social programs of the ``Great
Society'' and the way in which the War in Vietnam was
conducted.
In all things, Richard Russell remained true to his view of
what was best for the Country.
If Senator Russell's friendship with Presidents was
unusual, his standing in the Senate itself was perhaps
unique. His power was such that he could have become Majority
Leader or Minority Leader on any number of occasions.
However, he declined because of his desire to maintain
independence of thought and voting, making it impossible
for him to agree in advance to support the program of any
administration. Instead of becoming Majority or Minority
Leader of the Senate, he largely selected several such
leaders and became the Senate's mentor. Senators of both
parties, of all political persuasions and from all parts
of the country turned to Richard Russell more than anyone
else for guidance and for help in the discharge of their
Senate duties. They knew he was a man of integrity,
independence and good faith.
Richard Russell was, in deed, a Senator's Senator.
He was also Georgia's Senator. Many times, it seems that
one who achieves the position of national prominence and
power as did Richard Russell, forgets his or her home state
constituents because of the press of what are viewed as more
important duties. Such was not the case with Richard Russell.
Up until the very end, he considered among his most important
duties that of faithfully representing the people of Georgia
in Washington. He was fond of saying ``I have been elected to
represent and work for Georgia's interest in Washington and
not Washington's interest in Georgia.''
Georgians have benefited immensely and continue to benefit
from Richard Russell's public service career. Benefits
directly traceable to his representation of Georgia in the
Senate include Lockheed--Georgia as a prime military
contractor and a principal employer in this State, the
National Communicable Disease Center here in Atlanta, the
Richard Russell Federal Building that houses our federal
court system, the numerous Corps of Engineers lake
developments on Georgia's rivers, and too many outstanding
military bases to even mention.
I relate two brief stories to illustrate the importance
serving Georgia had to Richard Russell up until the very end.
Several years before he died, Senator Russell became the
President Pro Tempore of the Senate--which is in some ways
roughly equivalent to the Speaker of the House of
Representatives. As President Pro Tempore, he was the titular
head of the Senate and third in line of succession to the
Presidency. A part of the job as President Pro Tempore was to
make appointments to various national commissions or boards
where the President had an appointment, the Speaker of the
House had an appointment and the President Pro Tempore of the
Senate had an appointment.
After routinely approving recommended appointments for a
couple of weeks, Senator Russell called me into his office
one day and had on his desk a proposed appointment to a
national commission. He asked me: ``Isn't there anyone in
Georgia qualified for any of these positions?'' We got to
looking around and found out that the particular appointment
in question was in a discipline in which a professor at
Georgia State University here in Atlanta was a nationally
recognized expert. Senator Russell deleted the name of the
recommended appointee and inserted the Georgia State
professor instead. Amazingly, thereafter the names of
qualified Georgians started appearing with greater frequency
on the lists.
A second true story I would relate involves Senator
Russell's decision regarding activities relating to his
death. Before he died, he specified that his body was to be
returned to Georgia immediately upon his death. This is
because he wanted his body to lie in State at Georgia's
Capitol here in Atlanta as opposed to in Washington. It is
ironic that when the President's Senator and the Senator's
Senator died, there were only three official activities
marking his death in Washington: (1) The President of the
United States ordered American flags to half staff; (2) the
President paused in his State of the Union Address for a
moment of silent prayer and (3) the hearse carrying Senator
Russells' body was viewed by the entire Senate standing on
the Capitol steps on its way to Andrews Air Force Base to be
returned via Air Force One to Georgia.
Richard Russell, was, in deed, Georgia's Senator. The
inscription selected by the Russell Foundation to be placed
on the Russell Statue will read simply as follows:
``Richard B. Russell, Jr.--Senator from Georgia--1933-
1971.''
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