Representative Adlai Ewing Stevenson

Adlai Ewing Stevenson was an American lawyer, legislator, and national officeholder who served as a Representative from Illinois in the United States Congress from 1875 to 1881 and later as Vice President of the United States from 1893 to 1897. Born Adlai Ewing Stevenson on October 23, 1835, in Christian County, Kentucky, he was a member of a family that would become one of the most prominent political dynasties in Illinois and national politics. His early years were spent in Kentucky before his family moved to Bloomington, Illinois, where he would establish his legal and political career. Raised in a period of sectional tension preceding the Civil War, Stevenson’s formative experiences in the Midwest helped shape his Democratic Party loyalties and his later positions on national issues.

Stevenson received his early education in local schools and pursued further study in the law, reading law in the traditional manner of the time rather than attending a formal law school. After being admitted to the bar, he began practicing law in Illinois, where he quickly became active in Democratic politics. His legal practice and growing reputation as an able advocate brought him into contact with leading figures of the Illinois bar and political community. During these years, he developed the connections and experience that would support his entry into elective office and national public service.

Stevenson’s early political career in Illinois culminated in his election to the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat. He served as a Representative from Illinois in the United States Congress from 1875 to 1881, contributing to the legislative process during two terms in office. His congressional service, which spanned the Forty-fourth through the Forty-sixth Congresses, occurred during a significant period in American history marked by the aftermath of Reconstruction, economic adjustment following the Panic of 1873, and debates over civil service reform and monetary policy. As a member of the House of Representatives, Adlai Ewing Stevenson participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his Illinois constituents, aligning himself with the Democratic Party’s positions of the era and gaining national visibility as a legislator.

After leaving Congress in 1881, Stevenson remained an influential figure in Democratic politics and public affairs. His congressional experience and party loyalty helped position him for higher national office. In 1892, he was selected as the Democratic nominee for Vice President on the ticket headed by Grover Cleveland. Elected that year, Stevenson served as Vice President of the United States from March 4, 1893, to March 4, 1897, during Cleveland’s second, nonconsecutive term. In that role, he presided over the Senate at a time of intense debate over economic policy, including the severe Panic of 1893 and controversies surrounding the gold and silver standards. His vice presidency capped a long career in public life and solidified his standing as a leading Democrat of his generation.

In his later years, Stevenson remained a respected elder statesman within his party and in Illinois public life. He witnessed the continuation of his family’s political legacy through his descendants. His grandson, Adlai Stevenson II (1900–1965), served as Governor of Illinois from 1949 to 1953, was the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1952 and 1956 and a leading candidate again in 1960, and later served as United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 1961 to 1965. His great-grandson, Adlai Stevenson III (1930–2021), served as a United States Senator from Illinois from 1970 to 1981 and was a Democratic candidate for Governor of Illinois in 1982 and 1986. Through these successive generations, the Stevenson family became closely associated with public service at the state, national, and international levels.

Adlai Ewing Stevenson died on June 14, 1914, leaving behind a record of service that spanned the post–Civil War era through the close of the nineteenth century. His career as a Congressman from Illinois from 1875 to 1881 and as Vice President of the United States from 1893 to 1897, together with the later achievements of his descendants, secured his place in American political history and in the enduring Stevenson family tradition of public office.