[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.''

                          ____________________