[Five Day Bicycle Race raw: Adlai Stevenson III]

This video contains raw footage shot for "Five Day Bicycle Race," a project comprised of live in-studio commentary and taped edited coverage of the 1976 Democratic National Convention in New York City. Produced by independent videomakers calling themselves The Image Union (including many members of TVTV and Videofreex), it aired on Manhattan Cable for three hours per night for five days during the convention. In this video, we watch as the crew interviews Senator Adlai Stevenson III, who was in the running for Carter's Vice Presidential pick.

00:00Copy video clip URL This tape begins with a blue screen.

00:20Copy video clip URL Cut to a shot of Adlai Stevenson. He begins to talk about the notion of the Vice President being involved in the formulation of American foreign policy. He also talks about the institutionalization of the role on the domestic side. The camera operator gathers a number of close-ups of Stevenson–his face and his hands as he emphasizes the need for the Vice President to be heavily involved in the Presidency. Stevenson goes on to say a few words about Jimmy Carter and his plans for office. “I think this Governor is going to want to get, to decentralize the power which for too long has been over-centralized in the hands of too few people.”

03:25Copy video clip URL The videomaker makes a comment about Carter’s granting of authority to the Vice President. “I think he’s conscious of the history–of the odds and also conscious of the opportunities that the right person in that office could have, with authority, to serve the President and to serve the government, as well as to, this is obvious, simply keep himself informed about events and policy in order to be prepared to exercise his constitutional duty to succeed the President should that need arise, of course it hasn’t in recent history.”

04:11Copy video clip URL The interviewer asks Stevenson about the role of the Vice President and some of the changes that may arise in foreign policy in a Carter administration. Stevenson briefly pauses and states that he hopes for new ideas in the Democratic Party. In regards to foreign policy, Stevenson says, “It seems to me some of the things we have to do are–we just have to stop doing some of the things that we’ve been doing. We ought to begin to recognize that all of–that America’s authority in the world, it’s been diminished in recent years, can come from many sources. Arms are not enough. We have to think about American capital, American technology, American food, technical assistance in terms not only of aiding other people and helping the world to be stable, politically stable and prosperous, but also in terms of restoring to this country, which is the only possible leader of the industrialized and the free world, authority, and we should know and know from painful experience that it cannot be acquired by the expenditure of billions of inflationary dollars on irrelevant weapons systems.” Stevenson then makes a comment about National Security. “It’s possible to spend billions of dollars in the name of National Security and acquire national insecurity and that’s what we’ve been doing.”

06:19Copy video clip URL The interviewer asks Stevenson what a Carter administration could do for the city of Chicago. Stevenson states that the survival and future of American cities requires much cooperation and assistance at the federal level. He goes on to talk about how the U.S. economy and its direct effect on American cities. This lasts for a few minutes.

08:13Copy video clip URL When asked whether anyone has ever asked him to hold out the sole of his shoe, Stevenson tells a story about a time he had been asked that question. Apparently he responded to the question by saying that there were no holes in the soles of his shoes. However, Stevenson was unaware that he had a hole in the seat of his pants. (Stevenson’s father had been known for having holes in the soles of his shoes.) The tape ends shortly afterward.

09:14Copy video clip URL Tape ends.