1948: Elected Illinois Governor
In 1948, Stevenson entered the Illinois gubernatorial race as a Democrat, and in an upset victory he defeated incumbent Republican Dwight H. Green in the Truman landslide. Principal among his achievements as Illinois governor were reorganizing the state police, cracking down on illegal gambling, and improving the state highways.
The governor proved a popular public speaker, gaining a reputation as an intellectual, with a self-deprecating sense of humor to match.
In 1949, Governor Stevenson testified before the House Committee on Un-American Activities to defend Alger Hiss, a former high ranking State Department official who was later found to be a Soviet spy.
In 1949, Adlai Stevenson was divorced by his wife, Ellen Borden Stevenson. They had been married for 21 years; Stevenson did not remarry.
Read more about this topic: Adlai Stevenson II
Famous quotes containing the words elected, illinois and/or governor:
“The first lady is, and always has been, an unpaid public servant elected by one person, her husband.”
—Lady Bird Johnson (b. 1912)
“An Illinois woman has invented a portable house which can be carried about in a cart or expressed to the seashore. It has also folding furniture and a complete camping outfit.”
—Lydia Hoyt Farmer (1842–1903)
“Ah, Governor [Murphy, of New Jersey], don’t try to deceive me as to the sentiment of the dear people. I have been hearing from the West and the East, and the South seems to be the only section which approves of me at all, and that comes from merely a generous impulse, for even that section would deny me its votes.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)