we are joined by richard norton smith in libertyville, illinois. who was this one-term governor of illinois? >> for millions of americans, that is all he was. the one-term governor of illinois. they have never heard a voice like his. they did not know that a political revolution was being touched off that night. for the next decade, adlai stevenson would be the voice of the democratic party, someone you would transform american politics, even though he was never successful in his quest for the white house. >> how did he get the nomination in 1952? >> he is the last candidate to be drafted. he is the last candidate to require one more balanced at the convention. he did not want the nomination is the short answer. there was a vacuum in the democratic party. harry truman was retiring. there was no obvious successor. adlai stevenson did a remarkable welcoming address at the chicago convention that had the effect on most of william jennings bryant. it touched off -- a couple days later, he was delivering the speech you just heard. >> welcome to libertyv

>> let's start with richard norton smith. >> that is a very wide subjects.inly true that it was not a warm relationship between the kennedys and governor stevenson. in 1956, he had done something no one else had done. he had thrown at the nomination for the vice presidency opened. he left the convention decide. jack kennedy came with then an eyebrow -- with an eyebrow of winning the nomination. in the end, -- it introduced into the country, paved the way for his campaign in 1960. it is also safe to say that the way in which gov. stevenson -- one of the distinguished visitors that came to this house was jack kennedy. he very much wanted adlai stevenson's endorsements, who did not get it. if he was ever going to be secretary of state, i think that possibility went down the drain right then. >> we will talk a little bit later about the kennedy relationship and his years as u.n. ambassador. the results in 1956, adlai stevenson won 73 electoral votes. he got 26 million votes, about 1 million less than he got four years earlier. dwight eisenhower, 457 electoral vo

joining me is richard norton smith. it is november 2, 1948 at the roosevelt hotel. what happened here? richard: well, the day began with a virtual unanimity in the nation's press corps that this election was over. that it was thomas e. dewey's to lose. had polling after labor day. they were so convinced there was no contest. gov. dewey and mrs. do we want to vote at midday not too far from here. he got out of his car and decided to walk back to the hotel. reporters thought it was a good sign. he was a new dewey,a warmer dewey that people have seen on the campaign trail. they had an election night tradition of having dinner with their friends, robert strauss who was a publisher. the family went there for an early dinner. while they were there, some disturbing returns came in from connecticut in particular. thomas dooley had relied along the accountants as much as anyone else, almost -- always had a respect for the numbers. the numbers were a little out of sync with what the pollsters had predicted. that was at the beginning of the night long ordeal in this suite. the

and to richard norton smith who has been our consultant in this project and really the brainchild behind it when we first got started thank you both for all your hard work. we close our last program with the look at his theme song, election night, 1992, as he is reading his supporters. >> having just said that, you have to play our campaign theme song, crazy. ok? here we go. crazy. ♪ crazy for feeling so lonely crazy crazy for feeling so blue i knew you'd love me as long as you wanted crazy eventsday, a campaign with president trump at the winston-salem north carolina airport. nebraska u.s. senate candidates incumbent republican ben sasse and small business owner chris jenna sack participate in a debate hosted by the states public radio and television stations. groupr sasse is part of a of congressional republicans who have vowed not to campaign for president trump's reelection. in june, nebraska's democratic party withdrew its support after he made sexually explicit comments about one of his campaign staff members in a group text that included her. ♪

and to richard norton smith who has been our consultant in this project and really the brainchild behind it when we first got started thank you both for all your hard work. we close our last program with the look at his theme song, election night, 1992, as he is reading his supporters. >> having just said that, you have to play our campaign theme song, crazy. ok? here we go. crazy. ♪ crazy for feeling so lonely crazy crazy for feeling so blue i knew you'd love me as long as you wanted crazy >> our campaign 20/20 coverage continues this labor day with senator kamala harris joining a roundtable with black business owners after meeting with ibew union members. that is live today at 4:50 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> next, a hearing on scams that have surfaced during the coronavirus pandemic. a senate subcommittee heard from officials on protecting the public, especially the senior population. this is just over two hours.