Was Stevenson a ‘decent’ person?
I don’t think Stevenon was an evil person. I think he exercised some poor judgment in certain instances. I think he was soft and somewhat ignorant on the Communist infiltration in his capacity as Governor and prior government service. He was a character witness for Alger Hiss (though used against him in 1952, it also meant he didn’t really know him well at all).
Had he been President from 1953-61 given his tenure as Governor, I think there would’ve been a level of comfortability with pro-Soviets (not because he was pro-Soviet, but he would’ve, again, underestimated what was going on and not taken the tough stances required. Unfortunately, Ike didn’t, either).
In some ways, I’m not sure he’d have differed marginally from Ike in office. Of course, had he acted as tough as he did as UN Ambassador in the famous showdown with the Soviet Representative, “Don’t wait for the translation !”, perhaps he’d have been a bit better.
He’d not have wrecked the GOP as Ike did, especially in 1958. No Earl Warren as Chief Justice. Bill Knowland as Senate Majority Leader. LBJ staying Minority Leader. The good news. The bad news is that liberal Gov. Nelson Rockefeller would’ve probably been the 1960 nominee and winner. He’d have made Richard Nixon (still in the Senate at that point) Secretary of State, though. The Dems would’ve torn themselves apart in 1960 with a battle royale between the segregationist forces represented by a Vice-President John Sparkman and whomever the anti-seg Northern Dems would’ve supported (quite probably Humphrey). JFK might’ve gotten lost in the shuffle, but I think he would’ve been more loyal to Sparkman. Perhaps Sparkman, had he won the ‘60 nomination, would’ve picked Sen. JFK for balance (since he wasn’t exactly pro-civil rights).
Rockefeller would’ve probably received half or even more than half of the Black vote in ‘60. Perhaps he’d have been the target of an assassin before his term expired and would’ve been succeeded by his Vice-President, Barry Goldwater, who would’ve won in a landslide in 1964.