Russell B. Long

Russell Billiu Long (November 3, 1918 – May 9, 2003) was an American Democratic politician and United States Senator from Louisiana from 1948 until 1987, and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee for fifteen years from 1966 to 1981.

Early life

The son of future Louisiana governor and US senator Huey Long and his wife Rose McConnell Long, also a future US senator, Long was born in Shreveport, and received bachelor's and law degrees from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Zeta Zeta chapter). During college, he served as freshman class president, sophomore Arts and Sciences President, and then student body president. In June 1942, World War II, Long entered the naval reserve and completed his service as a Lieutenant in December 1945.

Early Senate career

Before he ran for the Senate, Long had served as executive counsel to his uncle, Earl Kemp Long, who returned to the governorship in 1948. Long's first and only elected position was in the U.S. Senate. Elected to the Senate on November 2, 1948, he became the only person in U.S. history to be preceded in that institution by both his father and his mother. He was elected one day before his 30th birthday, and took office on December 31, thus barely meeting the Constitutional requirement that all Senators be at least 30 years old upon taking office. Because he had filled a vacancy, he gained a few days of seniority over others in the Senate class of 1948, including Lyndon B. Johnson and Hubert Humphrey, whose terms began January 3, 1949.