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Courtesy U.S. Senate Historical Office
LONG, Russell Billiu (1918-2003)
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Senate Years of Service: 1948-1987

LONG, RUSSELL BILLIU, (son of Huey Pierce Long and Rose McConnell Long, cousin of Gillis W., and nephew of George S. Long), a Senator from Louisiana; born in Shreveport, Caddo Parish, La., November 3, 1918; attended the public schools of Shreveport, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans, La.; graduated from Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge in 1941 and from its law school in 1942; admitted to the bar in 1942 and commenced practice in Baton Rouge, La., in 1946; during the Second World War served in the United States Naval Reserve from June 1942 until discharged as a lieutenant in December 1945; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate on November 2, 1948, to fill the vacancy in the term ending January 3, 1951, caused by the death of John H. Overton and took his seat December 31, 1948; reelected in 1950, 1956, 1962, 1968, 1974, and 1980 and served from December 31, 1948, to January 3, 1987; did not seek reelection in 1986; Democratic whip 1965-1969; chairman, Committee on Finance (Eighty-ninth through Ninety-sixth Congresses), co-chairman, Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation (Eighty-ninth Congress), chairman, Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation (Ninetieth through Ninety-fourth Congresses), Joint Committee on Taxation (Ninety-fifth and Ninety-sixth Congresses); practiced law in Washington, D.C., and Baton Rouge, La.; was a resident of Washington, D.C., at the time of his death on May 9, 2003; interment in Roselawn Memorial Park in Baton Rouge.

Broadcast Pioneers Library
University of Maryland Hornbake Library
College Park, MD
Papers: 27 audiotapes (1966-1975) in Westinghouse Broadcasting Company collection, 1945-1981.
Gerald R. Ford Library
Ann Arbor, MI
Papers: 1974-1977. Correspondence and briefing papers. Finding aid.
Lyndon Baines Johnson Library
Austin, TX
Oral History: February 22, 1977; June 20, 1977; July 26, 1978. 16 pages, 11 pages, and 7 pages, respectively.
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA
Papers: 1920-1986. 802 cubic feet. Correspondence, legislative files, committee files, federal agency files, special project files, political campaign files, press releases, speeches, audiotapes, motion picture film, videotapes, and photographs relating to Senate career and the work of his staff on national issues and Louisiana affairs. Also includes several thousand items relating to personal and political activities of Long family, particularly Huey Long. Major topics include tax reform, petroleum law and legislation, patents and government-developed inventions, flood control, inland water transportation, Louisiana politics and government, and employee stock options. Access restricted, contact repository. Finding aid.
Northwestern State University of Louisiana
Eugene P. Watson Memorial Library
Natchitoches, LA
Papers: Campaign items in A.A. Fredericks collection, 1914-1964, permission required; 3 letters (1952,1955, 1956) and 1 poster (1962) in Ernest S. Clements collection, 1918-1968; and 1 letter (1941) in Dormon collection, 1920s-1960s.
Sangamon State University
Springfield, IL
Papers: Correspondence in James Carson Worthy papers, 1961-1971. Finding aid.
State Historical Society of Wisconsin
Archives Division
Madison, WI
Papers: Correspondence in Wilbur J. Cohen papers, 1930-1987; and a recorded interview in the Gunnar Back broadcasts, 1930-1979.
University of Georgia
Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies
Athens, GA
Oral History: 1971. 15 pages. Limited to reminiscences of Russell.
University of Michigan
Bentley Historical Library
Ann Arbor, MI
Papers: Correspondence in Stella Brunt Osborn papers, 1916-1992; and Margaret Bayne Price papers, 1918-1969. Finding aid.

  • Finley, Keith M. "Balancing Liberal and Conservative Policy Preferences: Russell B. Long's Early United States Senate Career, 1948-1957." Louisiana History 45 (2004): 5-35.
  • Mann, Robert. Legacy to Power: Senator Russell Long of Louisiana. New York: Paragon House, 1992.
  • Martin, Michael Sterling. "Senator Russell B. Long of Louisiana: A Political Biography, 1948-1986." Ph.d. dissertation, University of Arkansas, 2003.
  • U.S. Congress. Senate. Tributes to the Honorable Russell B. Long in the United States Senate, Upon the Occasion of his Retirement from the Senate. 99th Cong., 2d sess., 1987. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1987.