Editing Adlai Stevenson I (section)

==Election of Grover Cleveland in 1884 and the U.S. Post Office==
The Stevensons vacationed at lake resorts in [[Wisconsin]] during summers. There, Stevenson befriended [[William Freeman Vilas]], a growing voice among Midwest Democrats and a friend of Grover Cleveland. Stevenson was a delegate to the [[1884 Democratic National Convention]], and after briefly supporting a local candidate, he threw his support behind Cleveland. Vilas and Stevenson personally informed Cleveland of the nomination. When Cleveland was elected that November, Vilas was named postmaster general. Although a different supporter was initially named assistant postmaster general, Stevenson received the position after the first choice fell ill.{{sfn|Baker|1997|pp=129-131}}

The new position put Stevenson in charge of the largest [[spoils system|patronage]] system in the country. Like his predecessors, Stevenson removed tens of thousands of political opponents from postal positions and replaced them with Democrats. Just before Cleveland left office, he nominated Stevenson for the [[United States District Court for the District of Columbia|Supreme Court of the District of Columbia]] judgeship left vacant by the death of [[William Matthews Merrick]].  Republicans controlled the U.S. Senate and refused to act, exacting a measure of revenge on Stevenson for replacing Republican postmasters while also secure in the knowledge that they would be able to confirm a Republican nominee after [[Benjamin Harrison]] was inaugurated. A disappointed Stevenson returned to Bloomington at the conclusion of Cleveland's term.{{sfn|Baker|1997|pp=131, 132, 143}}