VI. Political, 1932-1971

Extent:
216 box(es) (108.75 linear feet) and (104.75 linear feet)
Scope and content:

Unlike other series in the senatorial papers, Political not only spans the entire senate career of Russell but also carries over the gubernatorial office with the 1932 senatorial campaign and the early senate office procedures through Russell's office filing reorganization circa 1943. This is reflected in the subseries: Political General, County Files, Special Name, Out-of-State, Newspaper File, and Senatorial Campaigns. Significant reorganization of the files occured in 1951-1952 when Personal General evolved into Personal Political. A subject file separate of general correspondence was set up under this new heading and material was usually separated from correspondence.

The Political series is a rich source of documentation for studying political campaigns in the mid-twentieth century. Russell's first campaign for national office was in 1932 when he ran for the United States Senate to fill the unexpired term of U. S. Senator William J. Harris. After a tough campaign, Russell was victorious against Charles Crisp, a United States representative. Russell's only other contested election was in 1936, when he defeated then-Governor Eugene Talmadge. The campaign files cover Senator Russell's campaigns of 1932, 1936, 1942, 1948, 1954, 1960, and 1966.

In addition to the senatorial campaign files, the series contains files documenting Russell's unsuccessful 1952 race for United States president. The work of Senator Russell, his campaign staff, Democratic Party officials, and other individuals involved with this campaign at three of his campaign offices is documented in the files. The campaign files were generated from the Mayflower Hotel National Campaign Headquarters in Washington, D.C., the Conrad Hilton Convention Headquarters in Chicago, and Senator Russell's senate office. These files consist of correspondence, printed materials, speeches, press releases, newspaper clippings, radio and television transcripts, state delegate notebooks, mailing lists, financial papers, campaign contributions, campaign literature, and memorabilia. See also the 1952 scrapbooks, one of which is devoted especially to the campaign, and photographs.

The Special Name files contain information at a particular point in time on specific individuals. Such individuals include Lyndon B. Johnson, Eugene Talmadge, Charles Crisp, Herman E. Talmadge, Ralph McGill, Strom Thurmond, Orval Faubus, and Barry Goldwater, among others.

The other subseries mainly consist of general correspondence and materials. The County files reflect the support that Russell might expect within each county during an election year. The Out of State Political consists primarily of correspondence of a general political nature from individuals outside of Georgia.

Contents

Access and use restrictions

Parent restrictions:
Case mail, cross-reference copies, and military academies are closed. Additional files are restricted throughout the collection, as noted in the container listing.
Parent terms of access:
Before material from collections at the Richard B. Russell Library may be quoted in print, or otherwise reproduced, in whole or in part, in any publication, permission must be obtained from (1) the owner of the physical property, and (2) the holder of the copyright. It is the particular responsibility of the researcher to obtain both sets of permissions. Persons wishing to quote from materials in the Russell Library collection should consult the Director. Reproduction of any item must contain a complete citation to the original.