A long, long time ago in a galaxy far away, it was possible to lose a presidential campaign and take solace in an important moral victory. Given the climate of our times, that history warrants closer inspection.
The candidate I'm talking about is Adlai Stevenson, a leading American liberal of the mid-20th century who had served in various government positions under Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman. Stevenson was elected governor of Illinois in 1948, and planned to run for re-election in 1952, when Democrats seemed likely to lose the White House after 20 years in power (first under Roosevelt and then Truman). But Stevenson — who was not a declared presidential candidate — wowed that year's Democratic National Convention with a stirring speech, urging the delegates to run a principled, issue-oriented campaign, and not ignore their own party's mistakes simply in an effort to beat the Republicans.
