Adlai Stevenson II
Adlai Stevenson II | |
---|---|
United States Ambassador to the United Nations | |
In office January 23, 1961 – July 14, 1965 | |
President | |
Preceded by | James Jeremiah Wadsworth |
Succeeded by | Arthur Goldberg |
31st Governor of Illinois | |
In office January 10, 1949 – January 12, 1953 | |
Lieutenant | Sherwood Dixon |
Preceded by | Dwight H. Green |
Succeeded by | William Stratton |
Personal details | |
Born | Adlai Ewing Stevenson II February 5, 1900 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Died | July 14, 1965 London, England | (aged 65)
Resting place | Evergreen Cemetery |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse |
Ellen Borden
(m. 1928; div. 1949) |
Children | 3, including Seaman second class |
Adlai Ewing Stevenson II (
Raised in
In 1948, he was elected governor of Illinois, defeating incumbent governor Dwight H. Green in an upset. As governor, Stevenson reformed the state police, cracked down on illegal gambling, improved the state highways, and attempted to cleanse the state government of corruption. Stevenson also sought, with mixed success, to reform the Illinois state constitution and introduced several crime bills in the state legislature.
In the 1952 and 1956 presidential elections, he was chosen as the Democratic nominee for president, but was defeated in a landslide by Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower both times. In 1960, he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination for a third time at the Democratic National Convention. After President John F. Kennedy was elected, he appointed Stevenson as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Two major events Stevenson dealt with during his time as UN ambassador were the Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba in April 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. He was still serving as UN ambassador when he suffered a heart attack during a visit to London on July 14, 1965, later dying that day at the age of 65. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in his hometown of Bloomington, Illinois.
Early life and education
Adlai Ewing Stevenson II
Stevenson was raised in the city of Bloomington, Illinois; his family was a member of Bloomington's upper class and lived in one of the city's well-to-do neighborhoods. On December 30, 1912, at the age of twelve, Stevenson accidentally killed Ruth Merwin, a 16-year-old friend, while demonstrating drill technique with a rifle, inadvertently left loaded, during a party at the Stevenson home.[7] Stevenson was devastated by the accident and rarely mentioned or discussed it as an adult, even with his wife and children.[8] However, in 1955 Stevenson heard about a woman whose son had experienced a similar tragedy. He wrote to her that she should tell her son that "he must now live for two", which Stevenson's friends took to be a reference to the shooting incident.[9]
Stevenson left Bloomington High School after his junior year and attended
He attended
A year after leaving Harvard, Stevenson became interested in the law again after talking to Supreme Court Justice
Family
On December 1, 1928, Stevenson married Ellen Borden, a well-to-do socialite. The young couple soon became popular and familiar figures on the Chicago social scene; they especially enjoyed attending and hosting costume parties.[19] They had three sons: Adlai Stevenson III, who would become a U.S. Senator; Borden Stevenson, and John Fell Stevenson. In 1935, Adlai and Ellen purchased a 70-acre (28 ha) tract of land along the Des Plaines River near Libertyville, Illinois, a wealthy suburb of Chicago. They built a home on the property and it served as Stevenson's official residence for the rest of his life. Although he spent relatively little time there due to his career, Stevenson did consider the estate to be his home, and in the 1950s, he was often called "The Man from Libertyville" by the national news media. Stevenson also purchased a farm in northwestern Illinois, just outside Galena, where he frequently rode horses and kept some cattle.
On December 12, 1949, Adlai and Ellen were divorced; their son Adlai III later recalled that "There hadn't been a good relationship for a long time. I remember her [Ellen] as the unreasonable one, not only with Dad, but with us and the servants. I was embarrassed by her peremptory way with servants."
Religion
Stevenson belonged to the Unitarian faith, and was a longtime member of Bloomington's Unitarian church.[25] However, he also occasionally attended Presbyterian services in Libertyville, where a Unitarian church was not present, and as governor he became close friends with the Rev. Richard Graebel, the pastor of Springfield's First Presbyterian church.[26] Graebel "acknowledged that Stevenson's Unitarian rearing had imbued him with the means of translating religious and ethical values into civic issues".[26] According to one historian, "religion never disappeared entirely from his public messages – it was indeed part of his appeal".[26]
Early career
In July 1933, Stevenson took a job opportunity as special attorney and assistant to
In 1935, Stevenson returned to Chicago to practice law. He became involved in civic activities, particularly as chairman of the Chicago branch of the
In 1940, Major Frank Knox, newly appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as Secretary of the Navy, offered Stevenson a position as Principal Attorney and special assistant. Stevenson accepted the position and in this capacity wrote speeches, represented Secretary Knox and the Navy on committees, toured the various theaters of war, and handled many administrative duties. Since Knox was largely a figurehead, there were few major roles for Stevenson. However, in early 1944 he joined a mission to Sicily and Italy for the Foreign Economic Administration to report on the country's economy. After Knox died in April 1944, Stevenson returned to Chicago where he attempted to purchase Knox's controlling interest in the Chicago Daily News, but his syndicate was outbid by another party.[30]
In 1945, Stevenson took a temporary position in the
Governor of Illinois, 1949 to 1953
In 1948, Stevenson was chosen by Jacob Arvey, leader of the powerful Chicago Democratic political organization, to be the Democratic candidate in the Illinois gubernatorial race against the incumbent Republican, Dwight H. Green.[32] In an upset, Stevenson defeated Green by 572,067 votes, a record margin in Illinois gubernatorial elections.[33] President Truman carried Illinois by only 33,612 votes against his Republican opponent, Thomas E. Dewey, leading a biographer to write that "Clearly, Adlai had carried the President in with him."[33] Paul Douglas, a University of Chicago professor of economics, was elected senator on the same ticket.[34]
Principal among Stevenson's achievements as Illinois governor were reforming the state police by removing political considerations from hiring practices and instituting a merit system for employment and promotion, cracking down on illegal gambling, and improving the state highways.[35] He sought, with mixed success, to cleanse the Illinois state government of corruption; in one instance he fired the warden of the state penitentiary for overcrowding, political corruption, and incompetence that had left the prisoners on the verge of revolt, and in another instance Stevenson fired the superintendent of an institution for alcoholics when he learned that the superintendent, after receiving bribes from local tavern owners, was allowing the patients to buy drinks at local bars.[36] Two of Stevenson's major initiatives as governor were a proposal to create a constitutional convention (called "con-con") to reform and improve the Illinois state constitution, and several crime bills that would have provided new resources and methods to fight criminal activities in Illinois.[37] Most of the crime bills and con-con failed to pass the state legislature, much to Stevenson's chagrin. However, Stevenson agreed to support a Republican alternative to con-con called "Gateway", it passed the legislature and was approved by Illinois voters in a 1950 referendum.[38] Stevenson's push for an improved state constitution "began the process of constitutional change...and in 1969, four years after his death, the goal was achieved. It was perhaps his most important achievement as governor."[38] The new constitution had the effect of removing the structural limitations on the growth of government in the state.
Stevenson's governorship coincided with the
Stevenson proved to be a popular public speaker and gained a national reputation as an intellectual, with a self-deprecating sense of humor to match. One example came when the Illinois legislature passed a bill (supported by bird lovers) declaring that cats roaming unescorted was a public nuisance. Stevenson vetoed the bill and sent this public message regarding the veto: "It is in the nature of cats to do a certain amount of unescorted roaming... the problem of cat versus bird is as old as time. If we attempt to solve it by legislation who knows but what we may be called upon to take sides as well in the age old problem of dog versus cat, bird versus bird, or even bird versus worm. In my opinion, the State of Illinois and its local governing bodies already have enough to do without trying to control feline delinquency. For these reasons, and not because I love birds the less or cats the more, I veto and withhold my approval from Senate Bill No. 93."[41]
On June 2, 1949, Stevenson privately gave a sworn deposition as a character witness for
1952 presidential bid
Early in 1952, while Stevenson was still governor of Illinois, President
At the convention, Stevenson, as governor of the host state, was assigned to give the welcoming address to the delegates. His speech was so stirring and witty that it invigorated efforts to secure the nomination for him, in spite of his continued protests that he was not a presidential candidate. In his welcoming speech he poked fun at the 1952 Republican National Convention, which had been held in Chicago in the same coliseum two weeks earlier. Stevenson described the achievements of the Democratic Party under Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, but noted "our Republican friends have said it was all a miserable failure. For almost a week pompous phrases marched over this landscape in search of an idea, and the only idea that they found was that the two great decades of progress...were the misbegotten spawn of bungling, of corruption, of socialism, of mismanagement, of waste and worse...after listening to this everlasting procession of epithets about our [party's] misdeeds I was even surprised the next morning when the mail was delivered on time. But we Democrats were by no means the only victims here. First they [Republicans] slaughtered each other, and then they went after us...perhaps the proximity of the stockyards accounts for the carnage."[48]
Following this speech, the Illinois delegation (led by Jacob Arvey) announced that they would place Stevenson's name in nomination, and Stevenson called President Truman to ask if "he would be embarrassed" if Stevenson formally announced his candidacy for the nomination. Truman told Stevenson "I have been trying since January to get you to say that. Why should it embarrass me?"[49] Kefauver led on the first ballot, but was well below the vote total he needed to win. Stevenson gradually gained strength until he was nominated on the third ballot.[49] The 1952 Democratic National Convention was the last political convention of either major party to require more than one ballot to nominate a presidential candidate.[50]
Historian John Frederick Martin says party leaders selected Stevenson because he was "more moderate on civil rights than Estes Kefauver, yet nonetheless acceptable to labor and urban machines—so a coalition of southern, urban, and labor leaders fell in behind his candidacy in Chicago".[51] Stevenson's 1952 running mate was Senator John Sparkman of Alabama.
Stevenson accepted the Democratic nomination with an acceptance speech that, according to contemporaries, "electrified the delegates:"[52]
When the tumult and the shouting die, when the bands are gone and the lights are dimmed, there is the stark reality of responsibility in an hour of history haunted with those gaunt, grim specters of strife, dissension, and materialism at home, and ruthless, inscrutable, and hostile power abroad. The ordeal of the twentieth century – the bloodiest, most turbulent age of the Christian era – is far from over. Sacrifice, patience, understanding, and implacable purpose may be our lot for years to come. ... Let's talk sense to the American people! Let's tell them the truth, that there are no gains without pains, that we are now on the eve of great decisions.
Although Stevenson's eloquent oratory and thoughtful, stylish demeanor impressed many intellectuals, journalists, political commentators, and members of the nation's academic community, the Republicans and some working-class Democrats ridiculed what they perceived as his indecisive, aristocratic air. During the 1952 campaign
In the 1952 campaign, Stevenson also developed a strong dislike for
Journalist
Stevenson did not use television as effectively as his Republican opponent, war hero
Biographer Jean H. Baker summarized Stevenson's 1952 campaign: "Uncomfortable with the carnival side of elections, Stevenson tried to be a man for the people, not of them; a man of reason talking sense, not manipulation or sentiment."[63] "Liberals...were attracted to the Illinois governor because he firmly opposed McCarthyism, [and] they also appreciated Stevenson because of his style...he had clearly dissociated himself, as did many Americans, from the plebians. Stevenson dramatized the complex feelings of educated elites, some of whom came to adore him not because he was a liberal, but because he was not...he spoke a language that set apart from average Americans an increasingly college-educated population. His approach to voters as rational participants in a process that depended on weighing the issues attracted reformers, intellectuals, and middle-class women with time and money (the "Shakespeare vote", joked one columnist). Or as one enthralled voter wrote "You were too good for the American people."[64] "Adlai Stevenson ended the 1952 campaign with an adoring group of Stevensonites. Articulate and loyal...they would soon create the Stevenson legend and make the Man from Libertyville a counterhero to President Eisenhower, whom they would portray as inept and banal."[65]
1953 World Tour and 1954 elections
Following his defeat, Stevenson in 1953 made a well-publicized world tour through Asia, the Middle East and Europe, writing about his travels for Look magazine. His political stature as head of the Democratic Party gave him access to many foreign leaders and dignitaries. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1953.[66] In the 1954 off-year elections, Stevenson took a leading role in campaigning for Democratic congressional and gubernatorial candidates around the nation. When the Democrats won control of both houses of Congress and picked up nine gubernatorial seats it "put Democrats around the country in Stevenson's debt and greatly strengthened his position as his party's leader."[67]
1956 presidential bid
Unlike 1952, Stevenson was an announced, active candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1956.[68] Initially, with polls showing Eisenhower headed for a landslide re-election, few Democrats wanted the 1956 nomination, and Stevenson hoped that he could win the nomination without a serious contest, and without entering any presidential primaries.[69] However, on September 24, 1955, Eisenhower suffered a serious heart attack. Although he recovered and eventually decided to run for a second term, concerns about his health led two prominent Democrats, Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver and New York Governor Averell Harriman, to decide to challenge Stevenson for the Democratic nomination.[70] After being told by his aides that he needed to enter and win several presidential primaries to defeat Kefauver and Harriman, Stevenson officially entered the race on November 16, 1955, and campaigned in the Minnesota, Florida, and California primaries.[71][72] Stevenson was upset in the Minnesota primary by Kefauver, who successfully portrayed him as a "captive" of corrupt Chicago political bosses and "a corporation lawyer out of step with regular Democrats".[73] Stevenson next battled Kefauver in the Florida primary, where he agreed to debate Kefauver on radio and television.[74] Stevenson later joked that in Florida he had appealed to the state's citrus farmers by "bitterly denouncing the Japanese beetle and fearlessly attacking the Mediterranean fruit fly".[74] He narrowly defeated Kefauver in Florida by 12,000 votes, and then won the California primary over Kefauver with 63% of the vote, effectively ending Kefauver's presidential bid.[74]
At the
Following his nomination, Stevenson waged a vigorous
Against the advice of many of his political advisers, Stevenson insisted on calling for an international ban to aboveground nuclear weapons tests, and for an end to the military draft.
Civil rights was emerging rapidly as a major political issue. Stevenson urged caution and warned against aggressive enforcement of the Supreme Court's Brown decision in order to gain Southern white support. Kotlowski writes:
Liberal Democrats, too, flinched before Brown. Adlai E. Stevenson, front-runner for the party's presidential nomination in 1956, urged the government to "proceed gradually" on school desegregation in deference to the South's long-held "traditions". Stevenson backed integration but opposed using armed personnel to enforce Brown.... It certainly helped. Stevenson carried most of Dixie in the fall campaign but received just 61 percent of the black vote, low for a Democrat, and lost the election to Eisenhower by a landslide.[86]
Stevenson's views on racial progress were described after his death by his long-time companion
While President Eisenhower suffered heart problems, the economy enjoyed robust health. Stevenson's hopes for victory were dashed when, in October, Eisenhower's doctors gave him a clean bill of health and the
Early in 1957, Stevenson resumed
1960 presidential campaign and appointment as UN Ambassador
In early 1960, Stevenson announced that he would not seek a third Democratic presidential nomination, but would accept a draft. One of his closest friends told a journalist that "Deep down, he wants [the Democratic nomination]. But he wants the [Democratic] Convention to come to him, he doesn't want to go to the Convention."[71] In May 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy, who was actively campaigning for the Democratic nomination, visited Stevenson at his Libertyville home. Kennedy asked Stevenson for a public endorsement of his candidacy; in exchange Kennedy promised, if elected, to appoint Stevenson as his Secretary of State. Stevenson turned down the offer, which strained relations between the two men.[89] At the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, Stevenson's admirers, led by Eleanor Roosevelt, Agnes Meyer, and such Hollywood celebrities as Dore Schary and Henry Fonda, vigorously promoted him for the nomination, even though he was not an announced candidate.[90] JFK's campaign manager, his brother Robert F. Kennedy, reportedly threatened Stevenson in a meeting, telling him that unless he agreed to place his brother's name in nomination "you are through". Stevenson refused and ordered him out of his hotel room.[91] In letters to friends, Stevenson described both John and Robert Kennedy as "cold and ruthless", referred to Robert Kennedy as the "Black Prince", and expressed his belief that JFK, "though bright and able, was too young, too unseasoned, to be President; he pushed too hard, was in too much of a hurry; he lacked the wisdom of humility...[Stevenson felt] that both Kennedy and the nation would benefit from a postponement of his ambition."[92]
The night before the balloting, Stevenson began working actively for the nomination, calling the leaders of several state delegations to ask for their support. The key call went to Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, the leader of the Illinois delegation. The delegation had already voted to give Kennedy 59.5 votes to Stevenson's 2, but Stevenson told Daley that he now wanted the Democratic nomination, and asked him if the "delegates' vote might merely indicate they thought he was not a candidate".[93] Daley told Stevenson that he had no support in the delegation. Stevenson then "asked if this meant no support in fact or no support because the delegates thought he was not a candidate. Daley replied that Stevenson had no support." According to Stevenson's biographer John Bartlow Martin, the phone conversation with Daley "was the real end of the [1960] Stevenson candidacy...if he could not get the support of his home state his candidacy was doomed".[93] However, Stevenson continued to work for the nomination the next day, fulfilling what he felt were obligations to old friends and supporters such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Agnes Meyer.[94] Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota delivered an impassioned nominating speech for Stevenson, urging the convention to not "reject the man who has made us proud to be Democrats. Do not leave this prophet without honor in his own party."[95] However, Kennedy won the nomination on the first ballot with 806 delegate votes; Stevenson finished in fourth place with 79.5 votes.[95]
Once Kennedy won the nomination, Stevenson, always an enormously popular public speaker, campaigned actively for him. Due to his two presidential nominations and previous United Nations experience, Stevenson perceived himself an elder statesman and the natural choice for Secretary of State.
Many years later, it was revealed that during the campaign Stevenson was approached by Soviet Ambassador Menshikov who offered Soviet financial and public relations help to assist him in getting elected if he decided to run. Stevenson flatly rejected the Soviet offer telling Menshikov that he, "considered the offer of such assistance highly improper, indiscreet and dangerous to all concerned". Stevenson then reported the incident directly to President Eisenhower.[97]
Ambassador to the United Nations, 1961 to 1965
At the United Nations, Stevenson worked hard to support U.S. foreign policy, even when he personally disagreed with some of President Kennedy's actions. However, he was often seen as an outsider in the Kennedy administration, with one historian noting "everyone knew that Stevenson's position was that of a bit player".[98] Kennedy told his adviser Walt Rostow that "Stevenson wouldn't be happy as president. He thinks that if you talk long enough you get a soft option and there are very few soft options as president."[99]
Bay of Pigs incident
In April 1961 Stevenson suffered the greatest humiliation of his diplomatic career in the
Kennedy, anticipating that Stevenson might be angered at being left out of the discussions over whether to invade Cuba, told Schlesinger that "the integrity and credibility of Adlai Stevenson constitute one of our great national assets. I don't want to do anything to jeopardize that", and he asked Schlesinger to let Stevenson know that the president was shielding him from many of the details to protect him in case the clandestine operation failed.[104] Instead, as Robert Dallek has written, "by leaving him out of the discussion it led to his humiliation". Unaware that the anti-Castro Cuban exiles landing at the Bay of Pigs were being armed and assisted directly by the CIA and US Navy, and that American pilots were participating in bombing raids of Cuban targets, Stevenson unwittingly "repeated a CIA cover story in a speech before the UN General Assembly".[100] He argued that the rebels were not assisted in any way by the U.S. government; when this claim was proven to be false Stevenson complained that "I took this job on the understanding that I would be consulted and kept fully informed on everything. Now my credibility has been compromised and therefore my usefulness."[105] When he told his friend Harlan Cleveland that his own government had "deliberately tricked" him into believing there was no direct American involvement in the invasion, Cleveland replied "I feel as betrayed as you do."[106] Stevenson seriously considered resigning, but was convinced by his friends and President Kennedy to stay.[107]
Cuban Missile Crisis
During the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, Stevenson gave a presentation at an emergency session of the Security Council.[108] In his presentation, which attracted national television coverage, he forcefully asked Soviet UN representative Valerian Zorin if his country was installing nuclear missiles in Cuba, and when Zorin appeared reluctant to reply, Stevenson punctuated with the demand "Don't wait for the translation, [answer] 'yes' or 'no'!"[109][110] When Zorin replied that "I am not in an American court of law, and therefore do not answer a question put to me in the manner of a prosecuting counsel...you will have your answer in due course", Stevenson retorted, "I am prepared to wait for my answer until Hell freezes over."[109] Stevenson then showed photographs taken by a U-2 spy plane which proved the existence of nuclear missiles in Cuba, just after Zorin had implied they did not exist.[111]
Stevenson also attended several meetings of the
In December 1962 journalists
Kennedy assassination and Vietnam War
During his time as UN Ambassador, Stevenson often traveled around the country promoting the United Nations in speeches and seminars. On these trips, he frequently faced opposition and protests from groups skeptical of the United Nations, such as the right-wing
After President Kennedy was assassinated, Stevenson continued to serve in his position as Ambassador to the UN under President
Death and legacy
In July 1965, Stevenson traveled to
Marietta Tree recalled:As we were walking along the street he said do not walk quite so fast and do hold your head up Marietta. I was burrowing ahead trying to get to the park as quickly as possible and then the next thing I knew, I turned around and I saw he'd gone white, gray really, and he fell and his hand brushed me as he fell and he hit the pavement with the most terrible crack and I thought he'd fractured his skull.
That night in her diary, she wrote, "Adlai is dead. We were together."
Historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., who served as one of his speechwriters, described Stevenson as a "great creative figure in American politics. He turned the Democratic Party around in the fifties and made JFK possible...to the United States and the world he was the voice of a reasonable, civilized, and elevated America. He brought a new generation into politics, and moved millions of people in the United States and around the world."[131]
Journalist David Halberstam wrote that "Stevenson's gift to the nation was his language, elegant and well-crafted, thoughtful and calming."[54] His biographer Jean H. Baker stated that Stevenson's memory "still survives...as an expression of a different kind of politics – nobler, more issue-oriented, less compliant to the greedy ambitions of modern politicians, and less driven by public opinion polls and the media."[132]
Halberstam wrote of Stevenson that
he had played a historic role for his party, twice its presidential candidate, the first time running against impossible odds in 1952, at the height of the Korean War and McCarthyism, with the [Democratic] party already decaying from the scandals of twenty years in power. Running against the great hero of the era, Dwight Eisenhower, Stevenson had lost, of course, but his voice had seemed special in that moment, a voice of rationality and elegance. In the process of defeat, he had helped to salvage the party, giving it a new vitality and bringing to its fold a whole new generation of educated Americans, volunteers now in the political process, some very professional amateurs who would be masterly used by the Kennedys in 1960. If John and Robert Kennedy seemed to symbolize style in politics, much of that was derived directly from Stevenson. He had, at what should have been a particularly low point for the party, managed to keep it vibrant and vital, and to involve a new kind of people in politics.[134]
His biographer Jean H. Baker wrote of Stevenson's two presidential campaigns in 1952 and 1956 that "what would be remembered...were not his public programs and ideas for a New America but, ironically, the private man – his character and personality, his wit and charm, his efforts to negotiate and keep the peace within the Democratic Party, his elegant speeches, and the grace with which he accepted defeat."[135]
The Central Illinois Regional Airport near Bloomington has a whimsical statue of Stevenson, sitting on a bench with his feet propped on his briefcase and his head in one hand, as if waiting for his flight. He is depicted wearing shoes that had a hole in the sole, from having walked many miles during his election campaign. The shoe had become a symbol of his campaign.[136][137]
The Adlai E. Stevenson II Farm in Mettawa, Illinois, which was Stevenson's home from 1936 to 1965, is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been designated a National Historic Landmark.
Adlai Stevenson II was inducted as a Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the state's highest honor) by the governor of Illinois in 1965 in the area of government.[138]
In October 1965, the United States Post Office Department issued a 5 cent stamp in Bloomington, Illinois, to commemorate the life of Stevenson.[139]
Stevenson in popular culture
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In film and television
Stevenson has been referenced in television episodes of The Simpsons in the episodes "Lisa the Iconoclast" and "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson" (appearing in the latter in an educational film, with Harry Shearer providing the cartoon Stevenson's voice. In the former, a gag occurs, as the mob of Springfielders exhume the corpse of Jedediah, Willie mistakenly throws dirt over the flame of a candle vigil set in front of Adlai's grave).
He has also been referenced in
Stevenson has also been referenced in films.
In Pioneer One, a crowd-financed TV series published under a Creative Commons license, one of the characters introduces himself as "Adlai Steve DiLeo", named after Adlai Stevenson, "someone who ran three times for president unsuccessfully".[146]
In a
In the 2016 movie Bogie and Bacall, Stevenson was portrayed by actor Ryan Paevey.
In alternate history and science fiction
Stevenson comes close to being assassinated by a 12-year-old in James Patrick Kelly's Hugo Award-winning novelette 1016 to 1 (1999).
In Robin Gerber's novel Eleanor vs. Ike, Stevenson suffers a fatal heart attack as he approaches the podium to accept the Democratic nomination in 1952. He is replaced as the Democratic presidential candidate by former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
In the alternate history short story "The Impeachment of Adlai Stevenson" by David Gerrold included in the anthology Alternate Presidents, Stevenson is elected in 1952 after Dwight D. Eisenhower makes the mistake of accepting Joseph McCarthy as his running mate instead of Richard Nixon. He successfully runs for re-election in 1956, once again defeating General Eisenhower. However, he proves to be an extremely unpopular president.
In Michael P. Kube-McDowell's alternate history novel Alternities, Stevenson is mentioned as having been elected president in 1956 and serving for two terms, though he is quoted as describing his second term as a curse.
The alternate history novella "Southern Strategy" by
In the alternate history novel
In other media
The writer Gore Vidal, who admired and supported Stevenson, based a main character in his 1960 Broadway play The Best Man on Stevenson. The play, which was nominated for six Tony Awards, centers on the contest for the presidential nomination at a fictitious political convention. One of the main contenders for the nomination is Secretary of State William Russell, a principled, liberal intellectual. The character is based on Stevenson; his main opponent is the ruthless, unscrupulous Senator Joseph Cantwell, whom Vidal modeled on Richard Nixon and the Kennedy brothers. The play was turned into a 1964 film of the same name, with actor Henry Fonda playing Russell. Fonda had been a Stevenson supporter at the 1960 Democratic National Convention.
Things named after Stevenson
- I-294 and US 41 (Lake Shore Drive) in Illinois
- Adlai E. Stevenson Elementary School in Fairfield, New Jersey
- Adlai E. Stevenson Elementary School in Rochester, New York
- Adlai E. Stevenson II Elementary School in Bloomington, Illinois
- Adlai E. Stevenson High School located in Lincolnshire, Illinois
- Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Sterling Heights, Michigan
- Adlai Stevenson Elementary School (formerly Junior High) in Cleveland, Ohio
- Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Livonia, Michigan
- Bronx, New York, now closed
- Adlai E. Stevenson Elementary School in Elk Grove Village, Illinois
- Adlai E. Stevenson Elementary School in Des Plaines, Illinois
- Adlai Stevenson Elementary School in the Plum Borough School District in Plum, Pennsylvania
- Adlai E. Stevenson Elementary School in Chicago, Illinois
- Stevenson Elementary School in Mountain View, California
- Adlai E. Stevenson College, a residential college at the University of California, Santa Cruz
- Stevenson Hall, a lecture building on the Illinois State University campus in Normal, Illinois
- Adlai E. Stevenson Hall, Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, California
- Stevenson Drive, a major thoroughfare in Springfield, Illinois
- Stevenson Hall, a residence hall for students on the Northern Illinois University campus in DeKalb, Illinois
- Stevenson Hall, a residence hall for students on the Eastern Illinois University campus in Charleston, Illinois
- Adlai E. Stevenson Chair, a professorship of International Affairs at Columbia University, currently held by Robert Jervis
- Adlai Stevenson Middle School in Westland, Michigan
- Adlai E. Stevenson School, an Elementary School in Decatur, Illinois
- Adlai E. Stevenson Elementary School in Southfield, Michigan
- Stevenson Hall, a student dining facility at Princeton University
- Stevenson Center for Community and Economic Development, graduate school program at Illinois State University
Electoral history
Gubernatorial
- 1948
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Adlai E. Stevenson | 578,390 | 100 | |
Total votes | 578,390 | 100 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Adlai E. Stevenson | 2,250,074 | 57.11 | |
Republican | Dwight H. Green (incumbent) | 1,678,007 | 42.59 | |
Prohibition | Willis Ray Wilson | 9,491 | 0.24 | |
Socialist Labor
|
Louis Fisher | 2,673 | 0.07 | |
Write-in
|
Others | 12 | 0.00 | |
Total votes | 3,940,257 | 100 |
- 1952
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Adlai E. Stevenson (incumbent) | 708,275 | 99.97 | |
Write-in
|
Others | 213 | 0.03 | |
Total votes | 708,488 | 100 |
Presidential
- 1952
Presidential candidate | Party | Home state | Popular vote[150] | Electoral vote[151] |
Running mate | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Count | Percentage | Vice-presidential candidate | Home state | Electoral vote[151] | ||||
Dwight David Eisenhower | Republican | New York | 34,075,529 | 55.18% | 442 | Richard Milhous Nixon | California | 442 |
Adlai Ewing Stevenson II | Democratic | Illinois | 27,375,090 | 44.33% | 89 | John Jackson Sparkman | Alabama | 89 |
Vincent Hallinan | Progressive
|
California | 140,746 | 0.23% | 0 | Charlotta Amanda Spears Bass | New York | 0 |
Stuart Hamblen | Prohibition | Texas | 73,412 | 0.12% | 0 | Enoch Arden Holtwick | Illinois | 0 |
Eric Hass | Socialist Labor | New York | 30,406 | 0.05% | 0 | Stephen Emery | New York | 0 |
Darlington Hoopes | Socialist | Pennsylvania | 20,203 | 0.03% | 0 | Samuel Herman Friedman | New York | 0 |
Douglas MacArthur | Constitution | Arkansas | 17,205 | 0.03% | 0 | Harry Flood Byrd Sr. | Virginia | 0 |
Farrell Dobbs | Socialist Workers | Minnesota | 10,312 | 0.02% | 0 | Myra Tanner Weiss | California | 0 |
Other | 9,039 | 0.02% | — | Other | — | |||
Total | 61,751,942 | 100% | 531 | 531 | ||||
Needed to win | 266 | 266 |
- 1956
Presidential candidate | Party | Home state | Popular vote[152] | Electoral vote[153] |
Running mate | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Count | Percentage | Vice-presidential candidate | Home state | Electoral vote[153] | ||||
Dwight David Eisenhower (Incumbent) | Republican | Pennsylvania | 35,579,180 | 57.37% | 457 | Richard Milhous Nixon | California | 457 |
Adlai Ewing Stevenson II | Democratic | Illinois | 26,028,028 | 41.97% | 73 | Carey Estes Kefauver | Tennessee | 73 |
(Unpledged electors) | (n/a) | (n/a) | 196,318 | 0.32% | 0 | (n/a) | (n/a) | 0 |
Thomas Coleman Andrews | States' Rights | Virginia | 108,956 | 0.18% | 0 | Thomas Harold Werdel | California | 0 |
Eric Hass | Socialist Labor | New York | 44,300 | 0.07% | 0 | Georgia Olive Cozzini | Wisconsin | 0 |
Enoch Arden Holtwick | Prohibition | Illinois | 41,937 | 0.07% | 0 | Edwin M. Cooper | California | 0 |
Farrell Dobbs | Socialist Workers | New York | 7,797 | 0.01% | 0 | Myra Tanner Weiss | California | 0 |
Harry Flood Byrd Sr. | States' Rights | Virginia | 2,657 | <0.01% | 0 | William Ezra Jenner | Indiana | 0 |
Darlington Hoopes | Socialist | Pennsylvania | 2,128 | <0.01% | 0 | Samuel Herman Friedman | New York | 0 |
Henry B. Krajewski | American Third | New Jersey | 1,829 | <0.01% | 0 | Anna Yezo | New Jersey | 0 |
Gerald Lyman Kenneth Smith | Christian Nationalist | Michigan | 8 | <0.01% | 0 | Charles Robertson | Michigan | 0 |
Walter Burgwyn Jones | Democratic | Alabama | —(a) | —(a) | 1 | Herman Eugene Talmadge | Georgia | 1 |
Other | 8,691 | 0.01% | — | Other | — | |||
Total | 62,021,328 | 100% | 531 | 531 | ||||
Needed to win | 266 | 266 |
Notes
- ^ (Baker, pp. 9–10, 335–337)
- ^ "Los Angeles County Birth Record for Adlai E. Stevenson". California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994. February 5, 1900. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
- ^ "Historic-Cultural Monument List, City Declared Monuments" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
- ^ (Martin, p. 89)
- ^ "'MASH' star McLean Stevenson dies". CNN. Archived from the original on May 23, 2010. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
- ^ "Mary Borden | an Extraordinary Life | Mary Borden: A Woman of Two Wars". Archived from the original on April 23, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
- ^ "Killed in Stevenson Home; Girl Shot Accidentally by Former Vice President's Grandson". The New York Times. December 31, 1912. p. 1. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2007.
- ^ (Baker, pp. 228–232)
- ^ (McKeever, p. 31)
- ^ (McKeever, p. 38)
- ^ "Stevenson Fellow Advocates for Public Service". The Choate News. March 31, 2017. Archived from the original on June 16, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
- ^ Department of State Publication: General foreign policy series. p. 43. Archived from the original on March 31, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ^ Daily Princetonian – Special Class of 1979 Issue 25 July 1975 — Princeton Periodicals Archived March 8, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. Theprince.princeton.edu (July 25, 1975). Retrieved on 2013-07-26.
- ^ "Mudd Library Completes Catalog, Preservation of Adlai E. Stevenson Papers". Princeton University. August 8, 1997. Archived from the original on November 19, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
- ^ (McKeever, pp. 45–46)
- ^ (McKeever, p. 60)
- ^ (Baker, p. 246, p. 257)
- ^ (Baker, p. 317)
- ^ (Martin, pp. 154–155)
- ^ (McKeever, p. 141)
- ^ (McKeever, pp. 65–66)
- ^ (McKeever, pp. 142, 272)
- ^ Evers, Donna (September 5, 2012). "Those Were the Days: Betty Beale and the Party World of Post-War Washington". The Georgetowner. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
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- ^ (Baker, p. 357)
- ^ a b c (Baker, p. 358)
- ^ (Martin, pp. 164–165)
- ^ (Baker, p. 283)
- ^ (McKeever, p. 74)
- ^ (Martin, pp. 225–226)
- ^ (Martin, pp. 234–259)
- ^ (McKeever, pp. 107–114)
- ^ a b (McKeever, p. 126)
- ^ Robert E. Hartley, Battleground 1948: Truman, Stevenson, Douglas, and the Most Surprising Election in Illinois History (Southern Illinois University Press; 2013)
- ^ (McKeever, p. 137)
- ^ (McKeever, pp. 133–135)
- ^ (McKeever, pp. 134)
- ^ a b (McKeever, p. 136)
- ^ (McKeever, pp. 159–160)
- ^ (McKeever, pp. 160–161)
- ^ (McKeever, p. 134)
- ^ a b (McKeever, pp. 144–145)
- ^ (Martin, pp. 405–407)
- ^ a b (McKeever, p. 145)
- ^ (McKeever, p. 144)
- ^ (McKeever, pp. 185–186)
- ^ (Manchester, p. 608)
- ^ (Manchester, p. 621–622)
- ^ a b (Manchester, p. 622)
- ^ (Bain and Parris, p. 350)
- ^ John Frederick Martin, "The Trappings of Democracy," Historically Speaking (2013) 14#4 p4 in Project MUSE
- ^ Kennedy, Edward M., True Compass: A Memoir. 2009.
- ^ a b (Halberstam, p. 235)
- ^ a b c (Halberstam, p. 236)
- ^ (McKeever, p. 228)
- ^ (Baker, p. 378)
- ^ (McKeever, p. 230)
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- ^ (Aldous, p. 161)
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- ^ (Baker, p. 336)
- ^ (Baker, pp. 336–337)
- ^ (Baker, p. 337)
- ^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter S" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 18, 2006. Retrieved April 7, 2011.
- ^ (Martin, pp. 148)
- ^ (McKeever, pp. 340–341)
- ^ (McKeever, pp. 354–356)
- ^ (McKeever, p. 356)
- ^ a b (White, p. 58)
- ^ "Stevenson Reveals Plan to Run for Presidency". The Daily Collegian. November 16, 1955.
- ^ (Baker, pp. 355–356)
- ^ a b c (McKeever, p. 374)
- ISBN 978-0-394-52836-6.
- ^ a b (McKeever, p. 376)
- ^ a b (McKeever, p. 377)
- ^ (Baker, p. 362)
- ^ a b (Baker, p. 364)
- ^ (Baker, pp. 364–365)
- ^ (Strober, p. 93)
- ^ (Baker, p. 365)
- ^ (McKeever, p. 380)
- ^ (Baker, p. 373)
- ^ (McKeever, pp. 380–383)
- ^ Dean Kotlowski, "With All Deliberate Delay: Kennedy, Johnson, and School Desegregation," Journal of Policy History (2005) 17#2 pp 155–192 quote at p. 159 online at Project MUSE
- ^ Adlai E. Stevenson Project, "Marietta Tree," Oral History Research Office, Columbia University, 1968, 92-93.
- ^ (Schlesinger, pp. 9–10)
- ^ a b c d (Dallek, p. 94)
- ^ (Baker, p. 401)
- ^ (Baker, p. 402)
- ^ (McKeever, p. 451)
- ^ a b (Martin, p. 526)
- ^ (Martin, pp. 526–528)
- ^ a b (Baker, p. 403)
- ^ (Dallek, pp. 93–94)
- ^ (Martin. Adlai Stevenson and the World.)
- ^ (Baker, p. 408)
- ^ (Baker, p. 409)
- ^ a b (Dallek, p. 142)
- ^ (Wyden, pp. 156–157)
- ^ a b (Wyden, p. 157)
- ^ (Wills, p. 228)
- ^ (Wyden, p. 156)
- ^ (Baker, p. 416)
- ^ (Wyden, p. 190)
- ^ (Baker, pp. 416–417)
- ^ (McKeever, pp. 526–528)
- ^ a b (McKeever, p. 527)
- ^ "Cuban Missile Crisis". YouTube. Archived from the original on November 3, 2021. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
- ^ (McKeever, pp. 527–528)
- ^ (McKeever, p. 520)
- ^ (McKeever, p. 521)
- ^ (Baker, p. 420)
- ^ (Johnson, Dominic D. P. Failing to Win p. 105)
- ^ (McKeever, p. 535)
- ^ a b (Aldous, p. 300)
- ^ (Aldous, p. 301)
- ^ (McKeever, p. 532)
- ^ (McKeever, p. 534)
- ^ (McKeever, p. 536)
- ISBN 9780275983062.
- ^ (Baker, p. 429)
- ^ (McKeever, po. 539)
- ^ Seymour Maxwell Finger, Inside the World of Diplomacy: The U.S. Foreign Service in a Changing World (2001) p 63
- ^ a b (Baker, p. 437)
- ^ "Ambassador Adlai Stevenson dies in London". The Bulletin. (Bend, Oregon). UPI. July 14, 1965. p. 1. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
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- ^ Human Rights Commission & Marietta Peabody Tree biography Archived September 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ (Schlesinger, p. 239)
- ^ (Baker, pp. xi)
- ^ (Martin, p. 392)
- ^ (Halberstam, pp. 26–27)
- ^ (Baker, p. 382)
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References
- Aldous, Richard. Schlesinger: The Imperial Historian. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2017.
- Baker, Jean H. (1996). The Stevensons: A Biography of An American Family. New York: W. W. Norton & Co. ISBN 978-0-393-03874-3.
- Bain, Richard C. and Judith H. Parris. Convention Decisions and Voting Records. The Brookings Institution, 1973.
- Broadwater, Jeff. Adlai Stevenson and American Politics: The Odyssey of a Cold War Liberal. Twayne, 1994. 291 pp
- Cowden, Jonathan A. Adlai Stevenson: a Retrospective. Princeton University Library Chronicle 2000 61(3): 322–359. ISSN 0032-8456
- Dallek, Robert. Camelot's Court: Inside the Kennedy White House. New York: HarperCollins, 2013.
- Halberstam, David. The Fifties. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1993.
- Halberstam, David. The Best and the Brightest. New York: Random House. 1969.
- Hartley, Robert E. Battleground 1948: Truman, Stevenson, Douglas, and the Most Surprising Election in Illinois History (Southern Illinois University Press; 2013) 240 pages
- Manchester, William. The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative History of America, 1932–1972. New York: Bantam Books. 1975.
- Martin, John Bartlow . Adlai Stevenson of Illinois: The Life of Adlai E. Stevenson (1976) and Adlai Stevenson and the World: The Life of Adlai E. Stevenson (1977), the standard scholarly biography
- McKeever, Porter (1989). Adlai Stevenson: His Life and Legacy. New York: William Morrow and Company. ISBN 978-0-688-06661-1.
- Murphy, John M. "Civic Republicanism in the Modern Age: Adlai Stevenson in the 1952 Presidential Campaign," Quarterly Journal of Speech 1994 80(3): 313–328. ISSN 0033-5630
- Schlesinger, Arthur M. A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1965.
- Schlesinger, Arthur M. Journals: 1952–2000. New York: Penguin Press, 2007.
- Slaybaugh, Douglas. Adlai Stevenson, Television, and the Presidential Campaign of 1956 Illinois Historical Journal 1996 89(1): 2–16. ISSN 0748-8149
- Slaybaugh, Douglas. Political Philosophy or Partisanship: a Dilemma in Adlai Stevenson's Published Writings, 1953–1956. Wisconsin Magazine of History 1992 75(3): 163–194. ISSN 0043-6534. Argues, by 1956, Stevenson had alienated many of his well-placed and well-educated supporters without winning over many new rank-and-file Democrats.
- White, Mark J. "Hamlet in New York: Adlai Stevenson During the First Week of the Cuban Missile Crisis" Illinois Historical Journal 1993 86(2): 70–84. ISSN 0748-8149
- White, Theodore H. The Making of the President 1960. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. 2004.
- Wills, Garry. The Kennedy Imprisonment: A Meditation on Power. New York: Mariner Books. 2002.
- Wyden, Peter. Bay of Pigs: The Untold Story. New York: Touchstone Books. 1979.
Primary sources
- Stevenson, Adlai. The Papers of Adlai E. Stevenson (8 vol 1972)
- Blair, William McC. ed. Adlai Stevenson's Legacy: Reminiscences by His Friends and Family. Princeton University Library Chronicle (2000) 61(3): 360–403. ISSN 0032-8456 Reminiscences by Willard Wirtz.
Further reading
- Whitman, Alden. Portrait [of] Adlai E. Stevenson: Politician, Diplomat, Friend. New York: Harper & Row, cop. 1965. ix, 299 p. + [24] p. of b&w photos.
External links
- Adlai E. Stevenson Papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
- John J.B. Shea Papers on Adlai E. Stevenson at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
- Adlai Stevenson Center on Democracy
- Adapted parts from: Adlai E. Stevenson: A Voice of Conscience, part of a series on notable American Unitarians
- The Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home in Libertyville, Illinois. Open to the public.
- Adlai Today includes speeches, photographs, and more.
- A brief biography, United Nations Association – McLean County Chapter.
- Text of Stevenson's First Presidential Nominee Acceptance
- Text and Video Excerpt of Stevenson's United Nations Security Council Address on the Buildup of Soviet Missiles in Cuba
- Text and Audio of Stevenson's UN Memorial Remarks for JFK
- Text and Audio Stevenson's UN Memorial Remarks for Eleanor Roosevelt
- Radio spots of Adlai E. Stevenson from the 1952 Presidential election
- Open Access Photos of Adlai Stevenson in the University of Florida Digital Collections
- Adlai Stevenson interviewed by Mike Wallace on The Mike Wallace Interview June 1, 1958
- Booknotes interview with Porter McKeever on Adlai Stevenson: His Life and Legacy, August 6, 1989
- "Adlai Stevenson, Presidential Contender" from C-SPAN's The Contenders
- Adlai Stevenson II – McLean County Museum of History
- Helen Davis Stevenson – McLean County Museum of History
- Stevenson faced anti-U.N. mob in 1963 – Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois, newspaper)
- Albert Herling worked on Stevenson's 1956 campaign among others. His campaign memorabilia is located at the University of Maryland Libraries