Though he was a well-liked state representative for Clarke County and a successful solicitor general for a seven-county circuit, he fared poorly in multiple attempts to become U.S.

Due to the family's loss of their ancestral plantation and mill during Sherman's March, Russell spent much time studying Civil War history.

[14] 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.

[17] 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 would become a popular Paul Muni film in November 1932.

His opponent in the primary was Representative Charles Crisp, who was nicknamed "Kilowatt Charlie" due to his links to the unpopular Georgia Power Company.

[16] The number of 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.

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".

[22] 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.

[26] 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.

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.

[16] Russell strongly condemned President Truman's pro-desegregation stance and wrote that he was "sick at heart" over it, but unlike most Southern Democrats such as Strom Thurmond, he did not walk out of the convention and support the Dixiecrats.

[27] 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".

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.

[29] 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.

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.

[27] 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.

"[30] 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.

[33] Russell was considered to be moderate in his support for segregation;[22] in 1936, he often attacked race-baiting, such as the claim that New Deal legislation would mostly benefit black people.

David Greenburg wrote that when Russell "decided in early July to oppose Fortas, he brought most of his fellow Dixiecrats with him.

"[35] 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.

"[37] In late February 1963, the Senate Armed Services Committee was briefed by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara on policy in the Caribbean.