Russell B. Long

Russell B. Long

Senator Long (left) in the Oval Office with President Johnson in January 1964

Russell Billiu Long (born November 3, 1918 in Shreveport , Caddo Parish , Louisiana , † May 9, 2003 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician and between 1948 and 1987 Senator for Louisiana in the United States Congress . He was a member of the Democratic Party and a Methodist .

Career

Russell Billiu Long, son of Huey Pierce Long and Rose McConnell Long , cousin of Gillis W. Long, and nephew of Earl and George S. Long , was born on November 3, 1918 in Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana. He attended public schools in Shreveport, Baton Rouge and New Orleans , Louisiana. He then graduated from Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge in 1941 and from their Law School in 1942. He was admitted to the bar that same year but did not begin practicing until 1946 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He previously served with the rank of lieutenant in the United States Naval Reserve from June 1942 until his release in December 1945 during World War II .

On November 2, 1948, he was elected as the Democratic Representative of Louisiana to the Federal Senate to fill the vacancy created by the death of John H. Overton . His term of office would have lasted until January 3, 1951. Long took his seat on December 31, 1948 and was then re-elected in 1950, 1956, 1962, 1968, 1974 and 1980, so that he served in office from December 31, 1948 to January 3, 1987. In 1986 he decided not to run again for re-election. During this time he was Democratic parliamentary group chairman from 1965 to 1969, chairman of the Committee on Finance (from the 89th to the 96th US Congress ), vice chairman of the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation (88th US Congress), chairman of the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation (from 90th to 94th US Congresses) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (from 95th to 96th US Congresses). In addition to his political office, he practiced as a lawyer in Washington, DC and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Furthermore, in 1956, like almost all senators from the southern states, he signed the so-called " Southern Manifesto " which condemned a court judgment in terms of racial equality.

At the time of his death on May 9, 2003, he was residing in Washington. He was buried in the Roselawn Memorial Park in Baton Rouge.

literature

• Michael S. Martin: Russell Long: A Life in Politics. University Press of Mississippi, Jackson 2014, ISBN 978-1-61703-974-4 .

Web links

Commons : Russell B. Long  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

• Russell B. Long in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Find a grave