President Kennedy and United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Adlai Stevenson meet in the Oval Office August 3, 1961
Adlai E. Stevenson
United States Ambassador to the United Nations, 1961-1965
Place of BirthLos Angeles, California, United States
Place of DeathLondon, England
U.S. statesman and diplomat, who twice was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the presidency. The grandson of vice president Adlai E. Stevenson, he was born in Los Angeles and educated at Princeton, Harvard, and Northwestern universities. Admitted to the Illinois bar in 1926, he practiced law in Chicago from 1926 to 1931 and 1934 to 1941. Between 1931 and 1934 Stevenson served in the federal government as special counsel first to the Agricultural Adjustment Administration and later to the Federal Alcohol Control Administration. He was special assistant and counsel in the Department of the Navy from 1941 until 1944, when he joined the Department of State. In 1945 he attended the United Nations Charter conference in San Francisco as adviser and press secretary to the U.S. delegation; he was also a U.S. delegate to the General Assembly at the UN's second and third sessions. At the end of 1947 Stevenson, who had been contemplating a career in politics, decided to seek election as governor of Illinois; he was elected in 1948. During his 4-year term he effected many reforms in such areas as health and education, curbing gambling operations, highway construction, and civil service. In 1952 Stevenson was drafted to be the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party. He was defeated in the general election by the Republican nominee, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Four years later Stevenson again sought the presidency and was again defeated by Eisenhower. In both campaigns Stevenson's speeches attracted worldwide attention and praise for their idealism. Returning to Chicago to practice law, Stevenson remained a spokesman for the Democratic Party, and in 1960 president-elect John F. Kennedy appointed him U.S. ambassador to the UN, a post he held until his death. Stevenson was the author of several books, collections of his speeches and essays, including A Call to Greatness (1954) and Looking Outward: Years of Crisis at the United Nations (1963).