Click on the link here for Audio Player – Adlai Stevenson – Address to 1964 Democratic Convention – August 27, 1964 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection
During a day filled with solemn tributes and loud celebrations. UN Ambassador, former Governor of Illinois and two-time Presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson offered a tribute to former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt who had passed in November of 1962 but whose influence and inspiration were widely felt throughout the Democratic Party, and to Adlai Stevenson in particular.
Longtime friend and colleague to Stevenson, Eleanor Roosevelt was a staunch supporter and champion of Human Rights throughout the world from the early days of the United Nations until her death. She was also a tireless campaigner in the cause of Civil Rights as well as the longest serving First Lady, as wife of FDR. She has recently been acknowledged as one of the most widely admired women of the 20th century.
Following the overwhelming tribute to John F. Kennedy, the tribute to Eleanor Roosevelt may have seemed like overkill and it was, in a sense overshadowed by that tribute. Stevenson received enthusiastic, but not wild, applause. Few would know at the time that this would be the last appearance of Adlai Stevenson at a Political convention, as his death in London a year later would send shock waves throughout the world. But on this occasion, he was offering a tribute to a close friend.
Here is that address as it happened on August 27, 1964.
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