Russell B. Long - Early Career

Early Career

Long was the son of the flamboyant Louisiana governor and Senator Huey P. Long and Rose McConnell Long, who served about a year in the Senate following her husband's death. When Russell Long was elected in November 1948, he became the only person in U.S. history to have been preceded in the Senate by both his father and his mother. The U.S. Constitution requires Senators to be at least 30 years old and Long barely met this requirement. He was elected to the Senate on November 2, 1948, one day before his 30th birthday. He did not take office, however, until December 31, giving him a few days of seniority over others in the Senate class of 1948, including Lyndon B. Johnson and Hubert Humphrey. 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.