OVERVIEW:

FULL NAME:
Stephen Arnold Douglas 

BORN:
April 23, 1813
Brandon, Vermont

DIED:
June 3, 1861 (age 48)
Chicago, Illinois

POLITICAL PARTY:
Democrat

HIGHLIGHTS: 
1830:
Moved to upstate New York
1832:
Entered  Canandaigua Academy and studied law
1833:
Moved to Cleveland, Ohio 
1834:
Admitted to the bar in Illinois,
Began Practicing Law in Morgan County, Illinois
1835:
Elected State’s  Attorney for the Morgan County Circuit
1836-1837:
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives
1837:
Register of the Land Office in Springfield, Illinois
1838:
Unsuccessful Democratic Candidate for Congress 
1840-1841:
Secretary of State of Illinois
1841-1843:
Associate Justice, Supreme Court of Illinois
1843-1847:
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-IL)
1847-1861:
U.S. Senator from Illinois 
October 1858;
Debated Abraham Lincoln in debates in seven Illinois towns during Senate campaign 
1852, 1856:
Unsuccessful Candidate for the Democratic nomination for President
1860:
Unsuccessful Democratic Candidate for President 

RESOURCES:
Biographical Directory of Congress
U.S. Senate
University of Chicago
Lehrman Institute
Ohio History Central
Wikipedia
Stephen A. Douglas Association

OBITUARY:
New York Times 

LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES (1858):

Northern Illinois University
National Park Service
Dickinson College
How Lincoln Bested Douglas (Smithsonian, 10/2008)
Lincoln’s Rival (Atlantic, 2/1902)
Recollections of Lincoln (Atlantic, 2/1904)