Editing Adlai Stevenson II (section)

{{Short description|American politician and diplomat (1900–1965)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Adlai Stevenson II
| image               = Portrait of Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson II (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Official portrait, 1961
| order               = 5th
| ambassador_from     = United States
| country             = the United Nations
| president           = {{ubl|[[John F. Kennedy]]|[[Lyndon B. Johnson]]}}
| term_start          = January 23, 1961
| term_end            = July 14, 1965
| predecessor         = [[James Jeremiah Wadsworth]]
| successor           = [[Arthur Goldberg]]
| order1              = 31st
| office1             = Governor of Illinois
| lieutenant1         = [[Sherwood Dixon]]
| term_start1         = January 10, 1949
| term_end1           = January 12, 1953
| predecessor1        = [[Dwight H. Green]]
| successor1          = [[William Stratton]]
| birth_name          = Adlai Ewing Stevenson II
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1900|2|5}}
| birth_place         = [[Los Angeles]], California, U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1965|7|14|1900|2|5}}
| death_place         = [[London]], England
| restingplace        = [[Evergreen Cemetery (Bloomington, Illinois)|Evergreen Cemetery]]
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Ellen Stevenson|Ellen Borden]]|1928|1949|end=div}}
| children            = 3, including [[Adlai Stevenson III|Adlai III]]
| father              = [[Lewis Stevenson (politician)|Lewis Stevenson]]
| relatives           = [[Stevenson family]]
| education           = {{ubl|[[Princeton University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])|[[Northwestern University]] ([[Juris Doctor|JD]])}}
| allegiance          = <!-- United States -->
| branch              = [[United States Navy]]
| serviceyears        = 1918–1919
| rank                = [[Seaman second class]]
| battles             = [[World War I]]
| battles_label       = Wars
| unit                = Princeton Naval Unit
| signature           = Adlai Stevenson Signature.svg
}}
'''Adlai Ewing Stevenson II''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|d|l|eɪ}}; February 5, 1900 – July 14, 1965) was an American politician and diplomat who was the [[United States ambassador to the United Nations]] from 1961 until his death in 1965. He previously served as the 31st [[governor of Illinois]] from 1949 to 1953 and was the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[president of the United States]] in [[1952 United States presidential election|1952]] and [[1956 United States presidential election|1956]], losing both elections to [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in [[Landslide victory|landslides]]. Stevenson was the grandson of [[Adlai Stevenson I|Adlai Stevenson]], the 23rd vice president of the United States. He was raised in [[Bloomington, Illinois]], and was a member of the [[History of the Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]].<ref>(Baker, pp. 9–10, 335–337)</ref> He served in many positions in the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] during the 1930s and 1940s, including the [[Agricultural Adjustment Administration]], [[Federal Alcohol Administration]], [[United States Department of the Navy|Department of the Navy]], and the [[United States Department of State|State Department]]. In 1945, he served on the committee that created the United Nations, and was a member of the initial U.S. delegations to the UN.

In 1948, Stevenson was [[1948 Illinois gubernatorial election|elected governor of Illinois]], defeating incumbent governor [[Dwight H. Green]] in an upset. As governor, Stevenson reformed the state police, cracked down on illegal gambling, improved the state highways, and attempted to cleanse the state government of corruption. Stevenson also sought, with mixed success, to reform the Illinois state constitution and introduced several crime bills in the state legislature.

In 1952 and 1956, Stevenson was chosen as the Democratic nominee for president but was defeated in a landslide by Eisenhower both times. In 1960, he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination for a third time at the [[1960 Democratic National Convention|Democratic National Convention]]. After President [[John F. Kennedy]] was elected, he appointed Stevenson as the United States ambassador to the United Nations (UN). Two major events Stevenson dealt with during his time as UN ambassador were the [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]] of Cuba in April 1961 and the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] in October 1962. He was still serving as UN ambassador when he suffered a heart attack during a visit to London on July 14, 1965, dying later that day at the age of 65. He is buried in [[Evergreen Cemetery (Bloomington, Illinois)|Evergreen Cemetery]] in his hometown of Bloomington, Illinois.