Politics. Election. Adlai Stevenson campaign button. Adlai Ewing Stevenson II (February 5, 1900, July 14, 1965) was an American politician, noted for intellectual demeanor and advocacy of liberal causes in the Democratic party. He served one term as governor of Illinois and lost, by landslides, in two races for president against Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956. He was Ambassador to the United Nations, 1961-65.