Really, No

In the ten months since Adlai Stevenson tiredly conceded that he had lost an election but gained a grandchild, he has been busy influencing friends and winning column inches. Showing slight interest in settling down to the nonpolitical routine of his Chicago-New York-Washington law practice, Stevenson toured Africa and Europe on a three-month, 16-nation jaunt, wrote articles, delivered speeches, held press conferences, appeared on television shows, enjoyed publication of his biography and his collected 1956 campaign speeches. At intervals, he thumped away at the man who beat him twice--and at some politicians in his own party. Stevenson openly disapproved of the civil rights compromise approved by Presidential Prospect Lyndon Johnson, snorted loudly at the independence and interdependence scheme for Algeria advanced by Presidential Prospect John Kennedy.

All this began to touch off speculation about Adlai's hopes and aims: in the event that none of the new presidential hopefuls seems to have a commanding lead, might not seasoned old gladiator Stevenson be sent out in 1960 for yet another battle? Gossiped Chicago Tribune Columnist Herb Lyon: "Some of Adlai Stevenson's most avid Chicago followers are plotting to get him to try again."

Last week Stevenson took painful pains to scotch the idea. Said he: "I am not a candidate; I will not be a candidate, and I don't want the nomination." The tone was familiar. There was once a candidate who said, "I do not dream myself fit for the job--temperamentally, mentally or physically. And I ask therefore that you all abide by my wishes not to nominate me." This was Adlai Stevenson, speaking to his Illinois delegation six days before he accepted his first Democratic presidential nomination, in 1952.

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