Charles H. Russell

Charles H. Russell
Russell c. 1951–1958
20th Governor of Nevada
In office
January 1, 1951 – January 5, 1959
LieutenantClifford A. Jones
Rex Bell
Preceded byVail Pittman
Succeeded byGrant Sawyer
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Nevada's at-large district
In office
January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949
Preceded byBerkeley L. Bunker
Succeeded byWalter S. Baring Jr.
Member of the Nevada Senate
In office
1941–1946
Personal details
BornCharles Hinton Russell
(1903-12-27)December 27, 1903
Lovelock, Nevada, U.S.
DiedSeptember 13, 1989(1989-09-13) (aged 85)
Carson City, Nevada, U.S.
Resting placeDayton Cemetery
Dayton, Nevada, U.S.
PartyRepublican
SpouseMarjorie Ann Guild
ProfessionPolitician

Charles Hinton Russell (December 27, 1903 – September 13, 1989) was an American politician who served as the 20th governor of Nevada. He was a member of the Republican Party.

Biography

Russell was born on December 27, 1903, in Lovelock, Nevada.[1][2] He graduated from the University of Nevada in 1926. He taught school in Ruby Valley for one term and then went to Ruth to work for the copper company. He was the editor of the Ely Record for seventeen years, beginning in 1929.[3][4]

Political career

Russell in 1954, the same year he was reelected as Governor.

Russell was a member of the Nevada state House from 1935 to 1941 and the state Senate from 1941 to 1946. After that, he was elected as a Republican to the Eightieth Congress, succeeding Democrat Berkeley L. Bunker, who ran unsuccessfully for the U. S. Senate. Apart from the perpetual Nevada issue of the monetization of silver, the fight, sort of, was over Labor. Russell's primary opponent was very anti-Labor, but the general election candidates both tried to straddle the issue. Between mining and the growing tourist industry, the state had a significant Labor constituency in opposition to the conservatism of its ranching substratum. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1948 to the Eighty-first Congress, narrowly losing to Reno City Councilman Walter S. Baring in large part because he voted for the Taft-Hartley Act.[5] Russell was elected Nevada Governor in 1951 and signed into law SB79, which made Nevada into a right-to-work state.[6] He left office in 1959.

Death

Russell died on September 13, 1989, in Carson City, Nevada, at the age of 85. He is interred at the Dayton Cemetery in Dayton, Nevada.[7]

References

  1. ↑ University of Nevada Oral History Program (1967). Charles H. Russell: Reminiscences of a Nevada Congressman, Governor, and Legislator. University of Nevada Oral History Program.
  2. ↑ Neuffer, Scott. "Nevada's Russell family reuniting in Carson City". www.nevadaappeal.com. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
  3. ↑ Myles, Myrtle (1972). Nevada's governors: From territorial days to the present, 1861–1971. Sparks, NV: Western Printing & Publishing Co. p. 310. ISBN 978-9-9905-5181-5.
  4. ↑ "Charles Russell; Former Nevada Governor, Congressman". Los Angeles Times. September 15, 1989. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
  5. ↑ Kemple, Arlon (2026). Had Enough? The Congressional Class of 1946, the Continuity of Policy, and the Transience of Public Office. p. 119, 291.
  6. ↑ Litchfield, Larry "A Fight from the Beginning: Nevada's Right to Work Law" Archived February 27, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Nevada Journal
  7. ↑ "Charles H. Russell". Reno Gazette-Journal. Carson City. September 15, 1989. p. 31. Retrieved June 14, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
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