Stevenson, Adlai

Stevenson, Adlai (1900–1965), governor, presidential nominee, ambassador to the United Nations.A grandson and namesake of Grover Cleveland's vice president, Adlai E. Stevenson was born in Los Angeles and reared in Bloomington, Illinois. He graduated from Yale in 1922, received a law degree from Northwestern University in 1926, and worked as an attorney in Chicago until World War II, when he became a special assistant to the secretary of the Navy. In 1945, Stevenson moved to the State Department where he helped plan the United Nations and participated in its activities for several years.

Elected governor of Illinois in 1948, Stevenson won a national following with his eloquent speech‐making and broad public appeal. As the Democratic presidential nominee in 1952 and 1956, he campaigned as a proud disciple of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and a vigorous opponent of Senator Joseph McCarthy. Soundly defeated in both races by Dwight D. Eisenhower, Stevenson half‐heartedly sought the Democratic nomination in 1960, losing to John F. Kennedy.

In 1961, President Kennedy appointed Stevenson ambassador to the United Nations. In that role, he argued strongly against invading Cuba during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, thereby helping Kennedy guide the United States safely through the most dangerous weeks of the Cold War. Stevenson remained at the UN until his sudden death in July 1965.

Bibliography

John Bartlow Martin , Adlai Stevenson of Illinois, 1976.
John Bartlow Martin , Adlai Stevenson and the World: The Life of Adlai Stevenson, 1977.

William L. O'Neill