Charles Edward Russell was a prominent intellectual and political figure in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

A well-known American radical, he authored numerous books on the US economy, workers' conditions, social issues, and other topics.

Before 1917, he was an active member of the American socialist movement, but when the US entered World War I in 1917, he shifted to support the war effort, unlike many other radicals who opposed it.

In the summer of 1917, when President Woodrow Wilson was assembling a special delegation to Russia, he included Russell to represent radical views at a time when the Russian Provisional Government was becoming increasingly socialist.