Adlai Stevenson III
Adlai Stevenson III | |
---|---|
Treasurer of Illinois | |
In office January 9, 1967 – November 17, 1970 | |
Governor | Otto Kerner Jr. Samuel H. Shapiro Richard B. Ogilvie |
Preceded by | William Scott |
Succeeded by | Charles W. Woodford |
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the at-large district | |
In office January 13, 1965 – January 11, 1967 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Adlai Ewing Stevenson III October 10, 1930 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Other political affiliations | Solidarity (1986) |
Spouse |
Nancy Anderson (m. 1955) |
Children | 4, including Adlai IV |
Parents |
|
Relatives | Stevenson family |
Education | Harvard University (AB, LLB) |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Service | United States Marine Corps |
Years of service | 1952–1954 (active) 1954–1961 (reserve) |
Rank | Captain |
Wars | Korean War |
Adlai Ewing Stevenson III (October 10, 1930 – September 6, 2021) was an American attorney and politician of the
Early life, education, and early career (1930–1964)
Adlai Stevenson III was born in Chicago, the son of Ellen Borden and two time Democratic Party presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson II. He attended Milton Academy in Massachusetts, Harrow School in England, and Harvard College.[2] He received a law degree in 1957 from Harvard Law School.[3][4] Stevenson was commissioned as a lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1952, served in Korea and was discharged from active duty in 1954. He continued to serve in the Marine Reserves and was discharged in 1961 as a captain.[5] In 1957, Stevenson went to work as a clerk for a Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court and worked there until 1958 when he joined the law firm of Brown and Platt.[6]
Early political career (1964–1970)
State politics
Illinois House of Representatives
Stevenson was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in the 1964 Illinois House of Representatives election, which was held at-large due to the state's failure to redistrict. He served in the Illinois House from 1965 to 1967.[6][7] During his time in the state house, he won a Best Legislator award from the Independent Voters of Illinois.[8][1]
Treasurer of Illinois
In 1969, Stevenson was elected treasurer of Illinois. As state treasurer, he quadrupled earnings on the investment of State funds while cutting the budget each year.[1][9]
United States Senate (1970–1981)
Elections
1970
Following the death of incumbent U.S. Senator
1974
In 1974, Stevenson ran for re-election, and faced Republican George Burditt in the general election. He defeated Burditt by a large margin of nearly 800,000 votes.[11]
Committee assignments
In the Senate, Stevenson served on the Commerce Committee (Chairman of the Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space), Banking Committee (Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Finance) and Intelligence Committee (Chairman, Subcommittee on the Collection and Production of Intelligence). He was the first Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee charged with implementing a code of ethics he helped draft. Stevenson was also chairman of a Special Senate Committee which led the first major reorganization of the Senate since its Committee system was formed in the early 19th Century.[1]
Tenure
Stevenson was sworn in as senator on November 17, 1970.
Vietnam War
Stevenson opposed the
Watergate scandal
Stevenson was highly critical of Republican President Richard M. Nixon during the Watergate scandal. He called on Nixon to answer for the integrity of the country’s leaders. “All of us — Republicans and Democrats — have an interest in clearing the record,” he said a year before Nixon resigned in disgrace. “The faith of the people in their system and their leaders — a faith that has already been shaken enough — is at stake.”[12]
Legislative accomplishments
Stevenson authored the
Views on Israel
Stevenson was a strong supporter of Israel, but was critical of the influence of
In a letter to Jewish leader Hyman Bookbinder in 1980, Stevenson wrote:
”It is the Israeli lobby, led by AIPAC, which I deplore. It does not speak for all Jewry, including Israeli Jewry. Yet it exercises an inordinate degree of influence with weak public officials. I deplore their subservience to the vagaries of a foreign government.”
1976 Presidential election
Presidential bid
Stevenson was encouraged to run for president in 1976, which was fueled by Richard J. Daley of Chicago, who resented the senator’s liberal reforms, but who recognized Stevenson as being a vote-getter. The senator declined to campaign, but as the nominating process got underway, Daley forces ran him as a favorite son candidate.[18]
Vice presidential finalist
Despite this, former Gov. Jimmy Carter of Georgia locked up the nomination before the 1976 Democratic National Convention, in New York. Stevenson was, however, one of the finalists for vice president at the convention, though Carter eventually chose U.S. Senator Walter Mondale from Minnesota.[19]
Retirement
Stevenson opted to not run for reelection in 1980 and returned to Illinois to practice law.[5]
Post-Senate life and career (1981–2021)
Gubernatorial bids
Stevenson ran for governor of Illinois in 1982 and 1986, losing both elections to James R. Thompson.[20]
1982
In the 1982 campaign, Stevenson complained that Thompson was trying to portray him as an ineffectual elitist by famously stating, "He is saying 'Me tough guy,' as if to imply that I’m some kind of wimp."[21] The initial vote count showed Stevenson winning;[22] however, the final official count showed him losing by 0.14 percent.[23] Stevenson promptly petitioned the Illinois Supreme Court for a recount and presented evidence of widespread election irregularities, including evidence of a failed punch card system for tabulation of votes.[22] Three days before the gubernatorial inauguration, the court denied the recount in a 4-3 ruling, asserting that the Illinois recount statute was unconstitutional.[24]
1986
In the 1986 statewide Democratic primaries, Democratic voters nominated allies of Lyndon LaRouche for lieutenant governor and secretary of state.[25] Stevenson objected to their platform and refused to appear on the same ticket.[25] Instead, he organized the Illinois Solidarity Party to provide an alternate slate for governor, lieutenant governor, and secretary of state, which was endorsed by Democratic Party of Illinois.[26] Persuading Democrats to vote for most of the Democratic ticket as well as the Solidarity candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, and secretary of state was an unconventional strategy; however, Stevenson and the candidate for lieutenant governor position, Mike Howlett, won 40% of the vote.[27]
Later career
Business and cultural relations
After leaving the Senate, Stevenson was active in business and cultural relations with East Asia.[15] He was chairman of SC&M Investment Management Corporation,[28] and co-chairman of HuaMei Capital Company (the first Chinese-American investment bank).[29]
Non-profit organizations
He also held many positions with non-profit organizations in this area.
UNPA proposal
On December 8, 2012, aged 82, Stevenson endorsed the proposal for the United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA), one of only six persons who served in the United States Congress ever to do so.[32]
Death
Stevenson died from complications of
Personal life
Family
Stevenson's great-grandfather
Marriage and children
Stevenson met his future wife, Nancy Anderson, in 1953 while he was in tank training at Fort Knox, Kentucky in preparation for his deployment to Japan and then Korea. The couple was married in 1955 at Nancy’s home outside of Louisville.[35] Together, they had four children. His son Adlai Stevenson IV is a business executive and former journalist.[5] Though Adlai IV had previously expressed his intention to be "Adlai the last,"[36] his son, Adlai Ewing Stevenson V, was born in the summer of 1994.
In addition to Adlai IV, he is survived by another son, Warwick; as well as two daughters, Lucy and Katherine; his brothers; and at least nine grandchildren.[5]
Writings
- Stevenson authored The Black Book, which records American history and culture from within its politics as his family knew it over five generations, starting with his great great grandfather, Jesse W. Fell, who was Abraham Lincoln's patron and persuaded him to run for president. As well as his grandfather Lewis Stevenson, an Illinois secretary of state, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic vice-presidential nomination in 1928.[37][5]
Awards
Stevenson has been honored with a number of awards, which include :
- Order of the Sacred Treasure, by the government of Japan, with gold and silver star.
- Honorary Professor of Renmin University in China.[28]
- Laureate of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois
- Order of Lincoln by the governor of Illinois in 1981 in the area of government.[38]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Senator Adlai E. Stevenson III". adlai3.com. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h McFadden, Robert D. (September 7, 2021). "Adlai E. Stevenson 3d, Ex-Senator and Scion of Formidable Political Family, Dies at 90". The New York Times. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ a b Powell, Paul (ed.). Illinois Blue Book 1965–1966. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois Secretary of State. p. 295. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
- ^ "Sen. Adlai Stevenson III – Staking out his role in Illinois and Washington". Lib.niu.edu. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
- ^ Janssen, Kim (April 19, 2017). "Adlai Stevenson III, honored by Illinois group, laments loss in civility in Senate". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
- ^ Lawrence Kestenbaum. "The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Stevenson to Steward". Politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
- ISSN 0008-9575– via Taylor and Francis Online.
- ^ ""Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1970"" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives: 7.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
- ISBN 0-465-04195-7.
- ^ "S.1250 – Stevenson Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980". Congress. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e O'Donnell, Maureen (September 7, 2021). "Adlai Stevenson III, former U.S. senator, Illinois candidate for governor, dead at 90". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ "Reflections on Illinois and the nation by Adlai Stevenson III". Daily Journal. February 2, 2013. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ https://www.chicagotribune.com/1986/10/05/israeli-lobby-fighting-stevenson/
- ^ "Daley gives Stevenson endorsement". Vidette Archive. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ "Sen. Adlai Stevenson III: Staking out his role in Illinois and Washington ", Illinois Issues.
- ^ "Stevenson, Adlai III". Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. Archived from the original on November 26, 2015. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ "'Wimp' Factor Surfaces Again," The Associated Press (AP), Friday, September 27, 1985. Retrieved September 9, 2021
- ^ a b Taylor, Paul (November 5, 1982). "An Old Cook County Tradition". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ Janssen, Kim (April 19, 2017). "Adlai Stevenson III, honored by Illinois group, laments loss in civility in Senate". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ Pearson, Rick (November 9, 2000). "Bitter Fight in '82 Race for Governor Still Fresh". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ a b Kraft, Scott; Green, Larry (March 28, 1986). "Stevenson Will Bolt Ticket to Avoid LaRouche Backers". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 25, 2019. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ Arriaga, Alexandra (April 25, 2018). "History not on third party candidates' sides — but will it be on Rauner's?". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ "Official Vote Cast at the General Election November 4, 1986" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 2, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ a b "Full Text of HR0221". Illinois General Assembly. Archived from the original on September 7, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ Yerak, Becky (October 2, 2007). "Firm looks to tap Chinese capital". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ "Adlai Stevenson Center on Democracy". Stevenson Center. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ "Sen. Adlai Stevenson (D-IL) joins the ReFormers Caucus". Issue One. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
- ^ "Former Members of Parliament from United States". UNPA. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- ^ "The Stevenson Family". Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ "Actor Mclean Stevenson". Illinois State Society. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ "Adai E. Stevenson III Official Site". www.adlai3.com. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
- ^ "Boca Raton News – Google News Archive Search". Retrieved October 28, 2014.
- ^ "The Black Book". Adlai3.com. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ "Laureates by Year – The Lincoln Academy of Illinois". The Lincoln Academy of Illinois. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
Further reading
- Baker, Jean H. (1996). The Stevensons: A Biography of An American Family. New York: W. W. Norton & Co. ISBN 0-393-03874-2.