Sen. McCarthy leads panel in tribute to Adlai Stevenson '21

While the nation's political attention focused on the still-undecided presidential election, a group of prominent scholars and political scientists reflected yesterday on one of America's past political giants — Adlai Stevenson '21.

The panel discussion, held in Dodds Auditorium, featured former Sen. Eugene McCarthy, famed for nominating Stevenson for the presidency at the Democratic National Convention in 1960.

The group, led by University politics professor Fred Greenstein, attempted to go behind the scenes and into the private life and motivation of the articulate and learned Stevenson.

The panelists largely agreed that Stevenson — a former Illinois governor and two-time Democratic presidential nominee — appealed to America's intellectual class. He had an extremely faithful following who loved that he would quote Shakespeare and Lincoln, noted panelist Alan Brinkley, a history professor at Columbia.

Koke Kokatnur '47, a member of the 100-person audience and a strong supporter of Stevenson during both of his presidential races, underscored Stevenson's talent for language.

"What really appealed to me was his use of such elegant English," he said. "He seemed to personify our hopes for something better."

Kokatnur's wife, Sylvia, added, "[Stevenson] was not politics as usual. He was a breath of fresh air."

According to Brinkley, Stevenson was a "literate, articulate, learned man who was an unusually sophisticated orator."

But there were many complicated and unknown sides to Stevenson — who also served as ambassador to the United Nations under President John F. Kennedy.

According to Groucher College history professor Jean Baker — who wrote "The Stevensons of Illinois: A Biography of an American Family" — Stevenson had a "bad case of hereditary politics."

Baker said she believes that Stevenson went into politics out of a sense of obligation and duty, not because it was something he wanted to do.

Cornell assistant professor of government Jonathan Cowden agreed Stevenson was a complicated figure. "[Stevenson had] a pathological fear of his own greatness," he said.

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In the public eye, Stevenson seemed almost unwilling to push himself, and his personal ambition was often hidden in the background, Cowden said.

Greenstein said Stevenson lacked a clear direction. "He was someone who was full of doubts and uncertainty, often unsure about which way he should go on many issues."

Brinkley said he believes Stevenson was viewed differently by many people. "He became, in a sense, an empty vessel into which many liberals poured their hopes."

The discussion was the final event of the University's year-long celebration of the centennial of Stevenson's birth and was sponsored by the Friends of the Princeton University Library and the Research Program in Leadership Studies.

A related exhibition, titled "A Voice of Conscience: The Legacy of Adlai Stevenson," will be open through Feb. 10 at Mudd library.