Adlai E. Stevenson was born in Los Angeles, but grew up in Bloomington, Illinois, where he had two prominent grandfathers.  One was Adlai E. Stevenson I, who had been Vice-President, 1893-1897, under Grover Cleveland. The other was William O. Davis, who published the Daily Pantagraph.

Adlai's immediate family included his father, mother, and sister Elizabeth, whom everyone called Buffie. He made frequent trips with his father, who managed several productive farms in Illinois and nearby states. Nearly every summer, the family took vacation trips to other parts of the country.

In Bloomington, Adlai grew up in an atmosphere of politics.  The Pantagraph carried many news articles on politics, and frequently large political meetings were held in the city.  His father served for a few years as Secretary of State in Illinois.

When Adlai was eleven, he and his family spent a winter abroad, chiefly in England and Switzerland. On this trip he first observed customs outside his own country.  Even though he was still young, he was impressed with the mutual interests and aspirations of people wherever he went.

After young Stevenson graduated from University High School in Bloomington, he attended Choate in Connecticut, but dropped out to enlist in the Navy during World War I. After the war, he graduated from Princeton University and studied law at Harvard and Northwestern Universities.

In succeeding years, Stevenson became a prominent lawyer in Chicago and lived in Libertyville, a nearby suburb. During World War II, he became a special assistant to Frank Knox, Secretary of the Navy. After the war, he was appointed Alternate Delegate to the United Nations.

In 1948, he was elected Governor of Illinois by a tremendous majority. In 1952 and again in 1956, he was nominated to run for the Presidency against Dwight D. Eisenhower.  During these campaigns he endeared himself to the American people for his brilliance, ready wit, and rare idealism.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy appointed him Ambassador to the United Nations, a post he served with dignity and success until his sudden death in London in July, 1965. Throughout life, Stevenson greatly admired the simple virtues of Abraham Lincoln, another great leader from Illinois, and sought to render similar services to mankind.

From the dust jacket