Transcripts For CSPAN The Contenders Adlai Stevenson 20240712

Now that youve made your decision, i will fight to win that office with all of my heart and soul. With your help, i have no doubt that we will win. Help me to do the job of conflict and of campaign. We will justify our glorious task and the loyalty of millions who look to us for compassion, for understanding, and for honesty. We will serve our great tradition greatly. I ask of you all you have. I will give you all i have. That was our contender this week, Adlai Stevenson, excepting the democratic nomination for president in 1952. We are joined by Richard Norton smith in libertyville, illinois. Who was this oneterm governor of illinois . For millions of americans, that is all he was. The oneterm governor of illinois. They have never heard a voice like his. They did not know that a Political Revolution was being touched off that night. For the next decade, Adlai Stevenson would be the voice of the Democratic Party, someone you would transform american politics, even though he was never successful in his quest for the white house. How did he get the nomination in 1952 . He is the last candidate to be drafted. He is the last candidate to require one more balanced at the convention. He did not want the nomination is the short answer. There was a vacuum in the Democratic Party. Harry truman was retiring. There was no obvious successor. Adlai stevenson did a remarkable welcoming address at the Chicago Convention that had the effect on most of William Jennings bryant. It touched off a couple days later, he was delivering the speech you just heard. Welcome to libertyville and the contenders. Were looking at the man who ran for president and changed american politics. Tonight, our focus is adlais stevenson, 1900 to 1965. We are joined by a wellknown author and historian Richard Norton smith. Ere live from libertyville, ill. In just a minute, well be joined by newton minow, who worked at new Adlai Stevenson. We will be joined by senator Adlai Stevenson iii, the son of Adlai Stevenson. Richard norton smith, before we leave the office, there are some things sitting around that we want to learn a little bit more about it. First of all, what is this a hand . Stevenson said that he suffered from a bad case of hereditary politics. There are multiple to narrations of stevenson generations of stevensons in the story. The link in connection was a very powerful one. Lincoln connection was a very powerful one. This is a cast of lincolns hand. Also on the desks is an address book. Some of the names and this address book include eleanor roosevelt, Jackie Kennedy, john steinbeck. It hence he was a very unusual, a nonpolitician and a new ways. He in many ways. Eventually, by millions of americans who proudly declared themselves stevensonians. Standing between us is this old office chair. Cabinetis stevensons terror. He had an historic stand of the american passenger to the United Nations. He was made a member of the cabinet, this is the chair that commemorate spot. Somewhat difficult relationship that he had with the Kennedy Administration. You referred to the dynasty, the stephenson political dynasty. Here on the wall or some artifacts. Whitevernor stevensons said his grandfather was Vice President of the United States. Under grover cleveland. He ran again in 1900 under William Jennings bryant. This is grandfather stevensons hat. Thank you for joining us tonight. Live from libertyville, we will work our way it over to the barn on the family farm. We are currently in the study. Next to it is a barn. This is a working farm at some point. We will work our way over there where there is a new display about Adlai Stevenson. First, we want to show you some Campaign Commercials so you can see some of the video of Adlai Stevenson. These are from 1956 and 1952. One of them was felt right here in this study. I am sitting right here in my own library. Thanks to television, i can talk to millions of people that i could not reach any other way. I am not going to let this spoil me. I am not going to stop traveling in this campaign. I can talk to you, but i cannot listen to you. I cannot hear about your problems, about your hopes and your affairs. To do that, i have to go out and see you in person. That is what i have been doing. For the past several years, ive traveled all over this country. I have been in every state. I have met thousands of you and millions of you have seen me in. Stevenson i would rather have a man with a hole in his shoes and a man with a hole in everything he says. I would rather have a man that knows what to do when it gets to be the prez. I know the gov will bring the peace and joy adlai, love you madly but you did for your own great state you are going to do for the rest of the 48 old macdonald had a farm back in the 31 conditions filled him with alarm back in 31 to vote for Adlai Stevenson a vote vote there of vote for stevenson everywhere all the america loves that farm if you should allow it to be your president , next november, i should be the better for having done it, i am sure. Because i know that the strength and wisdom that i need must be drawn from you and the people. Finally, i hope the next time we meet, it will be a person to person and face to face. I am Adlai Stevenson. You and i have been hearing from our republican friends that things are so good, they could not be better. Do you think that things cannot be better for the smallbusiness man, like this one . Small business profits are down 52 . That they cannot be better for our farmers . Like these . Farm income is down 25 . Our year schools good enough for the richest nation in history . A third they need a third of a million more classrooms. What about you . Are you out of that . You have a comfortable bank role in the bank . Are you paying less for the things that you buy . Or more . Do you really think things cannot be better . Of course they can. Working together, we will make them better. Vote democratic. Rising cost of farming. Lower farm income. Caught in a squeeze. A vote democratic, the party for you, not just the few. Vote for Adlai Stevenson. We are back live at the stevenson farm in libertyville. We are now joined by newton minow. He is the former chairman of the federal communications commission. For our purposes tonight, he has worked with and was an associate of Adlai Stevenson for many years. Newton minow if you could start by telling us when did you first meet of honor gov. Stevenson . I was a law clerk at the supreme court. One of our professors came to visit one day. He later offered my coclerk a job as his assistant in springfield. It turned out that howard was not interested, but i was. I ended up being interviewed by the governor. At 7 00 for breakfast in the spring of 1952. He said to me, if i hire you, young man, it is there any reason why he would not take the job . It is my current boss runs for president , and it was rumored that he would be a candidate, if he asked me to stay with them, i would like to do that. The governor looked at me and said, i do not think that is very likely. I then drove into his next appointment. I went to work at the supreme court. I picked up the new york times. It said truman offers stevenson the president ial nomination. This was the morning after president truman had asked him to run. I was hired and are reported for work. What was the known for as governor . Even as a student, i worked in his campaign in 1948. He was known as being totally honest, which was not necessarily a prerequisite for election in illinois. He was a different kind of candidate. He was honest, and he was an intellectual, he cared deeply about to good government. He brought a whole different culture to the office of governor. Richard norton smith, 1952, sets the stage for us. There was a sense that the democrats have been power for 20 years. Even the most partisan democrat fact that perhaps the party and the country would be well served by a change. The great issue was which Republican Party would replace harry truman if harry truman were to leave . Would it be be isolationist conservative midwestern party or would it be the International Modern republican of the eisenhower . Stevenson had to calculate the chances of which party he might be running against. He was very reluctant to iran. He did not want to run. He was very reluctant to iran. He did not want to run. He did not want to run against dwight eisenhower. It was like running against jesus christ. If it had been robert taft as the opponent, Adlai Stevenson would have relished running. There would have been a clear difference in philosophy. You have to remember the democrats tried to draft general eisenhower. The democrats tried to give eisenhower to run as a democrat. Eisenhower was a candidate of both parties. Newton minow, when Adlai Stevenson did the welcoming address at the Democratic National convention in chicago in 1962 in 1962, was he considered a candidate . He was not that well known. I remember the first time he appeared on national television. He was on meet the press. He was never any good on television. He was a lot of fun and a great personality and you always went away feeling better about yourself. When you watched him on television, he was either nervous, but he was never himself. The country did not know him. He gets the welcoming address and he gets drafted, went on the second or third ballot. That is right. It was really unfortunate because the timing was wrong. If he had run for president against dwight eisenhower, he, of lakewood of one. Remember how he probably could have won. Who did you pick for a running mate . Senator fromman, alabama. He had to worry about keeping the solid south solid. Exactly. Was picked at the last minute. The city had a relationship . Not really. The way we do things in this country did you want to be on the 52 ticket . He was always interested in running for president. Adlai stevenson did not like him. He ended up being the Vice President in 56. Harry truman might tempt even less like to him even less. Harry truman in 1952 and its relationship with Adlai Stevenson. He is regarded as a great president. To commit the United States to the cold war. The fact is at the time, he was a very unpopular president. The korean war was an unpopular war. He fired douglas macarthur, there is a consensus that we did the right thing for the right reason, but at great political cost. Harry truman had been in power seven years. He had decided seven years was enough. He had the power to permit 10 from becoming the nominee. He probably had the power to make Adlai Stevenson the nominee. Without power went to the dead weight of the truman administration. My sense is that true men and truamn and stevensons relationship never quite recovered. There was another factor. There was a lot of corruption in the Democratic Party. There had been a scandal with one of president trumans ts. Istanc it was not a happy thing to become the nominee in 1952. As i left the supreme court, i went to see the chief justice to say goodbye. He was very Close Friends with truman. The chief said to me, your guy is not going to make it. I said, what . He said, i was with the president last night. He told me that he has lost patience with Adlai Stevenson. It is going to be barkley. They tried to get it for barkley, but everybody said, he is too old. We are live from libertyville, the stevenson family farm, about 40 miles outside of chicago. The phone numbers are on the screen because we want to hear from you as well. The results in 1952, by the way, that election was held 59 years ago tonight, november 4, 1952. Adlai stevenson wons 27 million votes. He got 89 electoral votes and won nine states. Dwight eisenhower, 442 electoral votes. He won the 34 million votes. He won the rest of the states, which would have been 41 states. One thing to keep in mind is compared with 1948. In losing, stevenson got 3 million more votes than truman had three years earlier. Dwight eisenhower got 12 million more votes. You have the largest increase in Voter Participation since the 18 twenties. You had two outstanding candidates. Each were able to excite the electorate. Here is a little bit more of Adlai Stevenson at the 1952 convention. What does concern me is not just winning this election. But how it is one. How we can take advantage of this great opportunity to debate issues sensibly and soberly. I hope and pray that we democrats will win or lose, can campaign, not as a crusade to exterminate the opposing party, as our pundit seem to prefer, but as a great opportunity to educate and elevate a people whose destiny is leadership. Peopleell the american the truth, there are no gameins without pain. Newton minow, where were you 59 years ago tonight . I was in the governors mansion. One thing that topped the American People about stevenson was the way he conceded defeat. He gave the most graceful, patriotic talk. He pledged to support president eisenhower. He ended with a story that he remembered from abraham lincoln. It was a story about a little boy who stubbed his toe in the dark. He said, it hurts too much to laugh, but i am not old enough to cry. People saw his character with that. He was a patriot who loved his country and was willing to support a new president. Lets take some calls. The first call is paul in iowa. Hello. I want to thank cspan for doing this. This is a great series. I have recently finished reading he puts forth a very negative view of Adlai Stevenson campaign for president. He claimed he spent too much time attacking nixon. It was a blemish on a very stellar career. The think that the campaign was a low point of stevensons political career . Did he spend too much time attacking nixon . Should she have focused on farm issues more . Should he have focused on war and peace issues . Thank you very much. Lets start with newton minow. 1956 campaign. 1956 campaign, in my opinion, was not as stellar as it was the 1952 campaign. The reason for the emphasis on nixon in 1956 was the fact that president eisenhower had suffered a bad heart attack and had some bad health problems. There was great concern in the country of what would happen if present eisenhower president eisenhower was reelected and he died during the second term and nixon became president. There was a good reason to go after nixon because nixon did not have the character to be president. I think the 1956 campaign, from a historical standpoint, it is the campaign that laid the groundwork for the new frontier. That is the campaign when Adlai Stevenson embraced the idea of a Nuclear Test Ban treaty. That is the campaign when he endorsed a constitutional amendment so 18yearolds could vote. In terms of foreshadowing policy to, 1956 turns out to open a fountainhead of ideas. You are right, the last speech on election eve where he said the medical evidence suggested a real possibility that Richard Nixon would become president. That is something that tom dewey had not done in 1944 under somewhat similar circumstances. You did not go there. In some ways, he paid a price for that. You are right. The Nuclear Test Ban, which was very unpopular point of view to take in 1956, he took it very courageously because he believed in it deeply. He said someone asked what the weapons would be in world war iv, and he said there would be sticks and stones. Between 1952 and 1956, was Adlai Stevenson and going to get the nomination again . I would have to answer that with a yes and no. He hoped that might someday be president , but he also knew that if you ran against president eisenhower again, the odds were very much against them. I was one of the few people around him that kurds to and not to run in 1956. He felt an obligation to the Democratic Party. Here is a little bit of Adlai Stevenson at the 1956 convention. I come here on a solid mission. Solemn mission. I accept your nomination and your program. [applause] i pledged to every resource of mind and strength that i possess to make a good win for our country and our party. Four years ago, i stood in this same place and under those same words to you. Four years ago, i did not seek the honor that you bestowed upon me. This time, as he may have noticed, it was not entirely unsolicited. [laughter] [applause] there is another big difference. That time, we lost. This time, we will win. [applause] newton minow, you started laughing what you listen to that video. When he said it was unsolicited, it reminded me. In 1955, stevenson gave a speech at the university of texas and i was asked to go with them. It was right after president eisenhower had suffered his heart attack. Lyndon johnson, the majority leader of the senate, had also suffered a heart attack. We were to spend the night at londons branch lyndons grant. We got there late. Mrs. Johnson was very upset because the doctor told her about Lyndon Johnson should be sleeping. And he was get up he was up until 2 00 in the morning. On the way home, just the two of us for traveling. Adlai stevenson said to me, if i want the nomination next year, i will have to run in the primaries. I said, they are right. If president eisenhower does not to run, every democrat is going to want the nomination and youll have to fight for it. If president eisenhower does run, you ought to forget about it. He said, i am not going to run in those primaries. I am not going to be a candidate like i am running for sheriff. I am not gone to do. Of course, he ended up doing it because that is where the system that is the way the system operated. Joe m. Los angeles, we are talking about Adlai Stevenson. I want to jump ahead to the 1960s. What you thought his relationship with the kennedys was. I know he was nominated in that convention and because of that, there were still feelings with jack kennedy. What would have happened if he had been made secretary of state . With this situation in vietnam have been different . Lets start with Richard Norton smith. That is a very wide subjects. It is certainly true that it was not a warm relationship between the kennedys and governor stevenson. In 1956, he had done something no one else had done. He had thrown at the nomination for the vice presidency opened. He left the convention decide. Jack kennedy came with then an eyebrow with an eyebrow of winning the nomination. In the end, it introduced into the country, paved the way for his campaign in 1960. It is also safe to say that the way in which gov. Stevenson one of the distinguished visitors that came to this house was jack kennedy. He very much wanted Adlai Stevensons endorsements, who did not get it. If he was ever going to be secretary of state, i think that possibility went down the drain right then. We will talk a little bit later about the kennedy relationship and his years as u. N. Ambassador. The results in 1956, Adlai Stevenson won 73 electoral votes. He got 26 million votes, about 1 million less than he got four years earlier. Dwight eisenhower, 457 electoral votes. He won 41 states. It was the last election were there were only 48 states in the nation. Dwight eisenhower won about 35 million votes. Our next call, akron, ohio. Thank you. This is a great honor to be watching this type of program. I have a comment and a question. Richard norton smith stole my thunder about the 1956 convention and jack kennedy. One of my favorite comments was something that harry truman said about Adlai Stevenson, that is spent more time thinking about what he was going to do rather than doing it. He spent a lot more time talking to College President s that he did to cabdrivers. Anyway, 1956, Richard Norton smith made a comment to Adlai Stevenson doing something unprecedented in, opening the conviction the convention to picking a Vice President ial nominee. Very few people really know there were two other candidates in contention for that position. Hubert humphrey and al gore sr. Seeing as how jack kennedy was out of it, would that tickets have been a little bit better had it have been al gore sr. Or Hubert Humphrey . Also, i guess what i was going to say lets leave it there. That is a lot of questions. Certainly, kefauver did not help. I think what richardson about kennedy was exactly correct. The opportunity to be at the convention and to be seen as a Vice President ial possibility introduced jack kennedy to the country. I remember a few years later, i saw him at a dinner and i said, jack, if you are so interested, you can get be nomination for Vice President next time. He said, vicepresident . I am going to run for president. He was only 39 years old. The caller raises a point that i am sure the governor stevenson kurds many times during his lifetime. The notion that talked over the heads of people. What was his reaction to that . I think he did not talk over the heads of the people. They used to call them an egghead. He is to make fun of that. Eggheads of the world unite. You have nothing to lose but your yolks. I think he reached people. He had a great sense of humor. One time he gave a speech in san francisco. A woman came of to him after the speech and said governor, after that speech, every thinking american is going to vote for you. And he said, thank you, madame. Unfortunately, i need a majority. He knew what the situation was. Next call comes from tennessee. Thank you. It is a great show. My father was an academic and i grew up in washington, d. C. And remember my father talking about how great Adlai Stevenson was. The reason i am calling this the i was struck by the 1952 electoral map. It seems like a sparkman strategy one. Won. He did not get tennessee and he did not give his own state, illinois. I think it pained him that in id read those president ial elections, he won illinois. He had been elected governor of illinois by the largest margin in the history of the state. They elected this new deal liberal democrats and it was not surprising that he counted on winning it in 1952. If he had run for governor in 1952, even with president eisenhowers running on the republican he would have won the governorship again by a larger margin. Newton minow, today, we talk about taxes, spending, social security. Those are some of the issues we look at during the campaign. In 1952, in 1956, what were the main issues that were talked about . 1952, the big issue was korea and. We were bogged down in a war there. President eisenhower says, i they plan, i will go to korea. The country thought he would end the war in korea. The other big issues were the same issues we have today. We have the same issues that divided the country back in the 1950s. Education, the economy was better than than it is now. There was less unemployment. This country is equally divided. If you look at the last 10 president ial elections, with the single exception of johnson and goldwater in 1964, they have all been decided by a few points. The country is equally divided. In 1956, here is a little bit of Adlai Stevenson talking about the democratic platform. To the threshold of a new america. In the america of the great ideals and noble vision. I knew america where poverty is abolished and our abundance is used to enrich the lives of every family. [applause] i mean a new america where freedom is made real for all, without regard to race or belief or economic conditions. [applause] i mean a new america with the ancient ideas these are the things i believe then. These are the things i will work for. We are live in libertyville at the Adlai Stevenson farm. Boston, you are on the air. I was very young and during the era of president kennedy and Adlai Stevenson. In 1960, a couple of weeks before his assassination, Adlai Stevenson went to texas, where he was in convention mood because they threw oranges to him from the balcony. He called president kennedy and told him not to come to texas. At least a bulletproof car, which she did not do. On the other side of the a question, i believe president kennedy and his brother had a little bit too much ego. If Adlai Stevenson knew that comment he would have treated his demeanor there would have been more listening. We will get an answer from both our guests. I think it was a United Nations event in dallas. After words, he was struck by some protesters. A classic rejoinder i do not want to prosecute them, i want to educate them. He was very aware of the dangers, but i would not go as far as the questioner dead. Did. He made that commitment and wanted to keep it. Talking about the relationship of Adlai Stevenson and president kennedy. During the 1960 campaign, Norman Vincent peale had organized a group of other clergymen and they said that jack kennedy was on qualified to be president because of his religion. Adlai stevenson was asked about it. He compared it to st. Paul. He said, i find st. Paul appealing and Norman Vincent peale appalling. He could always worked a joke. Politics today has no humor. I do not with the exception of bob dole, i do not see any politician today, either party, who has a great sense of humor. Do you think it worked against stevenson . He always had these wonderful quips. Abraham lincoln went around telling stories all the time. I do not think it hurt him. I think people like to have someone who has a sense of humor. Next call, poughkeepsie, new york. Hi. I would like to know when stevenson was a child, was there an incident where he accidentally shot his friends . How did that influence his president ial campaign . Did he ever talk about that . There was a tragic accident in childhood when there was a loose gone in the family gun in the family and Adlai Stevenson accidentally shot and killed another child. I never heard him say anything about it. Who knows . He was 12 years old at the time. One did get the sense that the family moved on. It was not something that they dwelled on. Years later, i he expressed astonishment that his wife knew about the incident. It would suggest that he really kept it very close to his vest. Who was his wife . His wife was a woman who came from a very fine upperclass family. She was not very interested in politics. She disliked politics. When Adlai Stevenson went into politics, i do not think she was very happy about it. They came to a parting of ways. That was in 1949. He had been elected before the divorce. Did the divorce her temper and the 1952 and 1956 president ial campaigns did that did the divorce occurred to him during the 1952 and 1956 president ial campaign . President reagan was divorced. Today, we have Public Officials living without nobody raises there has been a vast cultural change. One more instance of stevenson being ahead of his time. We are live from libertyville. Theodore is on the line it. Go ahead with your question or comment. I appreciate the program very much. I am a senior in a nearby senior retirement community. Participating in a regular memoir group. We have been asked to write what good things from the 1950s should be carried into the 21st century. I happen to be present at the 1952 election were he voted in vernon township. It was next to a congregational church. My question is, what significance do you placed to that icon of the hole in his shoe . How would you summarize what could be carried into the 21st century . Lets start with Richard Norton smith. Stevenson was a man who flattered our intelligence. He spoke up to us. He did not speak down to us. He is arguably the last national politician. He believed that a president ial campaign was first and foremost an educational exercise. What do you mean by that . He was forever running at a time. They would cut him off in the middle of the speech. He could not believe that people would not take sufficient amount of time to educate themselves, to listen to a thoughtful, sober, substantive issue oriented appeals from candidate on both sides. That is how he approached running for office. That is how the approach to governing illinois. I have heard him say more than once that a campaign was an educational exercise, not only for the public, but also for the candidate. An opportunity for the candidate to educate himself or herself about the country. I also heard them say heard him say, there are worse things that can happen to someone then losing an election. What is a stevensonian . New mexico head. An egghead. A wit, self deprecatory, someone who has been very little patience with the political claptrap that spin doctors have foisted upon us. I cannot imagine Adlai Stevenson being handled by any such individual. It would never happen. I was much a member of an american delegation to a conference in japan and our delegation was rumsfeld. We were having dinner and i said, why did you go into politics . He said, it was all because of a speech given to my graduating class at princeton. Were you when the class of 1954 . He looked at me and said, how did you know that . I said, i know the speech. It is the best speech Adlai Stevenson ever gave in his life. It was a speech about why everyone should devote some of their life to public service. He gave me a paragraphs verbatim of the speech. He pulled out a wallet and pulled out a torn copy of the speech. I said that is why you went into politics . He said, that is why i went into politics. If you read his new book, he starts off by quoting from that speech. His biggest contribution was making politics respectable and honorable. Jack kennedy used to say politics is an honorable profession. I think he got back from Adlai Stevenson. Adlai stevenson and ellen had three sons. Adlai stevenson iii was a marine in 1952. He takes time out from this campaign to attend the graduation of his son from the marine officer candidate school in quantico, virginia. It is a proud father and an equally proud son on occasion important to both. Wheat live on your screen is senator Adlai Stevenson iii, he is in his fathers study on the family farm. Senator stevenson, thank you for opening up this facility for us. What was your role in the 1952 and 1956 campaign . In the 1952 campaign, i was in the marine corps. I did not have a role in that campaign. They were involved in the 1956 campaign. What role did a real plague in your Fathers Campaign did korea play in your Fathers Campaign . Korea became an issue though it was not an issue, but did adversely affected my Fathers Campaign. He was advised to say if elected president , i will go to korea. That is exactly what general eisenhower said. My father refused to do that because he felt that if he made that commitment to go there and arrange a truce, the Eisenhower Administration was weakened by this commitment of eisenhower to end the war. I do not think it affected my involvement did not have any effect at all. He served in the u. S. Senate from 1970 until 1981 for the state of illinois. He voluntarily step down in 1980, ran for governor twice for this state. What made you enter the Family Business . I was born with a hereditary case of politics. If might be is by business, you mean my career. We did not think of it as a business. I am paraphrasing my father. Of course, the first Adlai Stevenson served as Vice President and secretary of state for illinois. And now we are joined by senator stephenson. He is in his fathers study in the home that in libertyville. We are in what used to be the barn and it is right next door. It is now set up with an exhibit. What is going on here . This home, which really became our base over the years, is now the home of the Adlai Stevenson center for democracy. We try to bring people together from all parts of the world to address the systemic weaknesses in democratic systems of government and continued the stevenson legacy. This was the home, but it really became the base from which we arrange the world not allowed to serve and springfield, but also to study the world. He never stopped trying to learn about the world from within that it. Trying to see the world from with an aunt and the United States from without it. I think that lifetime of on the ground study of the world with a perspective from really helped to create the record and make him an electrifying figure. Not only at home, but in the world. We have one hour left this evening in the contenders. This is the ninth of march 14 week series. Adlai stevenson is our focus. Our guest is Adlai Stevenson the third, newton minow, and Richard Norton smith. We will take this call from sally in chicago. Let me correct something. I was born and raised in chicago, but i live in california. I am calling because Adlai Stevenson 1952 it was my first were i was eligible to vote. I went door to door and did whatever i could. I was crushed that he did not win. I thought he would contribute so much more on the world stage. I will never forget how disappointed we were you never saw such panic in your life. As was in the chicago tribune. I will let you go. I will get your response off air. Thank you. I think we could talk to sally unlike. Senator stevenson, if we could i would like to amplify. I think they have done a very perceptive of jobs. Getting back to 1952. He was also reluctant to run for president because he had been elected governor of a state which we loved and are deeply indebted to. He reached out and he recruited the best qualified professionals that he could find. It was a sacrifice to serve. They were reforming state government. He wanted to finish the job. He was also reluctant because Eisen Eisenhower would be very difficult to defeat. He was also not convinced it was time for a change. Remember, he started that 1952 campaign. He was drafted. He started the campaign at the convention with absolutely no program, no money, no staff. It went on to electrified the world. For him, i may be repeating, for him democracy was not a system for acquiring power. It was a system for informing people so they could make a sound judgment. He said trust the people with all of the truth. He used to the campaigns and the into rum has leader of the party. He called it the foundations for the do frontier and the Great Society. In fact, i heard the lake and famous historian who was very close to do 10 always call attack attack. John f. Kennedy, the executor of the stevenson revolution. Those campaigns were substantive. He used half hour blocks of time. There are also aimed at the world. You talk about the 1952 and 1956 campaigns. Your father lost books between those and a couple more states. What did he not do as well in 1956 . Did he make mistakes . Eisenhower is the enormously popular. These were years of Economic Prosperity and growth. Eisenhower was popular. The war ended and that would come later in korea. What happened one of the things that happened, i would have never gotten reelected anyway. With the uprising in hungary and the invasion of suez by france, britain, and israel, these International Crises that rallied the country as they always do behind the president. From then on, theyre just really was not much doubt about the outcome. I just want to go back to the 1952 campaign. It is accurate that he started out with nothing. In fact, there was a debate over to have the political headquarters. Harry truman expected it to be in washington. It was in springfield. The story was told, you cant tell me if it is true or not, he did not expect it to be publicized which is revealing. One night to very shortly after the convention, he came back to springfield. Conscious of the crushing responsibilities, he left to the executive mansion one night by himself without guard and walked to jackson and eighth street, knock on the door. The custodian recognized him. He let him in. He sat by himself in the lincoln parlor for some. Period reflecting. The interesting thing about that story is not only that it happened but that Adlai Stevenson did not publicize it. He did not expect any but to know about that story. Is that accurate . None of us knew about it until years later. I read this and said is it true . He did not talk about it. You have to understand. This story it goes back to five generations. I tried it to record it. It begins with jesse who is lincolns petrie. He was a constant presence in this family. Lincoln was an inspiration. Woodrow wilson, former president of princeton that. My father was a graduate of princeton. Wilson was an influence also. The enlightened internationalism of wilson heavily influenced my father. Lincoln, who might never have been president without the Lincoln Douglas debates, lincoln was an inspiration and a presence in this family. Our next call for our guest talking about Adlai Stevenson comes from oak island, california. Jimmy please go ahead. Thank you for taking my call. I am a world war ii veteran who was part of the eisenhower army. I did not feel like at the time i was from North Carolina at which you could see it was one of the blue states for Adlai Stevenson both times. We felt that Adlai Stevenson was a politician and more able to handle the political things. Eisenhower was more of a military person. Even though times were good, i was wondering what do you think how what the United States had changed in that eight years if Adlai Stevenson had been president rather than pork eisenhower . Senator stevenson. Lets start with you. Dwight eisenhower has been quoted and recently by a member of his family as saying that if he had known Adlai Stevenson was to be the democratic candidate, he would not have run for president. I think on the Large International issues, there was probably not a good deal of difference between them. One thing my father really felt strongly about Richard Nixon, he was loath to just about by everybody in washington. His strength was at the grass roots. After that incident and eisenhowers retention of Richard Nixon on the ticket, i think that caused some doubts in his mind about eisenhower. He respected eisenhower. Dulles reluctantly made him an ambassador of the Eisenhower Administration so that in his travels run the world he could efficiently represent the United States. A difference between the democratic ex the democrats and eisenhower winning the of the party were the taft wing. If my father had been a president , you probably but have had the new frontier and the Great Society accelerated. Medicare, federal aid to education, other social programs might have taken effect earlier. As it was, much of it did not take affect until after the assassination of kennedy when johnson very shortly i remember consulting my father. What is your advice . My father was taken back. He said, i guess you should take some time now to put your program and administration together. He said, this is my moment. Within 100 days, the program was through congress. He knew timing. He was a real politician. That program had been developing since the 1952 campaign. It might have been accelerated a little had my father won in 1952 were 56. I think he has it exactly right, but i would add one thing. Because Adlai Stevenson was so committed to getting rid of nuclear war, i think we might have had faster progress than actually occurred later in dealing with the russians and dealing with nuclear disarmament. I think that was such a passionate belief that i think he would have given much more attention and persuasion to it then occurred. I think also we would have had more friends throughout the world then we ended up with at that time. It is interesting. It is hard to imagine that is what we are doing. We are imaginings. It is hard to imagine president stevenson sending not playing on the eve of a great summit. One more thing. I do think they had respect for each other. I think they also learned to discover the weaknesses of one another. I suspect eisenhower over time grew rather resentful of the implication that stevenson was the only word smith the only great eloquence to persuader in american politics. He once said that if words are all that matter, the American People could vote for Ernest Hemingway for president. I think that was a criticism of stevenson. Thank you for taking my call. In 1962, i was a High School Kid living in a Republican House will. But in the 1966 i had spent the time as an intern and was fixed forever. I remember there was a disappointment at the convention because there was not a contest that there had been in 1952. I was wondering if you could elaborate on how the decision was made to throw it open to the convention whether it was for everybody to have a good time or whether it was at least in part to be able to dodge the animosity of all of the candidates who did not get it. If you could start and then senator stevenson, we want to hear about your role. I think Adlai Stevenson felt he had seen it firsthand how the Vice President was picked in 1952. It was so casually done. He realized it needed much more attention. He was also under a lot of pressure. He did not like keith law for even though he had been in the primaries. He fought to jack kennedy he thought jack kennedy was very promising but very young get it to inexperience. He decided it would give a lot of excitement to the convention which had been pretty much pre arranged as to his own nomination. He decided to open it up. I think it turned out to be as he predicted. It turned out to be an exciting contest. It introduced jack kennedy to the country. There were a lot of big things for it. The outcome of the president ial balloting was a foregone conclusion. To create some excitement, he decided to throw out the balloting for Vice President. Quietly, we were all rooting for john f. Kennedy. My father adored Hubert Humphrey. I remember at the state house and the convention when the balloting was seesawing for Vice President and kennedy was running downstairs to kennedys suites or the brotherinlaw was guarding the door, running in jack kennedy was pulling up his trousers. He shook his hand and congratulated him. By the time i got back up to my fathers sweet, i saw him lose. All of us were reading to jack kennedy. This brought kennedy to the nations attention. Lets move that for years ahead it to the 1960 Democratic Convention in las angeles. Senator stevens, how would you describe the relationship between your father and jack kennedy in 1960 . I think the relationship between my father and jack kennedy was close. I know my father respected kennedy. I believe it was mutual. There was a circle or very protective circle around john f. Kennedy, which is always fearful and resentful. In this case, concern that stevenson was a threat. People were pouring in from across the country. They were literally hint cameron on the doors on the convention to demand another nomination for their candidates. Eleanor roosevelt was there. Mccarthy gave a brilliant nominating address for stevenson. This caused a little anxiety in the kennedy camp. It probably cost a little interest thought on my fathers part that may be if things deadlocked he could still win the nomination. He had felt that as a leader of the party and as royalty, loyalty he should be neutral. The former secretary of labor who was also involved in state administration told me he was in my fathers suite on the eve of the balloting. My father said when Bobby Kennedy calls, tell him i have gone to bed and i have left instructions not to be woken. Sure enough Bobby Kennedy calls. He said i have to talk to the governor. You just tell him, this is his last chance. He better talk to me or he wont be secretary of state. He responded, i am sorry, but he has instructed me to tell you that he has gone to bed. That was the end of any chances for secretary of state. It signifies something about the relationship not with jack kennedy but the very protective circle around jack kennedy. That would come back to create other problems like during the cuban missile crisis when my father was vilified. We are to get to that in just a minute. We are born to play two minutes of video here. We will start at the 1960 convention. Adlai stevenson at the podium. I wanted to tell you how grateful i am. For this he moving well, of the 1960 Democratic Convention. [applause] i have an observation. After getting in and out of the hotel and at this hall, i decided i know you will nominate. It will be the last survivor. [applause] the details of my participation have not been worked out, but i would drive the campaign were i or he wanted me to. I suspect that will be in the west and the east and everywhere in between. I hope so. What would you do about it . How would you go about it . I hope by the participation in the campaign i have not had much doubt that they would support the ticket. I hope they will supported vigorously in the same manner that i did. I hope it will fall you as vigorously as you did in los angeles. I hope it will fall you as vigorously as they follow me at los angeles. We saw a little bit from the convention. And we saw a press conference after jfk got the nomination. I have the most extraordinary experience i had involving both Adlai Stevenson and jack kennedy was on may 29, 1960. It was Jack Kennedys birthday. It was the day after the last primary in oregon. Jack kennedy was flying from oregon to a family birthday party. Bill blair, our law partner, had suggested that he stopped in chicago. Bill and i would pick him up and drive him here to the farm. He would have lunch with Adlai Stevenson. We were hoping bill and i had both concluded it was Adlai Stevenson impossible adlai to be nominated again. We were hoping it would come to some terms and Adlai Stevenson would support kennedy. We got in the car and drove out there. Bill was driving, jack was in the front seat, i was in the back seat. Jack kennedy said, the you think i should talk to him about secretary of state . Bill was smarter than i was, he did not say anything. I cannot stand the silence. I said, i would not do that if i were you. He looked at me and said, why . I said, Adlai Stevenson will be offended. Second, you should decide yourself you want if you are elective. Came out here and adlai and nancy were here. They manage to get the two of them alone in the study. The minute they came out i could see it had not gone well. We were getting back in the car to go back. I was dying of curiosity. I said, jack, did you Say Something about secretary of state . He looked at me with those eyes and said, you told me not to. I thought, what have i done . As soon as i got home i called him and i told him the entire thing from beginning to end. He said you did the right thing. I would have been very offended. Besides, he should decide who he wants. Then i decided id better try the kennedys. I called and they said jack had not arrived yet. I told bob exactly what i told Adlai Stevenson. I felt i had a clean conscience and had not screwed it up. Can i ask you a question. We saw that clip with the rather lame joke that stevenson said from the podium at a moment of maximum suspense. It was written that it was almost stevensons moment and he threw it away. He was in a position with the right to remarks to have taken the convention a way. Is that unrealistic . Was that Convention Jack kennedys no matter what happened . Can you see a scenario in which stevenson at the peak of his form might have said something i have said something on fire . I think he knew it was not going to happen. They told him the illinois delegates were going to vote for kennedy. I think he knew at that point. We will see what adlai says if he agrees with me. I have always thought thats jim mccarthys speech was insincere. I thought he was working for Lyndon Johnson because he had never been that close to governor stevenson. I had just finished reading Jackie Kennedys tapes, and she said jack kennedy said the same thing. There were two people who thought that j. Mccarthy was making that that what toink attribute that motive to j. Mccarthy. The gossip i hate to repeat at the time was that he was jealous of jack was because it was that catholic instead of this catholic getting the nomination. I think that is unworthy of mccarthy. Number one, my father would have resented it. I dont think there was a chance of the convention of him winning the nomination. He had encouraged everybody to go out and support candidates of their choice including richard j. Daley of illinois. You make a pledge, you dont make it you dont break it. The domination was sewed up. There was a lot of tension. There was a lot of dynamism in the works. After the convention, my father campaigned strenuously. He campaigned all over the country for john f. Kennedy. Bobby kennedys first of the campaign trail was right here at the home where we had a great rally on the lawn for Bobby Kennedy. Now, he referred it to Jackie Kennedys new book put out called historic conversations on life with jfk. There were some audiotapes attached to this. She talked shortly after the assassination. They were just released. Here is Jackie Kennedy talking about Adlai Stevenson and jfk. Telling you he had to have the un. I could remember jack telling me about that. Did that give him a lot of difficulty . It was unpleasant. He did not like it. He was not going to give him the state department. At the earliest times a we spoke of it, you new governor stevenson would get the un not state which he wanted. It is unpleasant to tell somebody that. Stevens said he did not have anything to say or something funny. Why do you think he decided not to have stevenson for state . It was not just bitterness. Look at all the people jack took who had been a against him and for someone else. They knew he felt that man had a real disease of being done able to make up his mind. Stevenson irritated him. I dont think he could have him coming in every day and complaining about something as secretary of state. It would have been a difficult relationship. Senator stevenson can we get your reaction . Unfortunately, i really could not hear it. I knew Jackie Kennedy. I can tell you that i dont think she was political at all. In fact, she was a very artistic woman. She was an intellectual who used to leave washington on weekends which were sometimes spent at bobbys, playing football. She would go to new york note with my father. From what i could see they had a very good relationship. He gave her and escapes from washington. I have heard about these comments not just these, but all of her comments that are critical just about of anybody. I do not know what kind of credibility to place on that. From what i could see, her relationship with my father was very good. In some ways, they were closer than some of the kennedys. Could you hear the audio tape and Jackie Kennedy . I was with Adlai Stevenson and jackie sometimes. I think they had a very good relationship. What about jfk and Adlai Stevenson i had a very important experience about that. I had a very minor role in the cuban missile crisis. I was involved a little bit. When it was over, there was an article in the saturday evening post written by charlie bartlett. In it there were some critical comments not attributed to any Single Person a bout what Adlai Stevenson had proposed which is actually what the United States did. We had closed our missile headquarters in turkey and greece in exchange for a bargain that was reached bikey cuba. It was critical and i knew that Adlai Stevenson was upset about it. Early one day the president called me at home. He said, will you tell your leader that i did not leak that story. There is a rumor around that i like it. Tell him i did not leak it. I called the governor and i had his number. I got him on the phone in five seconds. He picked up the phone. He said i cannot talk to you now. I am on my way to the today show to be interviewed. I said give me one second. The president just called me and told me to tell you he did not leak that story. The governor did not say anything. 50 minutes later i turn on the show and he did jfk holy about the episode and got it off his chest. Later jfk wrote him a letter apologizing saying he did not do it but he made it clear that what Adlai Stevenson contributed to the cuban missile crisis solution was indispensable. We have about 25 minutes left and our callers have been patient. Bill, thank you for calling. Please go ahead. Can you elaborate on the influence of richard j. Daley, the mayor of chicago. The influence he had on stevensons rise in illinois politics. It is the other way around. My father got richard j. Daley started in politics. As i mentioned earlier, my father recruited these extraordinary professionals. They came without the endorsements of political leaders and campaign contributors. There was one partial expression and that was richard j. Daley who had been a state senator. He may be did have the endorsement of the cook county chairman. He served with great distinction and my fathers cabinet as director of the department of revenue. He really was a pretty straight cabinet officer. Later my father supported richard j. Daley when he contested for mayor of chicago against an incumbent mayor of that city. This is incredible. The governor of the state siding with a challenger to be incumbent governor. My father had a lot to do with the rise of richard j. Daley. It was not the other way around at all. Washington, d. C. , go ahead, dave. Hello. I just want to tell a story high, congressman. Are you . I just want to tell a story about Adlai Stevenson in the 1960 campaign. I was a student at the university of wisconsin. Adlai stevenson had come to madison to give a speech about the civil war roundtable. Afterward he was scheduled to appear with the governor at the old park hotel. We had a large crop of democrats gather. They were over one hour late and the crowd was very restive. Finally, Adlai Stevenson was ushered up to the front of the room. He said, sorry we were so late. There were a lot of questions that the civil war roundtable. I have to get the governor over to bed. He has a long day tomorrow. , will give one of my typically short speeches. Adlai stevenson but it can in and said, i will give one of my typically long ones. He said, you do it and i will leave without you. Adlai stevenson go ahead, see who the crowd follows. I think Adlai Stevenson it shows Adlai Stevenson was on his feet and how clever he could be in making the audience feel good about it. He was my hero. A lot of talk this evening about the fact that Adlai Stevenson was the architect of the later Great Society. Would you agree with that . I think he certainly defined in the 1956 campaign what most of the issues later became of what to the Democratic Party ran on and stood on for years. He set the agenda for the coming decade in that campaign. That was congressman dave ob. A longtime congressman from wisconsin. Thank you for calling. Richard, hello. Thank you for letting me call. I would like to relay one of the anecdotes from the campaign trail. It was a favorite of the campaign team. This is about a gentleman who came to him and said, mr. Stevenson your speech was absolutely superfluous to which he replied, i was thinking about having it published posthumously. He said, the sooner the better. [laughter] you are in your dads office over there. There are a set of books of his speeches. They were best sellers, correct . Yes. Incidently, my own book is here. A black book which i tried to record a american politics as we knew it over those five generations including the humor which enriched our politics and could be used to very good defect. You could use it to denigrate an opponent without being mean spirited. The memories and the experience i try to record over these five generation starting with lincoln and ending in china and an epilogue on the life cycle of nations and empires is aimed to recall what we are doing tonight, the values that created this country and contrast them with those that are undermining it today. We talk a little bit about this. The cuban missile crisis, Adlai Stevenson was u. S. Ambassador to the United Nations. It did not happen in a vacuum. One year earlier, talk about the strained relationship with the white house. One year later, one year and a half later in the fall of 1962, you have a situation in which we have irrefutable evidence that the soviets are in fact installing offensive Nuclear Missiles on castros cuba. What transpires is a great paradox. I cannot think of a less sound bite political figure it then Adlai Stevenson. If you go on youtube to that he is immortalized by a glut of the great sound bites of the 20th century. We will listen to it right now. Let me ask you one simple question. Do you the night that the u. S. S. R. Has placed and is placing medium and intermediate range sites and missiles in cuba . Yes or no. Dont wait for the translation, yes or no . Mr. Stephenson, will you continue your statement please. He will receive the answer in due course, do not worry. I am prepared to wait for your answer until freezes over if that is your decision. One of the great sound bites of the 20th century. Afterwards, one of the kennedys maybe it was the president or he was allegedly to have said, i did not know he had in him. You mentioned the bay of pigs earlier. He was fed a great deal of misinformation which he relayed to the security council. It came out this information was false. He felt very embarrassed. It was the Kennedy Administration that was embarrassed. Nobody doubted my fathers integrity. The bay of pigs proposal by the Kennedy Administration was exactly what my father had proposed, mainly trading off obsolete bases in turkey for withdrawal of the missiles. The Kennedy Administration insisted on keeping the deal secret. My father did not want it to be secret because he did not want to embarrass khrushchev. He wanted to give them an opportunity to retreat. That did not happen. Khrushchev was embarrassed just as my father feared. He fell. He was succeeded by a group from which he emerged brezhnev and the hardliners and the cold war escalated. The Kennedy Administration had to be tough instead of compromising and giving crucial of an easy way out. One of the goals of the contenders is to figure out how they changed their parties and american politics. After we take this call we will move into the topic area. Please go ahead. Thank you for having me i was just curious as to whether or not you have heard of an organization if Adlai Stevenson had ever attended the conference before . Thank you for your call. Go ahead. This Adlai Stevenson has got to a bill gerber conference. I dont know about my father. I dont know how far back echoes. I dont know what the implications are. Bill barber conferences were occasional meetings of very senior meetings at which they got together to discuss problems facing the world. There was nothing sinister about them. This Adlai Stevenson has been to a couple. I dont know if my father has or if they even existed. We are here in the stevenson barn. There is a new eight said it about Adlai Stevenson. There is a photo that we looked at before this started. This was in 1945 the you information. You remember that photo around the table. I do. I dont have it in front of me so i am not sure. You have john foster dulles, you have governor stevenson, nelson rockefeller. You have the secretary of state who was about to be fired. Was Adlai Stevensons role in the founding of the un . Do you want to take that . It had to do with a proprietary concepts. He was also a delegate to the conference in san francisco. The United Nations was adopted or approved. But by 1945, we were living in london where he was the u. S. Delegate to the commission which laid the foundation and actually started putting the Building Blocks together including the location in new york. He represented the United States at the commission were great men from all over europe and canada, they used to assemble at our home at night because we had access to the commissary. An Extraordinary Group of people. He was in on the birth of the United Nations. Incidentally, he died 20 years later just a couple of blocks from our home in london in 1945. I was 65 and is still serving the United Nations and his country. We want to talk about Adlai Stevenson and his effect on the Democratic Party. Here he is in 1952 talking about the Democratic Party kurt i have been hardened by the conduct of this convention. You have argued and disagreed because as democrats to care and do care deeply. But you have disagreed and argued without calling each other liars and thieves, without spoiling our best traditions. [applause] you have not support our best traditions and any struggles for power. You have written as a platform that neither contradicts nor even aids. You have restated our partys record. Its principles and its purposes and languages that none can mistake. Nor am i afraid that the Democratic Party is old and fat. After 150 years, it has been old for a long time. It will never be indolent as long as it looks forward and not back. As long as it commands the young and the hopeful during the dreams and xi the visions of a better america and a better world. You will see many people express concern about the continuation of one party in power for 20 years. I dont to be little this attitude. But change for the sake of change has no absolute merit in itself. The people are wise wiser than the republicans think. The Democratic Party is the peoples party. Not the labor party. Not the employers party. It is the party of nobody because it is the party of everybody. [applause] i think Adlai Stevensons contest tradition to everybody he hoped campaigns would educate people and he succeeded. He succeeded in teaching all of us that politics was something all of the should be involved i recently that the governor of indiana mitch daniels. I said, i am sorry you are not running for the presidency. He said, why do you say that . I know you are a democrat. I said i learned from my boss Adlai Stevenson that the best people in both parties should run, not the worst people. I believe that. I think Adlai Stevenson taught that to all of us. I think that is a legacy to be extremely grateful for. His contribution is enduring today. I think is starkly he is a bridge between the new deal and the new frontier. He holds the banner of liberalism in the 1950s a difficult era. It is an interesting brand of liberalism. He believes in american exceptional was on every bit as many of the right to do today. It was an exceptional was some debt was about ideas and ideals. It was leading by example. It was not an exception allows some enforced by military force. He brought a whole generation of young people who were inspired by his words, his example, his approach, his very unorthodox approach to politics. We only have a few minutes left. Kerry chill from minnesota, we want to hear from you. In 1952, i was 13 years old. I was privileged to meet Adlai Stevenson. He came to the hotel where my mom and dad owned the hotel. I was privileged to wait tables on him. We kids grew up at the hotel. After meeting him, i admired him the rest of my life. I am now 72years old. I am still just so admiringly this wonderful democratic person. I am so thrilled that he was a man of morality and he was a band that fought for the working people. We need more Adlai Stevensons in this world right now. I am just so happy that i met him. Thank you for that call. Lets let you talk to an Adlai Stevenson. Senator . The question we are left with is, Adlai Stevenson adlai possible today in this money drenched, corrupt, dysfunctional politics . Would he even compete . Could he compete for president of the United States going from stand it to stand, raising money for jingles on television, the halfhour blocks of time would be impossible. I am not sure he would be possible today, lead and let alone a franklin roosevelt. That is why we have created the Stevenson Center to try to address these systemic weaknesses that might make an Adlai Stevenson possible. We try as i do in my book to recall all of these lawyers and history that created this country and contrast them with our politics today. Can a politics as corrupt as ours be expected to purify tax reform itself . I think that is the issue we are left with. I dont worry about the American People. I have enormous faith in the American People. We are left with a process that represents everybody else. Senator stevenson, if you have to go to a store or sure your name, do people react . Some of the old folks i was in the store i was in a store the other day and i saw a young woman looking at my credit card. She was looking at my name. She said i said is that name familiar to you . She said, no, but it is cool. I think we are forgotten. I think our politics are largely forgotten as well. This has been a Wonderful Program to be able to recall other politics. Please go ahead with your question or comment. I would like to ask the group to reflect on an event played in the governor to talk live. I recently reviewed several hours of the events of november 22, 1963. The route that afternoon walter, cry continuously referred to Adlai Stevenson visiting dallas a few weeks earlier and being accosted and warning the president not to go there. I researched that and it seemed an airport event a woman struck governor stevenson over the head with a placard. The panel canif reflect on that. Any regrets from the governor not stressing the you talked about this earlier. Very briefly. He had gone to dallas for a United Nation event and had been confronted by some angry people including the woman with a sign. I think he was spat upon and he was struck. He left with a vivid sense of potential dangers that the president might encounter. Did he call the president and warn him, or was that just a thought . I dont know the answer to that. I am sorry. Senator stevenson, you know the answer . My recollection is somebody said he was asked if he wanted this woman prosecuted, he said no, i want her educated. My recollection is that he did not warn the white house. He deeply, deeply regretted it afterwards that he had not. I am sure had he called and described this experience it would have had no effect. He felt very guilty for not having done more or anything to try to prevent the president from going to dallas per we have time for one more call. I want you to think about, what have we not talked about tonight that we needed to bring out. We will take this call from philip in fort worth, texas. Good evening. This is one of the great series that cspan has done. I appreciate it. I grew up in the 1960 election i was 12 years old. I was just becoming politically aware. I grew up during the 1950s. While i am a conservative and have always been so, i doubt mr. Stephenson and i would have agreed on much, i have been exposed to his speeches, his rhetoric, and a lot of things he said. I am of the opinion that he is one of the last really great political speechmakers in our age. We were speaking a moment ago about jingles and things like that. I saw him making the speech, he was taking some of it from his notes in the pre teleprompter days. It was not coming off of the paper. He knew what he was saying. It was coming from his heart. I always admired his speechmaking abilities. I just dont see that in our political process today. He had something to say. He took a little time to say it at times. He was a man who knew what he wanted to say and said it well. He took great effort in those speeches. He worked on those speeches himself hour after hour. He was criticized by politicians for spending so much time on the speeches. In some ways, that is his legacy. As we wind up the program, i have to say what of the biggest surprises in my life is when he died so suddenly. Adlai stevenson iii called me to say we were, executors of his will. I did not know anything about that before he passed on. To me that was a very touching thing to our relationship. I think as we wind up the program, he was one of the even though he did not win, he won the hearts of millions and millions of americans. He won a great place in history. He raised standards. One question i think of what to ask senator stevenson. At the end of his father picked at the end of his fathers life, it has become folklore that ambassadors steve a son was contemplating resigning from the United Nations had encouraged to do so by his liberal friends who were opposed to lbjs be not policies. What is his sense of his dads intent . First, i think these labels conservative and liberal can be very misleading. Of misleading. When i served in the senate, we wanted democrats or republicans, we were not left or right, we were for the country. We were products of the enlightenment. Ideology did not play much of a role. To your point, he did not tell this to me but i did hear from a very close friend that he was planning to to resign from the United Nations at the end of the year. That was largely because he was very uncomfortable advocating policies that he did not support. By that i mean vietnam. He died in june of 1965 before he could resign. I think he was planning to resign. Quietly with no protest, that would not have been his way at all. Because he really could not continue to advocate policies that he did not support. That will have to be the last word. Adlai stevenson ii is buried in bloomington, illinois. Adlai stevenson iii, thank you for being with us today. Richard norton smith, this has been the contenders. Their decency, their fortitude, their faith. Trust them with great decisions. I say it is time to take this government away from them who only know how to count and turn contenders, about the men who ran for the presidency and lost, but change political history. Next, the senator who paved the way for conservatives, barry goldwater. The contenders, this week at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Cspans washington journal. Every day, we are taking your calls live on the air on the news of the day. We will discuss policy issues that impact you. Tinkersy morning, jim discusses his book about the growth of the middle class in the u. S. John should off, a fellow with the alliance for a fellow democracy, talks about foreign interference in campaign 2020. Watch cspans washington journal, 7 00 eastern wednesday morning. Join the discussion with phone calls, facebook messages, text messages, and tweets. Wednesday, President Trump delivers remarks at the battleship North Carolina in wilmington. Watch live at 2 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan, online at cspan. Org, or listen live on the free cspan radio app. President trump spoke with Law Enforcement and elected officials in kenosha, wisconsin. He announced the federal government will provide several Million Dollars in relief towards resources and public safety, and Small Businesses impacted by the protests in the state. The traveling with president were attorney general william barr, Homeland Security never any now many wolf, and johnson. Thank you very much everybody for being here. We took a really incredible tour, Law Enforcement has just done such a great job working with the National Guard and working with a lot of people that we are for kenosha and wisconsin, the state of wisconsin. Its been very good to me. I love the people. We have done a lot to the state will do a lot for the state. We are all in this together and