Adlai III

Blue text and red text on white background.

Adlai Stevenson III campaigned to be U.S. Senator for Illinois. Ralph Tyler Smith had been appointed to fill the Senate seat held by Everett Dirksen, who died in office in 1969. Stevenson defeated Smith in a special election in 1970 and was re-elected in 1974. He decided not to run in 1980. Stevenson, a Democrat, had been Illinois Treasurer from 1967-1970. Stevenson is the son of former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson II, who lost the U.S. Presidential election to Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956.

The button is likely from the 1974 election campaign.