Son of the chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, Richard Russell became involved in state politics soon after graduating from college. At the age of 31, he was the youngest person elected governor of Georgia. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1931 as the youngest member at that time. He was a strong supporter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's foreign and domestic policies. At the 1948 and 1952 Democratic national conventions, he was a major contender for the presidential nomination. Russell's stand against civil rights cost him any chance of such a nomination.