Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home

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The Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home.
Jess Smith/PHOTOSMITH.
Photo courtesy of the Lake Country Forest Preserve District

Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home

St. Mary’s Road between Everett Road and Illinois Route 60

Libertyville, IL

Website:  Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home

The Treasure:  The Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home offers insights into the character and legacy of Adlai Stevenson — a popular Illinois governor, a dignified presidential candidate, and a forceful United Nations ambassador.

Accessibility:  The grounds of the Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home are open daily for self-guided tours from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. There are interpretive signs that offer historical information. Open from April to October, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the on-site service building (built in 1937, before Stevenson’s main house was completed) showcases exhibits about Stevenson’s life and career.

Exhibits about Stevenson's life and career.
Jess Smith/PHOTOSMITH.
Photo courtesy of the Lake County Forest Preserve District.

Background:  Whenever presidential elections approach, there’s an inevitable nostalgia for the days when campaigns were more civil. In reality, those times have been rare. For more than two centuries, election seasons have tended to be times of harsh partisan rancor. Perhaps the closest we can come to a golden age of civility would be the 1952 and 1956 contests between Dwight D. Eisenhower and Adlai E. Stevenson II (1900-1965), largely because of Stevenson’s thoughtful and self-deprecating eloquence on the campaign trail.

Adlai and Ellen Stevenson on the Stevenson
"Farm" (the family still calls it this).
Photo courtesy of the Lake County Forest
Preserve District.

Throughout most of his lengthy political career, Stevenson’s home base was his bucolic 70-acre property located near Libertyville, Illinois (in fact, he was promoted as “The Man from Libertyville” during his presidential campaigns). Stevenson and his wife Ellen Borden purchased the property in 1935. After their first house on the property burned down, they tried again in 1938, overseeing the construction of a spacious, art-deco house with large windows, porches, and decks positioned to offer charming views of the landscape. When staying at his home, Stevenson would work for hours in his study, writing books and composing speeches. He entertained many dignitaries here, notably including Eleanor Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.

Adlai E. Stevenson greets New York Governor
Averell Harriman to his Libertyville home.
Photo courtesy of the Lake County Forest Preserve District.

Although Stevenson never attained the presidency, he worked tirelessly in service to his country, leaving a legacy that touched many facets of American government and political thought. He served as a special attorney within Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Agricultural Adjustment Administration, as a Principal Attorney and special assistant to the Secretary of the Navy, as a special assistant to the Secretary of State, as a governor of Illinois, and as United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Immediately following World War II, he worked with the State Department on the establishment of the United Nations. Under President Kennedy, he famously confronted the Soviets at the United Nations during the Cuban missile crisis.

But Stevenson will probably always be best remembered by the general public as the dignified Democratic candidate for president in 1952 and 1956, always raising the level of political discourse with his intelligence. He was criticized by some for being too aristocratic and intellectual, but very few contenders have ever handled landslide losses with such dignity. A press photograph that showed a hole in the sole of his right shoe became a symbol of his tireless campaigning as well as his frugality. Called an “egghead,” Stevenson responded with a joke: “Eggheads of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your yolks.” Asked how it felt to lose his 1952 campaign, he paraphrased Abraham Lincoln:  “It hurts too much to laugh, but I’m too old to cry.”

Stevenson had a gift for oratory and an ability to convey an authentic vision of America. His words still inspire:  “There is a new America every morning when we wake up. It is upon us whether we will it or not. The new America is the sum of many small changes — a new subdivision here, a new school there, a new industry where there had been swampland — changes that add up to a broad transformation of our lives. Our task is to guide these changes. For, though change is inevitable, change for the better is a full-time job.”  (Quoted from a presidential campaign address in Miami, Florida, in September 1956.)

Adlai E. Stevenson in his study.
Photo courtesy of the Lake County Forest Preserve District.

Notes from the Editor:  It’s human nature to wonder, “What if…”

In at least three published pieces of fiction, alternative history plots move the Adlai Stevenson story in different and thought-provoking directions. In her 2008 novel Eleanor vs. Ike, Robin Gerber has Eleanor Roosevelt lead the 1952 Democratic ticket after Stevenson suffers a fatal heart attack. In his 2005 science fiction novel Alternities, Michael P. Kube-McDowell imagines a timeline where Adlai Stevenson was elected in 1956 and served two terms. And in his short story “The Impeachment of Adlai Stevenson,” David Gerrold conceives a situation where Stevenson is impeached and resigns in his sixth year in office.

While many pop culture references to Stevenson play on his two-time loser role, others have been more respectful. The popular singer songwriter Sufjan Stevens wrote a charming song about Stevenson that appeared on his 2006 album The Avalanche.

Other Recommended Sites:  The Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home is located in the Lake Country Forest Preserve District.  Also partially located within the district, the former U.S. Army base Fort Sheridan offers outdoor exhibits about the natural and cultural history of the area. Fort Sheridan functioned as an active military post from 1887 to 1993. The ravines and lakeshore environment of the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve offer a rare opportunity to glimpse the Lake Michigan landscape in its natural state.

Between the nearby towns of Mundelein and Wauconda, the Lake County Discovery Museum explores local history in a fun learning environment.

Interpretive sign at the Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home.
Jess Smith/PHOTOSMITH.
Photo courtesy of the Lake County Forest Preserve District.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Friday’s (10/12) destination:  Museum of Science and Industry

© 2012 Lee Price