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"R" is for Russell, Donald Stewart (1906-1998)

South Carolina From A to Z
SC Public Radio

"R" is for Russell, Donald Stewart (1906-1998). University President, governor, U.S. senator, jurist. Russell practiced law in Spartanburg with James F. Byrnes. As Byrnes’ protégé, he worked in the White House during World War II. In 1950 Russell was named president of the University of South Carolina where his administration is remembered as one of the most successful in the school’s history. In 1962 he was elected governor. When Senator Olin D. Johnston died in 1965, Russell resigned as governor and was appointed to the U.S. Senate until a special election could be held. He lost that election in 1966. In 1967 Donald Stewart Russell was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of South Carolina and in 1971 was elevated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.