Adlai Ewing Stevenson Junior

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Adlai Stevenson (1961)
Stevenson's signature

Adlai Ewing Stevenson junior (also Adlai Ewing Stevenson II ; born February 5, 1900 in Los Angeles , California , † July 14, 1965 in London ) was an American politician of the Democratic Party and between 1949 and 1953 the 31st  governor of the state Illinois . He was his party's candidate for the presidential election in 1952 and 1956 , but was subject to Dwight D. Eisenhower . From 1961 to 1965 Stevenson was US Ambassador to the United Nations . He was a grandson of former US Vice President Adlai Ewing Stevenson I .

Early years and political advancement

Adlai Stevenson was the son of Lewis Green Stevenson and his wife Helen Louise Davis. His father was also active in politics and served as Secretary of State in the government of Illinois from 1914 to 1917 . The young Adlai Stevenson attended until 1922, the Princeton University and then studied at the Northwestern University Law . After his successful exams and admission to the bar in 1926, he practiced in Chicago .

Since 1933 Stevenson was active in the public service. At that time he was an advisor at the Illinois Department of Agriculture for a year. Between 1941 and 1944 he was employed in the Navy Ministry. In 1945 he was press spokesman for the American delegation to the United Nations. In 1946 he was again an advisor to the American delegation at the first UN General Assembly . In 1948 he was nominated by his party as a candidate for the gubernatorial election and then elected to this office by the voters.

Illinois Governor

Stevenson in 1952

Stevenson began his four-year term on January 10, 1949. During this time he increased the mineral oil tax. The money was used to finance the expansion of the country's roads and highways. The labor laws, especially in the mining sector, have been improved. The governor also fought against corruption and bribery in the public sector. On July 9, 1951, the Illinois Civil Defense Act was passed, a law that contained emergency programs in the event of nuclear war or other military threats. Stevenson decided against running for governor again in 1952. Instead, he was nominated by his Democratic Party as their presidential candidate. His term as governor ended on January 12, 1953.

Another résumé

1952 and 1956 he was a presidential candidate for the Democrats, but failed each clearly against Dwight D. Eisenhower . In both elections he was only able to win a number of southern states for themselves. Even in 1960 he was discussed as a possible alternative to John F. Kennedy until the Democratic party congress , but renounced an - anyway hopeless - candidacy. Kennedy appointed him ambassador to the United Nations in 1961 . In this capacity, Stevenson caused a sensation during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 when he showed photos at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that proved the existence of Soviet missiles in Cuba .

In 1953, Stevenson was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

Stevenson died of a heart attack on July 14, 1965 at the age of 65 .

additional

  • Numerous schools and streets are named after him.
  • The text Desiderata became known to him because he held a sheet of this text in his hands on his deathbed.
  • He is portrayed by actor Michael Fairman in the political thriller Thirteen Days , which focuses on the Cuba crisis .
  • Stevenson is referred to in the series The Simpsons in the episodes Lisa the Iconoclast and The Secret War of Lisa Simpson .
  • In the film comedy Eins, Zwei, Drei by Billy Wilder (1961), Phyllis MacNamara (played by Arlene Francis ), the wife of the West Berlin Coca-Cola branch manager, in a confidential conversation with the daughter of the CEO, once revealed a story in her youth To have had "fuss with a Stevenson Democrat".

literature

  • Jean H. Baker: The Stevensons: A Biography of An American Family. , WW Norton & Co, New York 1996, ISBN 0-393-03874-2 .
  • Porter McKeever: Adlai Stevenson: His Life and Legacy. William Morrow and Company, New York 1989, ISBN 0-688-06661-5 .

Web links

Wikisource: Stevenson's speech to the UN Security Council  - sources and full texts
Commons : Adlai Ewing Stevenson  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
Wikiquote: Adlai Ewing Stevenson  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Members of the American Academy. Listed by election year, 1950-1999 ( [1] ). Retrieved September 23, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Stevenson, Adlai Ewing junior
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stevenson, Adlai Ewing II
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH 5th February 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Los Angeles , California
DATE OF DEATH July 14, 1965
Place of death London , England