Adlai Stevenson III

Adlai Ewing Stevenson III (October 10, 1930 – September 6, 2021) was an American attorney and politician from Illinois. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the United States Senate from 1970 to 1981. A member of the prominent Stevenson family, he also served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Treasurer. He unsuccessfully ran for governor of Illinois in 1982 and 1986. He had been awarded Japan’s Order of the Sacred Treasure with gold and silver stars and was an honorary Professor of Renmin University of China. He received a law degree in 1957 from Harvard Law School. 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 Reserve and was discharged in 1961 as a captain.

Illinois House of Representatives (1965–1967)

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.

Stevenson served in the Illinois House from 1965 to 1967. During his time in the state house, he won a Best Legislator award from the Independent Voters of Illinois.

Tensions with Daley machine; Committee on Illinois Government

By the late-1960s, Stevenson was regarded as a leader of reform-minded (anti-establishment) politics in Illinois. He had a complicated dynamic with Mayor Richard J. Daley and the Daley-led political machine. He received Daley's support in his 1966 state treasurer campaign.In 1968, Stevenson unsuccessfully sought the political machine's slating to run for governor, but Daley preferred to support the nomination of Lieutenant Governor Sam Shapiro and his machine followed suit. Stevenson then turned his attention to running for United States Senate, but Daley and his machine instead slated State Attorney General William G. Clark. Soon after this, Stevenson spoke critically Daley publicly by faulting his handling of protesters during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. He later accused Daley of running a "feudal" political system based upon "patronage and fear."

Stevenson formed the Committee on Illinois Government, an informal group which also included William Singer and Abner Mikva. The group began holding meetings at Stevenson's Chicago home. In September 1969, the group held a large picnic event at Stevenson's Libertyville farm to which 15,000 reform-minded individuals were invited, of whom 8,000 attended. Attendees of the event were asked to sign the Libertyville Proclamation, which would call for the Democratic Party of Illinois to "end reliance upon the purchased loyalties of patronage". Mayor Daley crashed the event by attending himself, arriving in a limosine alongside Congressman Dan Rostenkowski, Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Matt Danaher, and State Auditor Michael Howlett. He then took the stage, and delivered a speech which pandered to the reform-minded crowd by highlighting Daley's past support for political candidates they appreciated, such as Stevenson's own father, the late president John F. Kennedy, and the former senator Paul Douglas. Having been blindsided by Daley, Stevenson threw out his own prepared marks and spoke positively of the Mayor in his own impromptu speech. At the same event, South Dakota U.S. Senator George McGovern shared news to the crowd that Illinois U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen had died in office. Daley would ultimately slate Stevenson to run in the special election for his seat, pacifying Stevenson's growing resistance to his machine.

1974

In 1974, Stevenson ran for re-election, and faced Republican George Burditt in the general election. He defeated Burditt by 726,612 votes.

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 United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics 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. He also introduced legislation requiring an end to all aid to South Vietnam by June 30, 1975.

Watergate scandal

Stevenson was highly critical of Republican President Richard 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." He was the first chairman of the United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics charged with implementing a code of ethics he helped draft. Stevenson was also chairman of a special Senate committee that reorganized the Senate and served on the United States Senate Democratic Policy Committee. He also conducted the first in-depth congressional study of terrorism as chairman of the Subcommittee on the Collection and Production of Intelligence, leading to introduction of the Comprehensive Counter Terrorism Act of 1971. His amendment received seven votes.</blockquote>

1976 Presidential election

Presidential bid

Stevenson was encouraged to run for president in 1976, which was fueled by Mayor 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.

Vice presidential finalist

Despite this, former governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia locked up the nomination before the 1976 Democratic National Convention, in New York City. Stevenson was, however, one of the finalists for vice president at the convention, though Carter eventually chose U.S. Senator Walter Mondale from Minnesota.

Retirement

Stevenson opted to not run for reelection in 1980 and returned to Illinois to practice law.

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." The initial vote count showed Stevenson winning; however, the final official count showed him losing by 0.14 percent. 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.

1986

In the 1986 statewide Democratic primaries, Democratic voters nominated allies of Lyndon LaRouche for lieutenant governor and secretary of state. 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. 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.

Later career

Business and cultural relations

After leaving the Senate, Stevenson was active in business and cultural relations with East Asia. and co-chairman of HuaMei Capital Company (the first Chinese-American investment bank).

Non-profit organizations

He also held many positions with non-profit organizations in this area. Stevenson was also a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.

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.

Death

Stevenson died from complications of Lewy body dementia at his home in Chicago on September 6, 2021, at age 90. Actor McLean Stevenson was his third cousin.

Marriage and children

Stevenson met his future wife, Nancy Anderson, in 1953 while he was in tank training at Fort Knox in preparation for his deployment to Japan and then Korea. The couple was married in 1955 at Nancy’s home outside of Louisville. Together, they had four children. His son Adlai Stevenson IV is a business executive and former journalist. Though Adlai IV had expressed his intention to be "Adlai the last," his son, Adlai Ewing Stevenson V, was born in the summer of 1994.

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.

References

Sources cited

External links

Political Science: Analysis of the 1986 election "debacle" in Illinois