A balding man in a suit and an older woman with glasses stand next to a four tier cake decorated with flags and stars.

Think

Adlai E. Stevenson II believed in the power of careful thought. Jokingly referred to as an "egghead," he embodied the belief that problems can be solved if approached creatively and intelligently.

He respected others' opinions and welcomed the benefits that come from a serious and honest debate of complex issues. Adlai recognized that we are all capable of understanding difficult issues and that quick and easy solutions to social problems won't work.

Adlai E. Stevenson II celebrating his birthday with Eleanor Roosevelt, estimated ~ 1960 to 1965.; courtesy Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library.

4 ways Adlai put this core value in action — THINK:

Engage in thoughtful dialogue.

Adlai Stevenson had faith in intelligent discourse. He believed in the power of reason. Stevenson never "talked down" to the voter. He disliked TV political advertising, believing it oversimplified the issues and reduced candidates to celebrities. In the 1952 campaign, Stevenson promised to "talk sense to the American people." He said that there were no quick fixes to the nation's problems, and that solutions required shared sacrifices.

Related archive document: Speech of Acceptance, 1952 Democratic National Convention.

Consider multiple perspectives.

Adlai Stevenson welcomed differing opinions. He appreciated hearing multiple perspectives. Stevenson believed in the United Nations, where multiple perspectives were shared. He had empathy when dealing with other nations and peoples. He was always willing to listen to the other side, even those who expressed anti-Western or anti-American opinions.

Related archive document: "Will India Turn Communist?", an article from Look magazine.

Act with integrity and honesty.

Adlai Stevenson adhered to the principles of integrity and honesty. He valued honest expression and the right to free speech. Although it cost him votes, Stevenson defended the right to free speech. As Illinois governor, he vetoed a bill requiring public employees and candidates to submit to loyalty oaths. During the 1952 campaign, he criticized the anti-communist "witch hunts" of Senator Joseph McCarthy. "Too often sinister threats to the Bill of Rights, to freedom of the mind, are concealed under the patriotic cloak of anti-communism," he said.

Related archive document: “The Nature of Patriotism”, a speech to the American Legion.

Understand history and culture.

Studying history and culture helped Adlai Stevenson gain a broader perspective about the world. One of Stevenson's strengths, especially as ambassador to the UN, was his curiosity. He traveled widely to the far-flung corners of the globe. He was curious about different cultures and different economic and political systems. He was curious about how people lived today and in the past. This helped him understand why other nations and other peoples did not always agree with the United States.

Related archive document: “An Ethic for Survival”, a speech to the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Trust the people with the truth, all the truth.

Adlai's son, Adlai E. Stevenson III, reflects on his father's trust in people's ability to think.

An enthusiastic lady supporter cornered him in an elevator and exclaimed, "Oh Governor, all thinking Americans will vote for you." To which he jokingly replied, "Madame, that's the problem. I need a majority."

My father was an intellectual, a creature of the enlightenment, an "egghead" who appealed to thinking Americans. But he was a hard-boiled egghead. His vantage point was no ivory tower for armchair strategists and polemicists. It was on the ground in the real world. Life was a learning experience. A university diploma was a "diaper". Armed with a degree, one's education could begin in earnest. He was not a good student. Perhaps his interests were too widespread and distracting. But he never stopped thinking and learning.

No ideologue or religious fundamentalist, he believed in the power of Reason. Translated to politics, that meant democracy was more than a means to achieve power. It was an end in itself. "Trust the people with the truth," he said, "all the truth." "What wins is more important than who wins."

And he lost - but in doing so won the hearts and minds of people the world over. He appealed to their "better nature" and their reason. In losing the Presidential campaigns of 1952 and 1956 and as "titular leader" of the Democratic Party between the campaigns, he laid the programmatic foundations for the New Frontier of John F. Kennedy and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson. In losing he won. The renowned historian, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., called Kennedy the executor of the Stevenson revolution.

He would be labeled a liberal by some, though Schlesinger labeled him a conservative. He was a rationalist and a humanist - weighing the claims of the market place and government in the economy, combining strengths of both, conserving American values and defying labels. In foreign policy, he knew that power, like national security, did not flow from the end of guns. It flowed from the wisdom of the diplomacy, a commitment to international law and cooperation and the power of a country's ideals. He could support the military without being a militarist. America 's greatness lay not in standing armies, as the founders had warned, but in the power of its example and its respect for the decent opinion of mankind.

— Adlai E. Stevenson III (1930 - 2021)