Editing Adlai Stevenson I (section)

==Vice presidency (1893–1897)==
[[File:23 Adlai E. Stevenson 3x4.jpg|left|thumb|Stevenson, c. 1892]]
Cleveland was renominated for president on the first ballot at the [[1892 Democratic National Convention]] in Chicago. At the time, the vice presidency was considered a "final resting place for has-beens and never-wases." Nonetheless, Stevenson's brothers and cousins advocated for his nomination for the position. Likewise,  [[Carter Harrison III]] (the [[mayor of Chicago]]) threw his support behind Stevenson as a native son, believing that he could influence the state to vote Democratic. Stevenson was nominated on the first ballot.{{sfn|Baker|1997|pp=146–147}}

Stevenson backed off his former support of greenbacks in favor of Cleveland's gold standard policy. Unlike Cleveland, who only appeared once in public to support his candidacy, Stevenson traveled with his wife across the country. Cleveland's advisers sent Stevenson to the South to curb the growing appeal of the [[People's Party (United States)|Populist Party]]. With his Kentucky roots, Stevenson proved popular at his Southern engagements. Stevenson also publicly opposed the [[Lodge Bill]], a proposed bill which would have enfranchised Southern blacks.{{sfn|Baker|1997|pp=148–150}} The winning Cleveland-Stevenson ticket carried Illinois, although not Stevenson's home district.

[[File:1892DemocraticPoster.png|right|thumb|A campaign poster for "Cleve and Steve"]]
Civil service reformers held out hope for the second Cleveland administration but saw Vice President Stevenson as a symbol of the [[spoils system]]. He never hesitated to feed names of Democrats to the Post Office Department. Once he called at the [[US Treasury Department]] to protest against an appointment and was shown a letter he had written endorsing the candidate. Stevenson told the treasury officials not to pay attention to any of his written endorsements; if he really favored someone he would tell them personally.

A habitual [[cigar]]-smoker, Cleveland developed [[oral cancer]] requiring immediate surgery in the summer of 1893. The president insisted the surgery be kept secret to avoid another [[financial panic|panic]] on [[Wall Street]]. While on a [[yacht]] in [[New York Harbor]] that summer, Cleveland had part of his [[upper jaw]] removed and replaced with an artificial device in an operation that left no outward scar. The cancer surgery remained secret for another quarter century. Cleveland's aides explained that he had merely had dental work. His vice president little realized how close he came to the presidency that summer.

Adlai Stevenson enjoyed his role as vice president, presiding over the U.S. Senate, "the most august legislative assembly known to men." He won praise for ruling in a dignified, nonpartisan manner. In personal appearance he stood six feet tall and was "of fine personal bearing and uniformly courteous to all." Although he was often a guest at the White House, Stevenson admitted that he was less an adviser to the president than "the neighbor to his counsels." He credited the President with being "courteous at all times" but noted that "no guards were necessary to the preservation of his dignity. No one would have thought of undue familiarity." For his part, President Cleveland snorted that the Vice President had surrounded himself with a coterie of free-silver men dubbed the "Stevenson cabinet." The president even mused that the economy had gotten so bad and the Democratic Party so divided that "the logical thing for me to do ... was to resign and hand the Executive branch to Mr. Stevenson," joking that he would try to get his friends jobs in Stevenson's new cabinet.