SC Governors – Donald Stuart Russell, 1963-1965

Biographical Overview

• Born: February 22, 1906 in Lafayette Springs, MS
  
• Died: February 22, 1998
• Buried:
• Religion: Methodist
  
• Political Party: Democrat
  

Education

• University of South Carolina - A.B. 1925, LL.B. 1928
  
• University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, MI
  

Occupations

• Major, United States Army
• Lawyer
• President of the University of South Carolina – 1951-1957
  

Major Events and Accomplishments, 1963–1965

• January 16, 1963 – Governor Russell's inaugural barbecue was the first integrated state function since Reconstruction.
  
• January 28, 1963 – Clemson College (now Clemson University) enrolled its first black student, Harvey Gantt.
  
• September 1963 – Former Governor Strom Thurmond announced his switch to the Republican Party.
  
• October 29,1964 – Greenville native Charles Townes won the Nobel Prize in Physics
  
• November 3, 1964 – The majority of South Carolina voters cast their ballots for Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election, making him the first Republican presidential candidate to carry the state since Reconstruction.
  
• April 22, 1965 – Governor Russell resigned from office to fill the vacancy in the US Senate caused by the death of Olin D. Johnston. He was succeeded by his Lieutenant Governor, Robert McNair.
  

Other Government Positions

• Deputy Director, Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion, 1945
  
• Assistant US Secretary of State, 1945-1947
  
• US Senate, 1965-1966
  
• US District Judge, 1967-1971
  
• US Circuit Judge, appointed 1971
  

Other Accomplishments, Honors, Distinctions

• At the time of his death, Judge Russell was presiding over a case between tobacco companies and the US Government - 1998
  

Web Resources

• Biographical information - US Congress
  
• Listing of records available at SC Archives and History Center
  

Election Results