Adlai Ewing Stevenson

            
            
             Stevenson was born in Los Angeles, California on February 5, 1900. His family background in politics made it impossible for Adlai to avoid it. His grandfather, the first Adlai E. Stevenson, had served as vice president during Grover Cleveland's second term. His maternal great-grandfather, Jesse Fell, one of the founders of the Republican Party, was a close friend of Abraham Lincoln and was the first to suggest that he should run for president. Stevenson's parents made sure that his knowledge was not limited to Bloomington, Ill., where he spent most of his life. Adlai traveled extensively in America and Europe and was educated at the Choate School, Princeton, Harvard, and Northwestern University. He received his B. A. from Princeton in 1922 and his law degree from Northwestern in 1926. He married Ellen Borden in 1928.The couple had three sons. Stevenson was elected governor of Illinois in 1948.He won by 572,067 votes, which was the largest majority in Illinois at that time. A year later, Stevenson and his wife got divorced.
             Stevenson's electoral triumph and his record as governor was more than enough proof that he was presidential material for the 1952 election. He was flattered,, but he wanted to serve as governor for a second term. During his four-year administration as governor, Stevenson improved Illinois's police force, highways, educational system, and welfare programs. He couldn't resist the pressures caused by President Truman and other party leaders, so he agreed to challenge the Republican candidate, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Stevenson's campaign won him many supporters, but it wasn't enough to win him the election. Stevenson captured only nine states. The electoral vote was 442 to 89.He campaigned against Eisenhower again in 1956, but was also unsuccessful.
             He defended Truman's foreign policy of containment, but rejected the President's "give 'em hell" approach instead of "talking sense" to the American people.