Adlai E. Stevenson

Something of men I Have Known (Dodo Press) Adlai E. Stevenson

Adlai Ewing Stevenson I (1835-1914) was a Congressman from Illinois. He was admitted to the bar in 1858, at age 23, and commenced practice in Metamora, in Woodford County, Illinois. He was appointed master in chancery (an aide in a court of equity), his first public office, which he held during the Civil War. In 1864 he was a presidential elector for the Democratic ticket; he was also elected district attorney. He was Assistant Postmaster General during Grover Cleveland's first administration. During that time he fired over 40,000 Republican workers and replaced them with Democrats from the South. He was 23rd Vice President of the United States during Cleveland's second administration. Stevenson was mentioned as a candidate to succeed Cleveland in 1896. Although he chaired the Illinois delegation to the Democratic National Convention, he gained little support. In 1900, he was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Vice President on a ticket with William Jennings Bryan. He made one last attempt at office in a race for governor of Illinois in 1908, at age 72, narrowly losing.