Recent from talks
Adlai Stevenson I
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Adlai Stevenson I
Adlai Ewing Stevenson I (October 23, 1835 – June 14, 1914) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 23rd vice president of the United States from 1893 to 1897 under President Grover Cleveland. A member of the Democratic Party, Stevenson served as a U.S. Representative for Illinois in the late 1870s and early 1880s. He was the founder of the Stevenson political family.
Appointed assistant postmaster general of the United States in 1885, during Cleveland's first administration, Stevenson fired many Republican postal workers and replaced them with Southern Democrats. This earned him the enmity of the Republican-controlled Congress, but made him a favorite as Cleveland's running mate in 1892, and he was elected vice president of the United States. During his term of office, Stevenson supported the free-silver lobby against the gold-standard men like Cleveland, but was praised for governing in a dignified, non-partisan manner. He became the first vice president to serve under a president who won a non-consecutive second term for a second presidency.
In 1900, he ran for vice president with William Jennings Bryan. He was the paternal grandfather of Adlai Stevenson II, a governor of Illinois and the unsuccessful Democratic presidential nominee in both 1952 and 1956.
Adlai Ewing Stevenson was born in Christian County, Kentucky, on October 23, 1835, to John Turner and Eliza Ann Ewing Stevenson, Wesleyans of Scots-Irish descent. The Stevenson family is first recorded (as the Stephensons) in Roxburghshire, Scotland, in the early 18th century. The family appears to have had some wealth, as a private chapel in the Archdiocese of St Andrews bears their name. At some point, probably shortly after the Jacobite rising of 1715, the family migrated to County Antrim, Ireland, near Belfast. At least one Stephenson was a police officer. Adlai's great-grandfather William Stephenson was a tailor who specialized in millinery. After William's father died in the 1730s, his family moved to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. William joined when his apprenticeship was completed in 1748.
In 1762, the family moved to what became Iredell County, North Carolina. Including lands given to his children, William Stephenson (Stevenson after the American Revolution) had amassed 3,400 acres (1,400 ha) of land by the time of his death. One branch of the family, including Adlai Stevenson's father, then moved to Kentucky in 1813.
Stevenson was born on the family farm in Christian County. He attended Blue Water School in what became Herndon, Kentucky.[citation needed] His childhood playmates included James A. McKenzie, a future representative for Kentucky, and Amanda Barkley, the grandmother of future Vice President Alben W. Barkley. In 1850, when he was 14, frost killed the family's tobacco crop. Two years later, his father set free their few slaves and the family moved to Bloomington, Illinois, where his father operated a sawmill. Stevenson attended Illinois Wesleyan University at Bloomington and graduated from Centre College, in Danville, Kentucky, where he joined Phi Delta Theta. His father's death prompted Stevenson to return from Kentucky to Illinois to run the sawmill.
Stevenson studied law with Bloomington attorney Robert E. Williams. He was admitted to the bar in 1858, and commenced practice in Metamora. As a young lawyer, Stevenson encountered such celebrated Illinois attorneys as Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln, and he campaigned for Douglas in his 1858 Senate race against Lincoln. Stevenson's dislike of Lincoln might have been prompted by a contentious meeting, at which Lincoln made several witty quips disparaging Stevenson. Stevenson made speeches against the "Know-Nothing" movement, a nativist group opposed to immigrants and Catholics. That stand helped cement his support in Illinois' large German and Irish communities.[citation needed] In a predominantly Republican area, the Democratic Stevenson won friends through his storytelling and his warm and engaging personality.
Stevenson was state's attorney of Woodford County beginning in 1859. During the American Civil War, he was appointed a master in chancery (an aide in a court of equity). In 1864 Stevenson was a presidential elector for the Democratic ticket.
Hub AI
Adlai Stevenson I AI simulator
(@Adlai Stevenson I_simulator)
Adlai Stevenson I
Adlai Ewing Stevenson I (October 23, 1835 – June 14, 1914) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 23rd vice president of the United States from 1893 to 1897 under President Grover Cleveland. A member of the Democratic Party, Stevenson served as a U.S. Representative for Illinois in the late 1870s and early 1880s. He was the founder of the Stevenson political family.
Appointed assistant postmaster general of the United States in 1885, during Cleveland's first administration, Stevenson fired many Republican postal workers and replaced them with Southern Democrats. This earned him the enmity of the Republican-controlled Congress, but made him a favorite as Cleveland's running mate in 1892, and he was elected vice president of the United States. During his term of office, Stevenson supported the free-silver lobby against the gold-standard men like Cleveland, but was praised for governing in a dignified, non-partisan manner. He became the first vice president to serve under a president who won a non-consecutive second term for a second presidency.
In 1900, he ran for vice president with William Jennings Bryan. He was the paternal grandfather of Adlai Stevenson II, a governor of Illinois and the unsuccessful Democratic presidential nominee in both 1952 and 1956.
Adlai Ewing Stevenson was born in Christian County, Kentucky, on October 23, 1835, to John Turner and Eliza Ann Ewing Stevenson, Wesleyans of Scots-Irish descent. The Stevenson family is first recorded (as the Stephensons) in Roxburghshire, Scotland, in the early 18th century. The family appears to have had some wealth, as a private chapel in the Archdiocese of St Andrews bears their name. At some point, probably shortly after the Jacobite rising of 1715, the family migrated to County Antrim, Ireland, near Belfast. At least one Stephenson was a police officer. Adlai's great-grandfather William Stephenson was a tailor who specialized in millinery. After William's father died in the 1730s, his family moved to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. William joined when his apprenticeship was completed in 1748.
In 1762, the family moved to what became Iredell County, North Carolina. Including lands given to his children, William Stephenson (Stevenson after the American Revolution) had amassed 3,400 acres (1,400 ha) of land by the time of his death. One branch of the family, including Adlai Stevenson's father, then moved to Kentucky in 1813.
Stevenson was born on the family farm in Christian County. He attended Blue Water School in what became Herndon, Kentucky.[citation needed] His childhood playmates included James A. McKenzie, a future representative for Kentucky, and Amanda Barkley, the grandmother of future Vice President Alben W. Barkley. In 1850, when he was 14, frost killed the family's tobacco crop. Two years later, his father set free their few slaves and the family moved to Bloomington, Illinois, where his father operated a sawmill. Stevenson attended Illinois Wesleyan University at Bloomington and graduated from Centre College, in Danville, Kentucky, where he joined Phi Delta Theta. His father's death prompted Stevenson to return from Kentucky to Illinois to run the sawmill.
Stevenson studied law with Bloomington attorney Robert E. Williams. He was admitted to the bar in 1858, and commenced practice in Metamora. As a young lawyer, Stevenson encountered such celebrated Illinois attorneys as Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln, and he campaigned for Douglas in his 1858 Senate race against Lincoln. Stevenson's dislike of Lincoln might have been prompted by a contentious meeting, at which Lincoln made several witty quips disparaging Stevenson. Stevenson made speeches against the "Know-Nothing" movement, a nativist group opposed to immigrants and Catholics. That stand helped cement his support in Illinois' large German and Irish communities.[citation needed] In a predominantly Republican area, the Democratic Stevenson won friends through his storytelling and his warm and engaging personality.
Stevenson was state's attorney of Woodford County beginning in 1859. During the American Civil War, he was appointed a master in chancery (an aide in a court of equity). In 1864 Stevenson was a presidential elector for the Democratic ticket.
Recent media