Adlai Stevenson

1900–1965, American statesman.
He entered government service as special counsel to the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (1933–34) and later served as assistant general counsel to the Federal Alcohol Bureau (1934) and as an assistant to the U.S. Secretary of the Navy (1941–44). In 1945 he became special assistant to Secretary of State Stettinius and attended the San Francisco Conference that founded the United Nations.
In 1961, President Kennedy appointed him U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, with cabinet rank. He held this position until his death.

Stevenson won enormous respect and admiration as an eloquent spokesman for liberal reform and for internationalism.

In 1949, Stevenson was elected governor of Illinois on the Democratic ticket. He won a lot of respect from my grandmother when he struck down a bill that proposed a leash law for cats, saying "It is not in the nature of cats to be leashed."

In 1952 and 1956, he ran an eloquent campaign for President against war hero Dwight D. Eisenhower, a losing proposition no matter how you sliced it. When told by a reporter that he had the vote of every thinking man in America, his response was classic: "Yes, but I need a majority to win." This statement did not win him many votes.

In 1960, he lost the Democratic ticket to JFK who appointed him Ambassador to the United Nations, where he stayed until his death in 1965.