Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-18

Adlai Stevenson, who is in
town today to take a not-too-
well defined hand in the for
mutation of our foreign policy.
is no, tenderfoot in the deplo-
matte world.
In addition to a lifelong habit
of travel and an overriding in
terest in our relations with
other countries. he has done
several tours of duty at the
conference table.
In his youth. he made regu-
lar summer trips to Europe in
the fashion of the Illinois gen.
try. He spent a year at a
school in Switzerland. Just be-
fore he settled down to his ca
reer as a lawyer, the eloquent
Democrat journeyed to Russia
after the Soviets seized power,
and sent home dispatches to
the family paper. the Bloom
ington Paragraph. While un-
successful in his mission to in
terview the then foreign min
lister, G.. v. Chicherin, he
cleaned unfavorable impress
sions of the Soviet overlords
which never left him.
Headed Council
Back home, in the tradi-
ditional isolationist stronghold
of Chicago, he joined the Chi
cago Council on Foreign Rela-
lions and -.hecame- its -presi-
dent.
When war came to Europe he
headed the Chicago chapter of
the William Allen White Com
mittee to Defend America by
Aiding the Allies.
With our entry into the war
he went to work for Navy Sec
rotary Frank Knox. whom he
served as legal adviser and
trouble shooter. In 1943 he was
made head of a Foreign Eco
nomic Mission, which travelled
through Italy to determine her
postwar needs. This expert
ence. which brought him into
battle areas and bombed vii
lagos, was crucial in his career.
The abySnal indifference ex-
pressed by the CT toward the
theological meaning of the war
and the men who were making
the big decisions made him de-
eide to enter politics.
Subsequently. before he was
elected Governor of Illinois. he
served two Secretaries of State
as assistant = Edward Stet-
tinius and James F. Byrnes.
During the founders meeting of
the U. N. at San Francisco in
l945 he was an adviser to the
United States delegation.
That same year, he was chief
OF the, United States delegation
to the Preparatory Commits
sion of the U. N. In 1916 he
was senior advise to the
United States delegation at the
General Assembly in London.
When the U. N. set UP its head
quarters in New York. he went
to the General Assemblies of
1916 and l947 as alternate Gel
egate.
Attacked Promises
When he was recruited to be
the Democratic ST andard-
bearer in the 1852 presidential
race, Mr.. Stevenson was largely
on the defensive on foreign
policy. as discussion centered
on the Korean war, which still
dragged on. He was. however.
critical of the Republican
promises of liberation for So
Wet satellites. In the leisure
that followed his defeat, he
made a 6-month round-the-
world trip. was photographed
with African chieftains, met
with leaders everywhere.
-Four years later. when he
again won Democratic nomi-
nation. Mr.. Stevenson was
thrust into a situation which,
in view Of his background and
convictions. could hardly have
been more ironical. To report
ers in his train he conflded his
deep belief that there was no
situation comparable in inn
portance to foreign policy. But,
convinced by his managers
that in a fat and smiling land.
foreign policy had no appeal,
he made his biggest pitches on
the stopping Of H-bomb tests
and the discontinuance Of the
draft,
Toward the end of the
campaign, the Suez crisis
plunged the country into fear
Of war, and the revolt Of Hun
gary sent a thrill of outrage
through the whole free world.
Finally, Stevenson spoke out in
bitter criticism OF the Adj
ministration on foreign policy.
Now that he has been invited
to make public comment on
4 COP plans for lettering our
rplQfinng ahFnad anne nf hiS