Richard B. Russell Southern Nationalism and American Foreign Policy

Richard B. Russell, a Southern Democrat, was arguably the most influential senator for much of the 1950s and 1960s. The senior senator from Georgia used his positions of power to force an otherwise liberal internationalist foreign policy establishment to heed his non-interventionist, militarist, and Southern nationalist approaches to international crises, including the conflicts in Vietnam, Panama, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and the Congo. For better or for worse, Russell helped to encourage the nuclear arms race, protect and empower the CIA, enforse the Monroe Doctrine, and define the limits on American engagement in Vietnam. And while Russell mastered the powers of advice and consent enough to alter tactical Cold War decisions, his strategy of containment would never become mainstream. In this engaging new book, Jeff Woods reconsiders Russell's role as foreign policy maker during the Cold War. Making use of recently released presidential tape recordings and Soviet archival material, Woods offers new evidence and insights into this southern senator's influential career.

Jeff Woods is assistant professor of history at Arkansas Tech University.