Editing Adlai Stevenson II (section)

==1960 presidential campaign and appointment as UN ambassador==
{{Wikisource|Adlai Stevenson's Cuban Missile Crisis speech to the United Nations Security Council|Adlai Stevenson's Cuban Missile Crisis speech}}In early 1960, Stevenson announced that he would not seek a third Democratic presidential nomination, but would accept a draft. One of his closest friends told a journalist that "Deep down, he wants [the Democratic nomination]. But he wants the [Democratic] Convention to come to him, he doesn't want to go to the Convention."<ref name="White, p. 58"/> In May 1960, Senator [[John F. Kennedy]], who was actively campaigning for the Democratic nomination, visited Stevenson at his Libertyville home. Kennedy asked Stevenson for a public endorsement of his candidacy; in exchange Kennedy promised, if elected, to appoint Stevenson as his [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]]. Stevenson turned down the offer, which strained relations between the two men.<ref name="Dallek, p. 94">(Dallek, p. 94)</ref> At the [[1960 Democratic National Convention]] in [[Los Angeles]], Stevenson's admirers, led by [[Eleanor Roosevelt]], [[Agnes E. Meyer|Agnes Meyer]], and such Hollywood celebrities as [[Dore Schary]] and [[Henry Fonda]], vigorously promoted him for the nomination, even though he was not an announced candidate.<ref>(Baker, p. 401)</ref> JFK's campaign manager, his brother [[Robert F. Kennedy]], reportedly threatened Stevenson in a meeting, telling him that unless he agreed to place his brother's name in nomination "you are through". Stevenson refused and ordered him out of his hotel room.<ref>(Baker, p. 402)</ref> In letters to friends, Stevenson described both John and Robert Kennedy as "cold and ruthless", referred to Robert Kennedy as the "Black Prince", and expressed his belief that JFK, "though bright and able, was too young, too unseasoned, to be President; he pushed too hard, was in too much of a hurry; he lacked the wisdom of humility...[Stevenson felt] that both Kennedy and the nation would benefit from a postponement of his ambition."<ref>(McKeever, p. 451)</ref>

The night before the balloting, Stevenson began working actively for the nomination, calling the leaders of several state delegations to ask for their support. The key call went to Chicago Mayor [[Richard J. Daley]], the leader of the Illinois delegation. The delegation had already voted to give Kennedy 59.5 votes to Stevenson's 2, but Stevenson told Daley that he now wanted the Democratic nomination, and asked him if the "delegates' vote might merely indicate they thought he was not a candidate".<ref name="Martin, p. 526">(Martin, p. 526)</ref> Daley told Stevenson that he had no support in the delegation. Stevenson then "asked if this meant no support in fact or no support because the delegates thought he was not a candidate. Daley replied that Stevenson had no support." According to Stevenson's biographer [[John Bartlow Martin]], the phone conversation with Daley "was the real end of the [1960] Stevenson candidacy...if he could not get the support of his home state his candidacy was doomed".<ref name="Martin, p. 526"/> However, Stevenson continued to work for the nomination the next day, fulfilling what he felt were obligations to old friends and supporters such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Agnes Meyer.<ref>(Martin, pp. 526–528)</ref> Senator [[Eugene McCarthy]] of Minnesota delivered an impassioned nominating speech for Stevenson, urging the convention to not "reject the man who has made us proud to be Democrats. Do not leave this prophet without honor in his own party." However, Kennedy won the nomination on the first ballot with 806 delegate votes; Stevenson finished in fourth place with 79.5 votes.<ref name="Baker, p. 403">(Baker, p. 403)</ref>

Once Kennedy won the nomination, Stevenson, always an enormously popular public speaker, campaigned actively for him. Due to his two presidential nominations and previous United Nations experience, Stevenson perceived himself an elder statesman and the natural choice for Secretary of State.<ref>(Dallek, pp. 93–94)</ref> However, according to historian [[Robert Dallek]], "neither Jack nor Bobby [Kennedy] thought all that well of Stevenson...they saw him as rather prissy and ineffective. [Stevenson] never met their standard of tough-mindedness." Stevenson's refusal to publicly endorse Kennedy before the Democratic Convention was something that Kennedy "couldn't forgive", with JFK telling a Stevenson supporter after the election, "I'm not going to give him anything." The prestigious post of Secretary of State went instead to the (then) little-known [[Dean Rusk]]. However, "although Jack and Bobby would have been just as happy to freeze Stevenson out of the administration, they felt compelled to offer him something" due to his continued support from progressive Democrats.<ref name="Dallek, p. 94"/> President Kennedy offered Stevenson the choice of becoming ambassador to Britain, attorney general (a post that eventually went to Robert Kennedy), or [[United States Ambassador to the United Nations]]. Stevenson accepted the UN position.<ref name="Dallek, p. 94"/>

Many years later, it was revealed that during the campaign Stevenson was approached by Soviet ambassador Mikhail A. Menshikov, who offered Soviet financial and public relations help to assist him in getting elected if he decided to run. Stevenson flatly rejected the Soviet offer, telling Menshikov that he "considered the offer of such assistance highly improper, indiscreet and dangerous to all concerned". Stevenson then reported the incident directly to President Eisenhower.<ref name="Martin. Adlai Stevenson and the World.">(Martin. Adlai Stevenson and the World.)</ref>