Donald S. Russell

Donald Stuart Russell ( born February 22, 1906 in Lafayette Springs, Lafayette County, Mississippi; † 22 February 1998 in Spartanburg, South Carolina ) was an American politician (Democratic Party) and 1963-1965 Governor of South Carolina. This state he represented also in the U.S. Senate.

Early years and political rise

After primary school, Donald Russell studied at the University of Michigan and the University of South Carolina. After qualifying as a lawyer in 1928, he settled in Spartanburg as a lawyer and practiced down there 1930-1942 this year., He went to Washington DC and was employed by the War Department. From 1944 to 1945 he was a Major on the staff of the Allied Headquarters in Europe.

In 1945 he was appointed by his friend James F. Byrnes, the former U.S. Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Administrative Affairs ( Assistant Secretary of State for Administration) in the Ministry. He remained in this position until 1947. At the time he was also a member of a commission that reformed the organization of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Between 1951 and 1957 he was president of the University of South Carolina. Then he practiced until 1962 again as a lawyer. A first candidacy for the governorship in 1958 failed in the primaries.

Governor of South Carolina

Donald Russell competed again in 1962 for the office of governor and received this time the support of his party. The elections of 6 November 1962, he won unopposed. He took up his new post on 15 January 1963. During his tenure, the first African American at Clemson College was approved. Also at the University of South Carolina, the first black students were enrolled. It was the time of the civil rights movement and the struggle for the completion of segregation, not only in South Carolina, but in all the southern states of the USA.

U.S. Senator and Judge

On April 22, 1965 Russell resigned from his post to take over the seat of the late Olin D. Johnston in the U.S. Senate. For the following election in 1966, he was not nominated; he lost the Democratic primary against Fritz Hollings. From 1967 to 1971 he was a judge at the Federal District Court for the Western District of South Carolina, before he was appointed by President Richard Nixon as the successor of Simon Sobeloff a judge of the Federal Court of Appeal for the Fourth District Court in 1971. This office he held until his death in 1998; He died on his 92nd birthday. Donald Russell was married to Virginia Utsey, with whom he had four children.