This page is about Grover Cleveland's Vice-President; for the unsuccessful Presidential contender from the 1950s, see Adlai Stevenson; for the U.S. Senator from Illinois during the 1970s, see Adlai Stevenson III.

Adlai Ewing Stevenson I (October 23, 1835 – June 14, 1914) was a Representative from Illinois and the twenty-third Vice President of the United States.

Early life

Stevenson was born in Christian County, Kentucky and moved with his parents to Bloomington, Illinois in 1852. He attended Illinois Wesleyan University at Bloomington and Centre College, Danville, Kentucky. Stevenson was admitted to the bar in 1858 and commenced practice in Metamora, Woodford County, Illinois.

Political life

The beginning

He was a presidential elector on the Democratic ticket in 1864. He was district attorney from 1865 to 1868. He was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1875-March 3, 1877).

Rise to power

He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1876 but was elected to the Forty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1879-March 3, 1881). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1880. He was First Assistant Postmaster General 1885-1889, then elected Vice President of the United States on the Democratic ticket headed by Grover Cleveland in 1892. He was inaugurated March 4, 1893, and served until March 3, 1897. He was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Vice President in 1900 and for governor of Illinois in 1908.

Retirement

Adlai E. Stevenson I retired from public and political activities and resided in Bloomington. He died in Chicago, Illinois and is interred in Bloomington Cemetery, Bloomington, Illinois.

Legacy

Stevenson's son, Lewis G. Stevenson, was Illinois secretary of state (1914-1917). Stevenson's grandson Adlai Ewing Stevenson II was Democratic candidate for President of the United States. His great-grandson, Adlai Ewing Stevenson III, was a U.S. senator from Illinois. Another grandson is actor McLean Stevenson. A section of Interstate 55 in Chicago is named for him.

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
Levi P. Morton | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Vice President of the United States
March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1897 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Garret Hobart

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
Arthur Sewall | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Democratic Party Vice Presidential candidate
1900 (lost) | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Henry G. Davis