Adlai Stevenson: Encyclopedia II - Adlai Stevenson - Childhood education and early career

Adlai Stevenson - Childhood education and early career

Stevenson was born in Los Angeles into a political family. His grandfather Adlai E. Stevenson I had been Vice President of the United States. His father, Lewis Green Stevenson, never held an elected office, but served as Secretary of State of Illinois and was considered a strong contender for the Democratic vice-presidential nomination in 1928. His mother was Helen Davis Stevenson.

Adlai was raised in Bloomington, Illinois. When Stevenson was a child, there was a tragic incident that haunted him for the rest of his life. While showing off with his brother's hunting rifle, he accidentally shot and killed a young playmate named Ruth Merwin. Stevenson rarely discussed the incident but many have theorized that his dedication to causes may have been due to the terrible burden of guilt he carried.

Stevenson left Bloomington after his junior year in high school and received his diploma from University High School in Normal, Illinois, Bloomington's "twin city" just to the north. After high school, he attended preparatory school at The Choate School, where he participated in sports, acting and journalism, the last as business manager of the school paper The News, where he was elected editor-in-chief. In 1918, he enlisted in Navy as a seamen apprentice.

He attended Princeton University, becoming managing editor of The Daily Princetonian and a member of the Quadrangle Club, and receiving a A.B. degree in 1922. He then went to Harvard Law School under prodding from his father. He was not passionate about the law; in his second year at Harvard he failed several classes and flunked out. (The school offered him a chance to return in a year but he never seriously considered this.) He returned to Bloomington where he wrote for the family newspaper, The Daily Pantagraph, which was founded by his maternal great grandfather Jesse Fell.

Stevenson became interested in law again a year or so after leaving Harvard after attending a friend’s wedding in Washington DC, when he spent an afternoon talking to Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. When he returned home to Bloomington he decided to finish his law degree at Northwestern University School of Law, attending classes during the week and returning to Bloomington on the weekends to write for the Pantagraph.

Stevenson received his law degree (J.D.) from Northwestern in 1926 and passed the Illinois State Bar examination that year. He obtained a position at Cutting, Moore & Sidley, an old and conservative Chicago law firm, and became a popular member of Chicago's social scene.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Childhood education and early career", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki