Stevenson, Adlai Ewing (1835-1914), was Vice President of the United States from 1893 to 1897 under President Grover Cleveland. He was the grandfather of Adlai E. Stevenson , the Democratic presidential nominee in 1952 and 1956. Most members of the Cleveland Administration stood for a national currency backed by gold. But Stevenson supported a policy known as free silver, which called for coining unlimited amounts of silver. Largely for this reason, the public was never informed when Cleveland had emergency surgery during the business panic of 1893. His advisers feared the panic might increase if there seemed to be any possibility of Stevenson succeeding to the presidency. Stevenson was nominated for the vice presidency again in 1900 as the running mate of William Jennings Bryan. But the Democrats lost to William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.
Stevenson served in a variety of appointive and elective offices. He served in the House of Representatives for two terms. He became the first U.S. assistant postmaster general in 1885. Stevenson was born in Christian County, Kentucky, on Oct. 12, 1835. He attended Illinois Wesleyan University. Stevenson died on June 14, 1914.
